Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 871: 31st October 2026. Will Milburn Encourage Vacancy Creation? Especially after the ‘breathing space’ Budget was light on support for employers to create more vacancies.
This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here’s a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and thought leaders across FE and Skills this week on FE News.
Gavin’s Reflective Perspective
So the highly anticipated Budget this week… Leeds College of Building got a mention… £100 million across 2027/28 and 2028/29 to expand the Mayoral Apprenticeship Brokerage Pilots from 7 to 14 Mayoral Strategic Authorities… Skills and apprenticeships got plenty of airtime by the Chancellor, even Milburn (and we’re told the final Milburn review will land in November)… but essentially, it was light on helping employers create more vacancies.
3% of the workforce on large government construction and infrastructure projects to be apprentices
To be fair, the Budget introduces a requirement for at least 3% of the workforce on all large government construction and infrastructure projects to be apprentices, with a new National Procurement Policy Statement due to be laid in Parliament in March 2027.
For a budget designed to give ‘breathing space’… there wasn’t much in there that I could see to encourage and support employers to create more vacancies. It felt like… more to follow!
The Office for Budget Responsibility expects unemployment to rise to 5.1% in the second quarter of 2027, before falling to 4.1% by the end of the forecast period. Total employment is expected to grow from 34.4 million in 2026 to 35.4 million in 2031. Right now we have 691,000 vacancies… the lowest since 2014… 891,000 NEETs, and 2.7 million economically inactive adults due to ill health. Something needs to be done to stimulate and encourage employers to create more vacancies… I had high hopes… and there was basically nothing to encourage employers to do that.
All Eyes On Milburn
November will be Milburn report time. Will there be more on how employers will be supported to help reduce youth unemployment? If there isn’t… how do we reverse the number of young people not engaged? Let’s wait and see??
I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week!
Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles
Firstly, Rewiring Research By Dr Vikki Smith, Independent Education & Skills Consultant and Researcher
Secondly, From Writing Off to Reaching Out? Government Plans for Young People on Health-Related Benefits By Elizabeth Gerard, Deputy Director at the Learning and Work Institute
Finally, Reforming Systems Is Not Enough: Is Capability the Missing Factor in Apprenticeship Reform? By Rob Nitsch, Chief Executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies
This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!
The Double Meeting: Why Good Decisions Need Time to Land By Nathan Whitbread, Founder of The Neurodivergent Coach
Where Will Qualified Teaching Assistants Come From? By Kate Strohm, Managing Director of Lift College.
We Teach Young People a Trade, do we Teach them how to make a Living from it? By Aimee Williams, Director of Education at Three Spires Trust; Meena Wood, Chair of Advisory Board of Build and Conquer Financial Literacy and Sharan Kaur Varaitch, founder of Build & Conquer Financial Literacy
Are We Training Nominees to Pass Inspection or to Lead Quality? By Kerry Boffey, CEO & Founder at the Fellowship of Inspection Nominees (FIN)
What’s New in the World of FE?
Annoucements
Budget 2026: What the Chancellor Announced for Skills, Apprenticeships and Young People
Leeds College of Building Welcomes Government Funding Announcement By Leeds College of Building
Voices
Teaching Judgement in an age of Confident Machines By Mitzi Danielson-Kaslik MICA CG, Risk, Governance & Compliance
Opening the Door: Why Partnerships hold the key to Solving the NEET Crisis By Tom Arey, Academy Director at PfP Thrive
The Director Dividend of Continuous Leadership Development By Kirsty McManus, Director of Professional Development Services and Nations Director for Northern Ireland at the Institute of Directors (IoD)
Building the workforce to power the Humber’s low-carbon future By Debra Gray CBE, Principal and CEO of Hull College
Why Work Placements Matter: Lessons from T Levels Week 2026 By Dawn Turner, Business Development Manager at Kirklees College
How to Help Young Workers Thrive By Dr Nick Bell, member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and on its Thought Leadership Panel
What Skills England’s new framework gets right on AI By David Jaffa, Founder of the National Talent Academy and author of After the Ladder.
By Danny O’Meara, Operations Manager, FE News and