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Business Minister, Pat McFadden, is today confirming the Government’s commitment to promoting the aspirations of all young people, whatever their background, and putting social mobility at the heart of plans for growth and success in the global economy. The Government’s ambitious response to Unleashing Aspiration, the final report from the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, agrees to implement the vast majority of the panel’s 88 recommendations.
The Panel, led by the Rt Hon Alan Milburn MP, challenged Government to do more to ensure that people with ability, creativity and talent can succeed in the professions, regardless of their social or economic background. Achieving this aspiration calls for reform in schools, in colleges, in universities and in the professions themselves.
The measures announced today look to harness activity across Government and the professional associations. They include:
Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said:
“My mission is to ensure that all of Britain’s people, from every background, are given the opportunity to develop their talents and learn the skills which will transform their lives. And this social mobility must be rooted in our core value of fairness.
“In many ways society is already fairer. Six hundred thousand children have been lifted out of poverty, record numbers of our young people are going to university, one in three people of working age is a member of a profession, and the gender pay gap has narrowed.
“But we can’t be a truly aspirational society if some people are still denied the chance to get on, and although we have raised the glass ceiling we have yet to break it. That is why our priority will be to remove all the barriers that are holding people back””.
The Government response was co-ordinated by Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Pat McFadden. He said:
“There are still great causes in politics and ensuring that people can achieve their potential based on their talent, hard work and character, regardless of their background, race or gender is one such great cause. We have made progress in raising, but must now break through, the glass ceiling of social mobility in this country.
“This isn’t about class war – the real class war would be to tell people they should know their place and to continue restricting opportunity to a narrow group. This is about opening up opportunity to the broad majority in Britain, to ensure that those who have the ability also get the chance to do the kinds of professional jobs which are going to grow in number in future years. The measures we have announced in recent months, and the further steps we announce today will help raise the aspirations of young people and they demonstrate our long-term commitment to a more socially mobile society.“
Today’s response builds on measures already announced in key strategy documents published last autumn, including:
In addition, in September the Prime Minister announced that the Government was joining forces with the Federation of Small Business (FSB) to boost the employability of up to 10,000 graduates, through internships in small and micro businesses.
To increase participation in Higher Education by young people from poorer backgrounds the Government actively encourages universities to take a broad and innovative approach to identify talent. And Sir Martin Harris has been asked to consult vice-chancellors on further action that can be taken to widen access to university before reporting back to Ministers in the spring.
In his Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, Lord Browne will look at ensuring that the higher education system caters for full and part time students and ensuring that finance is not a barrier to access.
Full press release: Government acts to break through glass ceiling on social mobility
Accept. Improving social mobility is a key element of the Government’s social and economic policies – demonstrated by our commitment to ending child poverty, tackling social exclusion and supporting families. We are proud of our achievements, but must do more. The Government recognises that a culture of aspiration, as well as the provision of opportunity, is a central part of a socially mobile society. The aspirations people have to better themselves drive social progress. We will work to ensure young people aim high and aspire to make the most of the opportunities available to them, through an aspiration raising campaign, improved careers guidance and a network of inspirational mentors.
We will continue to focus our energies on providing everyone in society with greater and fairer opportunities. In particular, the new socio-economic duty in the Equality Bill will promote social mobility and social justice. It is designed to narrow the gap between rich and poor and engage the public sector in the delivery of social mobility. This new statutory duty will require key public bodies to consider socio-economic inequalities when planning and resourcing their services.
The implementation of the duty will be informed by the findings of the National Equality Panel, headed by Professor John Hills, which will report in late January. The report will outline the scale and nature of economic inequality in the UK, and explain how social background, gender, race and other factors impact on life chances and outcomes. The Government will respond to the Panel’s report, outlining achievements and setting out future plans to address economic inequality.
As detailed in recommendation 2, we will create an expert Social Mobility Commission that will provide Government with ongoing support through research and analysis of its progress with the social mobility agenda.
Accept. We will establish a Social Mobility Commission. The Commission’s work will include:
A Transition Team will be immediately set up within the Cabinet Office to develop the detail of the Commission’s governance, remit and work programme necessary for the full Commission then to be launched. The Rt Hon Alan Milburn, in his continuing role as Chair of the Panel on Fair Access, will be consulted by the Transition Team and advise on the Commission’s work programme, ways of working (including stakeholder engagement) and responsibilities of Commission members.
Lead: Cabinet Office.
Implementation date: A Transition Team will be set up immediately, with the creation of the full Commission following shortly after.
Accept. The Gifted and Talented programme will be reformed in line with the school-led approach to delivering a personalised education that meets the needs of individual pupils, as set out in the 21st Century Schools White Paper7.
We will give more flexibility to schools to access the provision that best meets the needs of their gifted and talented pupils. We will provide support and guidance to schools through regional partnerships on the types of provision available to support gifted and talented learners, with a specific focus on mentoring, work tasters and training in soft skills.
In addition, gifted and talented young people, particularly those from disadvantaged groups, will be core beneficiaries of the programmes being developed in response to the other recommendations in the Milburn Panel’s report.
Lead: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Implementation date: April 2010.
Accept. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, via the Higher Education Funding Council for England, have now introduced an Aimhigher Associates scheme which, following a successful pathfinder phase, is being rolled out nationally. Associates are undergraduates from similar backgrounds to the pupils they mentor and will work in schools where there is low progression to higher education. We are committing to expanding mentoring opportunities for young people and will invest £10m in developing capacity to achieve this. We want to encourage more people – from business, higher education and elsewhere to support young people, particularly those from more deprived backgrounds, to raise their aspirations. The re-focussed Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum (see Recommendation 82) will provide advice on delivering this recommendation.
Lead: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Implementation date: July 2010.
Accept. We will back a major communications campaign supported across Government. In partnership with employers, voluntary organisations, universities, professional bodies, schools and colleges we want, through this campaign, to inspire young people to consider different careers and see entry to the professions as an option that can be within their reach. We want all young people to fulfil their potential and will encourage them to lift their aspirations, irrespective of their background.
Lead: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Implementation date: We will start this campaign, particularly the engagement of partners, in early 2010, with the main thrust of the campaign to follow during the course of the year.
Accept in principle. A number of data platforms (such as www.do-it.org) are already available. The Department for Children, Schools and Families will work with the Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum to develop a database using these existing platforms and data available from key partners.
Lead: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Implementation date: July 2010.
Accept. The Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) Strategy sets out a number of measures, including improvements to increase significantly the opportunities for mentoring and work tasters for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, to meet the Panel’s recommendation. We are to make opportunities available to 3,000 young people in years 9-13. We also committed in the IAG strategy to develop a new vision for work experience, including working with the Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum to secure commitments from the professions, and to examine the scope of third sector providers, such as the Social Mobility Foundation, to provide more work placements.
Lead: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Implementation date: September 2010.
Accept in principle. We have committed to looking to Education Business Partnership Organisations to challenge stereotypes in career choices and to strengthen their focus on professional placements, tasters and mentoring for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Lead: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Implementation date: Ongoing.
Accept. We will build on existing networks of professionals supporting young people, such as A Local Lawyer In Every School (ALLIES). We will also seek advice from the Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum to further enhance these networks.
Lead: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Implementation date: From April 2010.
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