The Government is right to focus on vocational education and learning and this White Paper contains many sensible measures. However, for the reality to match the rhetoric we need significant and sustained increases in investment, after a decade of cuts that have left millions fewer adults taking part in learning. A single White Paper can’t solve decades of challenges, so these announcements must only be the start of the change we need. The scale of the challenge to increase the poor availability of apprenticeships for young people, help the nine million adults who have low basic skills, and support people to retrain during longer working lives demands much greater action. To avoid this White Paper becoming yet another footnote in the history of skills policy, we’ll need to be more radical and the Government will need to back its vision with long-term investment.