Steve Brine hosted the Principals of three local colleges on Monday 19th March, as they gathered for an annual event in Parliament organised by the Association of Colleges.
The Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP sat down to catch up with Stephen Carville from Peter Symonds College, Jonathan Prest from Barton Peveril College and Tim Jackson from Sparsholt College, and they had a wide-ranging discussion including bringing the level of funding for 16-18 year olds in education up to the level of 11-16 year olds, ensuring that the curriculum best meets the needs of young people aged 16, and recognising the important part colleges play in contributing to the social mobility of their students helping to make a fairer society.
In addition, they also discussed the ambitions for the new T Level Qualifications with their emphasis on parity of esteem with A-levels and the need to ensure high quality work placement arrangements alongside.
Steve Brine said: "I was extremely grateful to Stephen, Jonathan and Tim for their, as ever, continued engagement. The FE sector delivers great value for taxpayers and is an important part of the local, and national, economy. It is incredibly efficient but needs sustained investment if it's to continue delivering for young people. We covered a lot of ground at the dinner and the sector is rightly focussed on inputting and engaging with the forthcoming Spending Review."
Stephen Carville said: "We are hugely grateful to Steve for his continued support, his advice and wise counsel."
Jonathan Prest said: "I contact Steve Brine regularly on matters to do with sixth form education and he always listens carefully and follows this up with action, such as a letter to the Secretary of State or a question in the chamber. The dinner in parliament a couple of weeks ago was an excellent opportunity to brief Hampshire MPs and to influence the government's preparations for the next comprehensive spending review. The needs of 16-18 year olds, at such a crucial point in their education, need to be championed."
Tim Jackson said: "Steve Brine has always shown a keen interest in young people making choices both through academic and technical routes. It is great to have our local MP championing the choices for young people in our constituency".