Regional Policy

Answer: I agree with the thrust of my hon. Friend’s question. I congratulate him and Gateshead college in his constituency on the exciting bid to make use of the moneys, announced by the Chancellor in the previous Budget, to bring forward training schemes for young people to work on the new battery and electronic car technologies that are coming to our region with the exciting Nissan development in east Durham. Could we do more to help youngsters get to college through a concessionary travel scheme? I cannot promise that today because I do not have command of the Budget, but, as my hon. Friend knows, work on such a programme is continuing and we recently agreed at the interim regional transport board, where I took the chair as the regional Minister, on £10 million to be spent on a travelcard scheme, which could be adapted to do exactly that for which he calls.

This is an answer to the Oral question asked on Friday, 25 September 2009 by David Clelland (Labour).

Question: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reply. I am sure he has discussed the big problem of the regional skills gap that we face in this region and what we can do about skills in the future. Does he agree that we need to equip our young people with all possible tools in order for them to access the excellent further education establishments throughout the region? Will he ask the regional development agency to draw together regional partners, such as the learning and skills council, the local authorities and the bus companies, to create a regional concessionary bus pass for students in full-time and further education so that they can access the excellent facilities available in the north-east?

Secondary information