Education landscape set for change as Tory-Lib coalition governs UK

Conservative leader David Cameron became the UK’s new Prime Minister today after Labour’s coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats failed to secure agreement.

In Mr Cameron’s first speech at Number 10 Downing Street, he confirmed his party’s willingness to form a coalition with the Lib Dems to form a strong government.

“In terms of the future, our country has a hung parliament where no party has an overall majority and we have some deep and pressing problems – a huge deficit, deep social problems, a political system in need of reform,” he said.

“For those reasons I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

“I believe that is the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I think we need so badly.”

Just hours before, Gordon Brown announced he was stepping down as Prime Minister and recommended to the Queen that Her Majesty sought Mr Cameron to form a government.

Education quangos and Train to Gain (T2G), Labour’s flagship training programme for employers to upskill their staff, now face the chop.

Both the Tories and Lib Dems want to “re-focus” T2G in a move Kevin Brennan, Labour’s education spokesman, warned would put the UK’s economic progress at risk.

They also believe Labour’s newly-created skills funding agencies should be streamlined into one quango to cut bureaucracy in the system.

Parliament remains shrouded in uncertainty as policies are traded between the two coalition parties. However, as the UK’s new political landscape begins to take form, FE is finally getting its first real glimpse of what lies in store for the sector.

Jason Rainbow