John Denham
Oral Statement to Parliament - Welfare and Skills,
26 November 2007
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement about the reform of welfare and skills.
Since 1997, this government has transformed work:
29.22 million people are in work. 2.8 million more than in 1997.
1 million fewer people on out of work benefits
Increased prosperity has been felt in every region and every nation in the UK.
But the world continues to change; and we must change too.
In an increasingly globalised and competitive world, we must use to the full the skills, talents and aspirations of all of our people. As my Rt Hon Friend, the Prime Minister said this morning, Britain’s economy of the future will have 5 million fewer unskilled jobs than today. To succeed as a country we must raise our skill levels as never before.
The global changes threaten those who are least well equipped to respond. Those with low skills will find it harder to find work. Even today, it is estimated that 15% of claimants have basic skills needs and 50% have qualification levels under level 2. And they and their families struggle to share in the increasing prosperity of Britain.
Mr Speaker, that is why today, together with my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, I have published Opportunity, Employment and Progression: making skills work. It sets out how we are transforming welfare by putting skills at the heart of the system.
As my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister said this morning, if in the old days lack of jobs demanded priority action, in the new world it is lack of skills.
So we will change the benefits, skills and employment system.
When you sign on for benefits, you should sign up for skills.
We will make it easier for those on benefits to gain new skills.
We will provide the tailored support that needed to get into work.
We will provide new opportunities for people to train. We intend to bring forward legislation to give legal rights to train. But with these rights come responsibilities, to upskill and to work.
But getting work is just the start. We will support people to get on in work by helping them progress.
We will create an advancement and careers service to support people to overcome the barriers to moving from welfare into work, and beyond.
As my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has announced:
All new JSA claimants will receive a more rigorous skills check to identify those who need basic numeracy, literacy and English language training or support. All new claimants will be able to use the new advancement and careers service to undertake a comprehensive skills health check. For those who are out of work for six months, we will make skills health checks mandatory on the discretion of JCP advisors.
Where the need for raised skills is firmly identified, We will pilot giving JCP personal advisors enhanced powers to mandate training and to offer training allowances for up to 8 weeks full time study where it is clearly designed to meet employers needs.
For lone parents on income support we will extend the Employment Retention and Advancement pilot nationally, providing in work advisory support and discretionary emergency hardship grants of up to £300. We are also rolling out a weekly work credit of at £40, £60 in London.
All lone parents will receive a skills screening at the start of their claim and we aim to ensure that all lone parents can undertake a skills health check. We will offer a skills check to lone parents two years before they are due to return to work, and will consider making this mandatory.
For those on Incapacity Benefit, the Housing Benefit rules will be changed to abolish the 16 hour rule which limits the hours of study for those on the short term rate.
Long-term benefits claimants moving into work will see an increase in their income of at least £25 per week allowing for reasonable transport costs.
Mr Speaker, as we change the welfare system we will also improve opportunities to train.
In setting the LSC budget for the next three years I recently announced improved opportunities to train at every level.
We will invest £1.5bn a year in basic skills for life and pre-level two training.
We will increase the number of training places at level 2 to 800,000 by the end of the next three years.
We will increase the number of level three places by 148% by three years time.
And we have set aside enough funding, subject to high quality employer places being available, to increase the number of apprenticeships in England from 250,000 to 400,000.
But, Mr Speaker, we need to do more to ensure that the training opportunities are available to those who need them most.
My Rt Hon Friend and I will ensure that JCP, colleges and training providers work more closely together.
Tomorrow my Rt Hon Friend will give more details of how JCP services are to be commissioned in future, but today I can say that there is a joint commitment to greater convergence with LSC funding, and we will jointly explore the scope for progressively joining up processes to underpin the integration of employment and skills services.
Mr Speaker, for many people the transition from a low paid job to a better job can be as hard as moving from benefit into work.
We will ensure that the advancement and careers service works closely with Job Centre Plus, training providers and other voluntary and statutory agencies to provide skills screening and skills health checks and access to advice on overcoming all the obstacles to progression, including childcare, housing, transport and in-work benefits.
I can today announce that next year I have allocated £2m to test ten prototypes in ten areas.
Mr Speaker, the advancement and careers service, will provide full skills health checks to half a million work seekers and half a million people in work per year by 2010-11.
Mr Speaker I can also confirm that we will pilot skills accounts from next year. By 2010/11 we want learners with skills accounts to have access to £500 million of funding, and to nearly 1.5 billion by 2015.
Mr Speaker, through local Employer Partnerships over 200 companies, have committed to offer jobs to the out of work towards our target of 250,000. The LSC, colleges and training providers will work closely with Job Centre Plus and employers to ensure that individuals receive both pre-employment and in-work training.
High quality in-house training is provided by many companies involved in the LEP, I have asked for the accreditation of in-house employer schemes to be fast-tracked, and expect the first schemes to be accredited by Christmas.
Mr Speaker, this country can only deliver the opportunities to work, and to gain better skills, through the closest possible partnership with employers.
That is why we are making the training system more responsive and flexible to meet the needs of employers. 52,000 employers have taken advantage of Train to Gain with over 100,000 learners gaining new qualifications.
Today I can confirm that the budget for Train to Gain will rise over 1 billion pounds by 2010/11 – about 1/3 of the adult training budget.
Colleges that are successful in meeting employers needs will be able to expand the volume of training they provide, and the bureaucracy of taking part in train to gain will be reduced.
We will allocate £90m to enable 60,000 of small and medium sized business to identify how skills training would grow their business and profitability.
We will extend train to gain to cover volunteers; to the self employed and to offenders who have secured employment prior to their release.
We will ensure a further education system that provides specialist vocational excellence in key areas of teaching and learning, both at a national level – through national skills academies – and at regional and local levels.
Train to Gain brokerage will be extended to larger companies.
Our reforms to put skills at the heart of welfare will help to drive Britain’s economy forward to compete in the increasingly competitive world. By giving people new rights, and responsibilities, we will unlock the talent and aspirations of all our people to ensure that no one gets left behind. These reforms are fundamental to creating a stronger, fairer, and more prosperous society.
Mr Speaker, I commend the paper to the house.