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<p>The department regularly discusses skills matters with other government departments,
including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, but not specifically
about individual constituencies.</p><p>The department is investing £3.8 billion more
in further education (FE) and skills over the Parliament to ensure people across the
country, including in Leeds, have access to the skills they need to build fulfilling
careers in jobs the economy needs.</p><p>This additional funding will help a wide
range of school sixth forms supporting young people, including providers such as Luminate
Education Group in Yorkshire. In total we are funding over 18,000 16-to-18 year olds
in 2022/23, including several school sixth form provisions based in the Leeds North
West area.</p><p>The local college curriculum offer includes a broad range of skills
training and qualifications including T Levels, apprenticeships, an extensive range
of qualifications from Entry Level to Higher Education, including higher technical
qualifications, and adult education programmes. The provision is shaped in collaboration
with local employers to ensure it meets local skills needs and focuses on meeting
Leeds City Region LEP skills priorities.</p><p>The department is also investing
in local college estates through FE capital programmes to support estate condition
improvement, increase college capacity to support more local people with skills training
and qualifications, and T Level facilities with world class equipment.</p><p>The department
is supporting employers in all sectors and all areas of the country, including Leeds,
to use apprenticeships to develop the skilled workforces they need. To support more
employers and learners to access apprenticeships we are increasing funding for apprenticeships
in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. Since May 2010, there have
been a total of 5,880 apprenticeship starts in Leeds North West.</p><p>Residents in
Leeds can access free Level 3 qualifications to improve their skills via the Free
Courses for Jobs scheme, which enables adult learners without a level 3 qualification
(or learners with any qualification level but earning below the National Living Wage)
to gain a qualification for free.</p><p>In addition, the department has also introduced
Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people
the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview
with an employer.</p><p>The department is continuing to invest in education and skills
training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) at £1.34 billion in the
2022/23 academic year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible
adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills they
need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. Currently, approximately 60%
of the AEB is devolved to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), including West
Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), which covers Leeds. This gives WYCA direct control
over adult education provision for their residents and provides the local area with
the opportunity to meet local needs.</p>
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