One of the most exciting parts of Labour’s election manifesto last year was the proposal for a National Education Service, which would mirror the NHS in providing a unified, free-at-point-of-use service for all who need it, from cradle to grave.
 
The proposal was a breath of fresh air and stood in stark contrast to the increasingly marketised vision of education under the Conservative government.
 
This year’s conference will be a great opportunity to reflect on how the policy has developed in the months since the election and think about what Labour’s priorities should be for taking its bold education vision forward.
 
The University and College Union’s fringe event on Monday evening (5.45pm, Hilton Meeting Room 2) will look in particular at what the National Education Service might offer to further education colleges and their students and how to ensure that the sector is well placed to deliver the high-quality skills our country needs for the future.
 
Last week, a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that further education has suffered the sharpest cuts of any part of our education system. Funding per student in further education has fallen by 8 per cent in real terms since 2009 and the budget for adult learning has dropped by almost half (45 per cent) over the same period.
 
The result has been course closures, job cuts, fewer teaching hours for students and a loss of learning opportunities for local people. Since 2009, over 23,000 staff and more than a million adult learners have been lost from our colleges.
 
College staff have also endured a decade of pay suppression which has seen a 25 per cent fall in the value of their pay and college lecturers are now earning £7,000 less on average than school teachers, often for similar work.
 
The current situation is totally unsustainable and action is needed to turn the tide. That's why UCU is currently working with our sister further education unions, as well as the Association of Colleges and the National Union of Students, to jointly call for greater public investment in our colleges to support fair funding and fair pay.
 
Our members will be taking part in a national demonstration and lobby of Parliament on Wednesday October 17, as part of a week of activity celebrating the fantastic work that colleges do and urging the government to fund more of it.
 
Further education has so much to offer so many, but it can’t keep doing more with less. We hope Labour will be full-throated in its support for our campaign, at conference and beyond, and fastidious in keeping the pressure on the government to address the real funding issues colleges currently face.

Vicky Knight is president of UCU.