THE Conservatives’ decade-long failure on further education is seeing rising vacancies in key industries such as health and care, Labour warned last night.

Between February and April there were 133,000 vacancies in health and social work, according to government data.

This has followed a steady rise in vacancies since the Tories came to power, with the health sector seeing them more than double from the same quarter in 2011.

The number of students in these subjects is declining, according to Labour’s analysis, with healthcare apprentice numbers falling by more than 50,000 since 2015 and overall health and care student numbers falling by over 153,000 in the past three years.

Spending on adult education and apprenticeships has fallen by more than a third since 2009/10.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green said: “The Conservatives’ failures on education are translating into serious skills shortages across our public services and economy.

“Labour is calling for ministers to put skills and further education at the heart of our pandemic recovery, with an apprenticeship wage subsidy and jobs promise to give opportunities to every young person.”