Skills Secretary John Denham today said he will fight to make sure UK workers have the skills to get every possible job going in the world economy
24 October 2008
In a speech to the CBI Mr Denham identified a number of industries that will be vital for the future prosperity of the UK and will require a more highly skilled workforce. These include biotech, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, nuclear, renewable, energy conservation and hospitality sectors.
He announced that £98 million will be targeted at skills in key sectors of the economy.
Mr Denham said that the Government wants to ensure that British workers do not see jobs go abroad because overseas workers have higher skills, or that migrants are needed simply because local employees lack skills.
Mr Denham said that the skills system needed to be more effective at creating people with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time. He called for a more effective demand led approach.
Key elements of this include:
- Three new agreements with employers, worth £98m in total, to deliver bespoke training for (a) the chemical, pharmaceutical, nuclear, petroleum, (b) engineering construction, and (c) broadcast media industries. The money will be drawn from the existing Train to Gain budget and builds on seven existing compacts in important sectors including engineering, technology, hospitality, process and manufacturing.
- Making sure that the skills system prioritises needs identified by employer partnerships at local and regional level and in particular sectors of the economy.
- Simplified training provision, making more effective use of skills brokers and web-based tools to make it easier and less bureaucratic for business needs. Mr Denham welcomed the publication of a Simplification of Skills in England plan, developed by the Commission for Employment and Skills, to make training more responsive to business needs.
Mr Denham will tell the CBI:
"If Government policy creates the expectation of future business - by supporting nuclear power, or setting out a framework for renewable energy, for example - it creates a demand for skills. And it sends a strong signal to all people and to the education system to develop skills that they know will be required for future jobs.
"Employer investment in skills is driven, like other investments, by the need to be able to meet the predicted demand for products and services. So government policy can and should be a major influence on employer investment in skills. But the reverse is equally true. If policy creates uncertainty, it will be more difficult to secure skills investment."
He will continue:
"We cannot go back to predict and provide. ... If individual employer demand alone will not produce what we need, we need to strengthen employers' collective ability to shape the system.
"Instead, employers need to be helped to co-ordinate and to communicate demand. By industry. By sector. Or by locality. Whichever turns out to be most needed and is likely to be most effective. Over recent months, this is the direction in which our skills policy has increasingly been moving.
Notes to editors
1. Sector Skills Compacts have today been announced with Cogent, Sector Skills Council for the Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Nuclear, Polymers, Petroleum and Oil & Gas industries; the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB); and Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for creative media.
2 Train to Gain is the Government's flagship service to support employers in England, of all sizes and in all sectors, to improve the skills of their employees, unlock talent and drive improved business performance. An important element of Train to Gain is the skills brokerage service which offers free impartial advice, and helps find the best training solution from high quality and responsive training providers to meet business needs.
Since its launch in 2006, Train to Gain has helped over 570,000 employees in England get training, and over 291,000 learners have achieved a qualification. An evaluation published this year revealed that some 43 per cent of people who had completed their training reported having received a pay rise, and 30 per cent reported having had promotion. Funding for Train to Gain will increase from £520 million to over £1 billion by 2010-11.
3. The Secretary of State announced a new package of support for SMEs on Tuesday 21 October.
4. For more information about the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the Simplification of Skills in England plan, please visit http://www.ukces.org.uk
