Why colleges need more funding now to enable them to pay their staff better

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, he said: “Our main asset as a college, no different to any other college nationally, is our staff. Without the staff we don’t exist.

“The thing that is a little bit off-putting for me at the moment is that staff deserve to be paid more but there’s not the income to do that.”

When it comes to construction, the lack of funding makes it difficult to recruit instructors who are currently in the industry, Mr Whitehead says.

While moving into a teaching post was seen as a step up in the past, the skills shortages in the industry mean it is more financially beneficial to continue working rather than switching to teaching.

“The holidays have always been good but the salaries have shrunk in comparison to what people are now getting out on site so it’s difficult for us to recruit,” Mr Whitehead said.

The principal and CEO of Leeds College of Building will be retiring at the end of this academic year. Mr Whitehead started his career as an apprentice carpenter and joiner.

He called on the Government to provide more funds to further education colleges to enable them to help alleviate the skills shortages in the industry. Mr Whitehead said: “Where some of the funding has flatlined for a number of years, we need the Government to invest more in further education and skills and lift the base rate that we get paid for 16 to 18-year-olds and also apprentices.

“What we can do then is invest that money into staff and resources to make sure that we hire the best staff that we can from the industry and that they can pass their skills and knowledge onto our students. That’s the key for me. There needs to be more funding from the Government, nationally, coming into further education.”

Vocational education is still seen as a “poor relation” to GCSEs and A-Levels, according to the retiring principal. This was borne out during the pandemic where Mr Whitehead says apprentices were not afforded the same level of flexibility as their GCSE and A-level peers when it came to assessments. He said: “It’s as though the pandemic never touched the apprentices.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “We will be investing an extra £1.6bn in 16-19 education and training by 2024-25 compared with the 2021-22 financial year, which includes funding for colleges.

“This includes an upfront cash boost which will see the rate of funding per student boosted by over 8 per cent in 2022/23.”

Sector at a disadvantage

The head of an engineering training business says his organisation is “fighting with one hand tied behind our back” because of a lack of funding to support its work with learners and employers.

Iain Elliot, chief executive of Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA), said the Government should seize the opportunity presented by the new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill to channel more funding to independent providers, and particularly to Group Training Associations (GTAs). HETA has sites in Hull, Scunthorpe and Stallingborough.

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James Mitchinson