Home > News > March 2005 > 23-Mar-2005

Government publishes skills white paper

The Government has published a new skills white paper that it says will help companies compete with China, India and other emerging economies.

'Skills: Getting on in business, getting on at work', published yesterday, aims to tackle Britain's skills shortages and includes plans for:

* A new National Employer Training Programme providing a network of brokers who will work with employers to identify their business training needs and source that training for them. The programme aims to deliver free training for vocational qualifications to the equivalent of 5 good GCSEs. The government say they will also support adults who want to study for the same level of qualification at their local college with the full cost of tuition met by the government.

* New pilots to support vocational training at technician, craft and associate professional level skills (equivalent to two A-levels. The government say they will provide new money - £40m over two years - to support these pilots, with funding being matched by contributions from employers.

* Skills Academies to focus on the needs of each major sector of the economy and help raise the status and value of vocational education and training. The Academies, which will cater for both young people and adult learners, will work closely with schools and colleges, building on models like the Fashion Retail Academy, being established with the Arcadia Group, and the Automotive Academy based in Birmingham, which works with major motor manufacturers.

Launching the White Paper, Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly said: "We have made good progress on tackling skills shortages and educating adults but our ambition is nothing less than an end to 'dead-end-jobs'.

"Our goal is of a dynamic economy where our productivity is enhanced through high skilled, well rewarded employees working in companies committed to long term investment, improving the nation's economic productivity so we are fit to compete with China, India and other emerging economies.

"Too many adults in Britain still lack basic skills in literacy and numeracy and employers are concerned that they cannot recruit workers with the skills they need to be competitive. We need to tackle this and go even further to support more adults in achieving the higher end technician, craft and professional qualifications our economy needs to compete with the best.

"Improving our national skills base must be a joint endeavour between Government, employers, trade unions, universities, colleges and other training providers. If we tackle the challenges that face us we have a real opportunity to make a fundamental change."

The government say these reforms are backed by significant investment. According to their figures, total funding for 16- 18 year olds and adults in Further Education will have risen by over £1 billion between 2002/03 and 2005/06.

CBI Director-General, Sir Digby Jones said: "The time is right to kick-start a UK skills revolution and this is an opportunity that the country cannot afford to miss. Better skills go hand-in-hand with better business performance. If training is tailored truly to the needs of business then we can make UK staff more dynamic and the UK economy more competitive. If everyone in the UK improved their skill-base by one level, the poorest person in the country would get richer."

Christopher Duff, Chief Executive of the Sector Skills Development Agency, said: "If we trained 350,000 more people, we would create an extra £10bn for the economy. This is enough to increase spending on schools, colleges and universities by a fifth or to cut income tax by a tenth."

The white paper sets out plans to increase the number of Union Learning Representatives from 8,000 to 22,000 and to create a Union Academy providing training and skills to the trade union movement.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber commented: "The White Paper sets out ambitious plans to transform the nation's skills. We need no less than a revolution to end the endemic weakness in our skills base that prevents too many employees from realising their full potential and also acts as a drag on the national economy.

"Trade unions will play a central role in driving this skills strategy forward, especially through union learning reps, who are already helping over 100,000 people access training at work each year. This role will be boosted by a new union academy that will see trade unions delivering training for quarter of a million employees by the end of the decade.

"If we are serious about raising the level of skills in this country then employers must back training in the workplace, especially the 40 per cent who currently offer no training whatsoever. Bosses must recognise the work of union learning reps and allow their staff either time off to train, or some flexibility in their hours so they can take advantage of training available. Improving the skills base in this country has immeasurable benefits for both the economy and the individual, the challenge is making sure everybody makes full use of the new tools available."

External link

A copy of the white paper can be downloaded at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/skillsgettingon/

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