Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently announced reforms to technical education, introducing new technical routes for students from the age of 14 and aiming for parity with academic education. The reforms also propose bringing employers more directly into schools.
Lord Agnew, Chair of the Lords Numeracy for Life Committee and a former Academies and Treasury Minister, has questioned the funding for these reforms. He stated that the announcement only mentions prioritising existing budgets and that the scheme is understood to be paid for out of increases announced previously.
Lord Agnew argues that money announced once cannot be announced twice, suggesting that every pound for the new pathways would come from another area within the Department for Education. He has called for answers on which specific budgets will be cut to fund the initiative.