Political Opinion: David Taylor MP secures £3.3 million for West Herts College

Young people in Hemel Hempstead will see major upgrades to West Herts College, as Labour provides £3.3 million to the college as part of £307 million investment to turn the page on years of neglect. The college will be given the flexibility to decide how the funding is spent, so it can be directed where it is needed most.

These upgrades will restore pride in Hemel Hempstead’s further education setting and break down barriers to opportunity for students, with more comfortable learning environments and better spaces for students to focus and succeed. 

Modernised colleges will be key to delivering on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s target for two-thirds of young people to be taking a gold standard apprenticeship or heading to university by the age of 25.

The fund has been boosted by £5 million since last year, when Labour introduced it in response to colleges calling for a reliable annual allocation to plan and maintain their estates. It is part of a £1.7 billion investment from Labour’s Industrial Strategy for colleges to modernise buildings by 2030.

Skills Minister Jacqui Smith said: 

"The young people in these colleges are the engineers, bricklayers and designers of the future, and they and the dedicated staff teaching them deserve the best possible environment to learn and succeed. 

"This £307 million investment will repair and modernise facilities across all 175 colleges in England, giving young people the spaces they need to build the skills they need for good careers, helping to drive economic growth."

MP for Hemel Hempstead, David Taylor said: “I’m delighted to have worked with the Labour government to secure vital investment for West Herts College – the heart of further education in Hemel.

“I back the Prime Minister’s bold target to get two-thirds of young people to be taking a gold standard apprenticeship or heading to university by the age of 25. His ambition is matched in this funding.

I’ve been championing the college’s bid to the Department for Education to expand the fantastic facilities at our Hemel campus. This £3.3 million investment is a huge win for our town; improved facilities will unlock vital new opportunities for our young people, and I look forward to welcoming the Skills Minister to Hemel in the near future to see that impact firsthand."

It follows Labour’s announcement of £570 million to increase capacity in colleges to train the next generation of skilled workers.

More widely, Labour’s ambitious Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper set out plans to unlock opportunity for young people and drive growth for the country by improving the quality of further education. This includes the introduction of structured professional development for further education teachers and an expectation that colleges deliver at least 100 hours of face-to-face English and maths teaching for those who haven’t passed those GCSEs.

Labour also announced the creation of V levels as a brand new vocational pathway to provide clearer, stronger options for young people, allowing them to mix and match academic and vocational subjects and setting them up for the jobs of tomorrow.

Funding will be distributed to West Herts College in due course.