The Food and Drink Training and Education Council (ftc), along with the FDQ, have criticised the Department for Education after its list of 400 further education courses failed to recognise the food manufacturing sector from the £95 million ‘Lifetime Skills Guarantee’ fund.

The new scheme was announced as part of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review in November, which would see adults without an A level or equivalent qualification offered a free, fully funded further education course.

However, the food manufacturing sector has not been included in the list of 400 Level 3/advanced courses in England which will start from April 2021. The list of industries that have been featured include sectors such as dental, warehousing and motorsport vehicle maintenance.

Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, commented on the new scheme: “As we recover from the pandemic, we are focussed on making sure that individuals and businesses can build back better than before.

“I am pretty sure respective food federations will also be spitting feathers at the thought of Government funding not being available for their workforces when for the past 12 months they have worked doubly hard to feed the nation.”

“Throughout our lives we may all need to boost our skills or gain new ones. These free qualifications will help open doors to better employment opportunities for thousands of adults and support businesses to access the workforce they need to grow.”

However, Terry Fennell, chief executive of the FDQ, said the decision to ignore the food manufacturing sector from the list of courses “beggars’ belief” following the efforts of the food industry during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“For the Department of Education to omit the food manufacturing sector from the Lifetime Skills Guarantee offer beggars belief, especially when considering the efforts and contribution from the whole industry during the pandemic,” said Terry.

“The food production industry is one of a very few sectors to work all the way through the pandemic with key worker status and yet the authorities have actually ‘de-listed’ many food technology qualifications that could and should be available for workforces to advance their careers free of charge utilising the Government funding.

“The food manufacturing sector needs all the help it can get in 2021, particularly when considering the impact of Brexit, which will make it difficult for the industry to utilise overseas labour, so it has never been more important for the food sector to train and develop workforces and especially younger employees wishing to progress. I am pretty sure respective food federations will also be spitting feathers at the thought of Government funding not being available for their workforces when for the past 12 months they have worked doubly hard to feed the nation.”