KEIGHLEY College principal Kevin O’Hare was amongst a group of educational leaders from West Yorkshire that travelled to Westminster to push the case for increased skills funding.

He met with Keighley MP Robbie Moore during the event, which was also attended by hundreds of other further education bosses from across the country.

Mr O'Hare said: "Colleges such as ours are vital in bridging skills gaps, both now and in the future.

"However, the current disparity between funding for schools and for further education is so stark that we risk not being able to address crucial skills shortages. This in turn could really jeopardise growth in our region and impact on the wider economy.

"Investing in skills is an economic growth plan that we can’t neglect, and I would urge the Treasury to make skills and technical education a priority in the upcoming spring statement."

As part of the Mind the Skills Gap campaign, the principals were also involved in a panel discussion which was organised by the Future Skills Coalition.

According to the Learning & Work Institute, nine million working-aged adults in England have low basic skills in literacy or numeracy, including five million who have low skills in both.