Unleashing Aspiration

Social Mobility – the context for the Government response

1. Promoting greater social mobility must be a fundamental ambition for our society. It means creating fair chances for all and removing the barriers some people face getting on in life. It means promoting a more equal society, which is based on merit regardless of background. Equality of opportunity is important for individuals – to ensure they have the greatest possibility to succeed and flourish in life; for society – as fairer, open and dynamic societies are happier, better educated, and more cohesive; and for the economy – because successful, dynamic economies need to draw on the talents and efforts of everyone, not just the few.

2. The current economic slowdown has sparked fears for the future of the global economy within which we all live and work, and the Government has a central role in ensuring the UK economy responds to the challenges of the future. Beyond the downturn lies tremendous opportunity – particularly in terms of new jobs, including those that will be created by the expansion of digital and green industries. As individuals, as employers, as a society – we must raise our sights and grasp that opportunity.

3. This Government has a good record on increasing social mobility in the UK. Between 2002/03 and 2007/08 the gap in participation in higher education between higher and lower socio-economic classes has narrowed by 7% points and long term youth unemployment claimant numbers have fallen since 1997, even despite the current economic climate. The Government’s drive to increase levels of social mobility was set out in the New Opportunities White Paper (January 2009) which included commitments to continuing to improve early years services, raising school standards, providing access to training for school leavers as well as adults, and supporting families and communities.

4. The Final Report from the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions was very clear that a socially mobile society was a necessity for the UK to prosper – both economically as well as socially. As the report identified, there is not a single definition of the professions. But they do have a number of common aspects – such as occupations with recognisable entry points based on education and/or experience; a code of conduct or guidance for members regarding their professional work; systems to maintain standards and quality within the profession; and a commitment to continuing professional development.

5. We cannot afford to let anyone’s background hold them back from fulfilling their potential. If a society is prosperous, there is more chance that successive generations will get better jobs and lead more fulfilling lives. People from all different backgrounds and ages need the chance to get on and get the information, advice and qualifications they need to open up opportunities. Raising aspirations, especially for children and young people, through high quality advice and the encouragement of and exposure to role models will increase motivation and a sense of ambition. Anyone with ability and motivation must be able to get the best education and training they need, including at our most prestigious universities. This is not about dumbing down, but securing fairness of access. The quality of all provision – information, advice and guidance, education and training – must not be compromised, so that everyone with the merit has the opportunity to gain qualifications that increase their life chances and gain fair access to the professions.

6. Government has a critical role to play. Government action to invest in early years care and learning, the reform of and investment in our school system, the very significant increase in higher education capacity and choice and the huge expansion of apprenticeships has meant we are in a stronger position to benefit from the economic recovery and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their potential.

7. That work continues and last autumn we published strategies on information, advice and guidance, higher education, and skills. But this is not just a task for Government, schools, colleges and universities – the professions themselves have one of the most important tasks. They must review their recruitment and career progression procedures and open up opportunities. The Final Report from the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions made recommendations for us all and the relaunched Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum will have an important remit to drive and co-ordinate changes and actions throughout the professions.

Progress to date

8. We have made real and credible progress to remove barriers, boost educational achievement, promote second chances and encourage people to progress as far and as fast as their abilities allow. Since 1997, we have transformed the life chances of many children, young people and adults. Over 3,000 Sure Start Children’s Centres are offering services to over 2.4 million young children and their families. Since its establishment in 2006, the Social Exclusion Taskforce has championed the needs of the most disadvantaged members of society and made significant progress in dealing with social exclusion issues. Over 2,000 families have benefited from Family Intervention Projects leading to intensive support to tackle issues like substance misuse, domestic violence, poverty, anti-social behaviour, crime and truancy.

We have raised the exam performance and achievements of school-age children so that over 60% achieve five good A*-Cs at GCSE, compared with 45% in 1997. Last year’s GCSE results were the best ever and showed the biggest year-on-year improvement. Over 76% of young people reach this and equivalent standards by 19, up more than 10% from 2004. And we now have effective mechanisms for dealing with failing schools.

9. We know that gaining post-16 qualifications is critical to personal social mobility. Over half of our young people from all social classes now aspire to go to university and we have given increasing numbers the opportunity and the financial support to do so – with more than 1 million studying at university in 2007/08, compared to 747,000 in 1997. In addition the Government’s actions to widen participation in higher education have been successful. There were almost 10,000 more UK-domiciled young first degree entrants to universities from lower socio-economic groups in 2007/08 compared to 2002/03 and about 21,000 more entrants from state schools in 2007/08 compared to 2002/03. And we have substantially improved and increased apprenticeships – an important route for those whose preference is to work and learn at the same time; almost 113,000 now complete compared to just 39,000 in 2001/2. Since 2001, over 5.7 million adults have taken literacy, language or numeracy courses, with over 2.8 million achieving a national qualification. We have also taken action to promote access to learning and skills and support for people who are the most disadvantaged.

10. We have taken steps to encourage people off benefits and into work – introduced the national minimum wage; proposed legislation on the right of employees to request time to train; and greatly improved opportunities for parental leave and flexible working. These policies are designed to give adults opportunities to work, develop and get on in work, whilst still balancing the needs of their families.

11. And we are shaping our economy over the medium and long term. We are encouraging enterprise and using government interventions – through support for research and innovation; through the levers of procurement, planning and regulation; through our support to businesses to train their employees – to promote the industries where we can be globally competitive in the future and the new jobs that will flow as a result.

The Government Response

12. The Final Report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions made a number of powerful recommendations. While we have responded to each of the recommendations in the second part of this response, it is the central challenge that is the most important – that there is still a need to do more to promote social mobility. We must do more to support those critical early years in life; to address underperformance in some schools; to remove the remaining barriers to accessing the most selective universities; to lift ambition; and to stop opportunities being lost through lack of networks, financial support, advice or the soft skills increasingly necessary to succeed in the world of work.

13. Our response is ambitious, co-ordinating action across Government. Central to our response is:

• establishing a Social Mobility Commission which will provide expert evidence on trends and policy on social mobility; and produce an annual report on progress against the Panel’s recommendations.
• introducing a new duty on key public bodies to tackle socio-economic inequalities – a key barrier to social mobility.
• pushing forward a challenging programme of work with the professions themselves to transform the life chances and job opportunities of the next generation of young people. A reformed Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum is being launched to do this, in line with the Panel’s recommendation. A number of the main professions have already agreed to be a part of the Collaborative Forum. We will ask them to agree and promote focused solutions that address the issues and barriers identified by the Fair Access to the Professions Panel’s recommendations. We also want to draw on the professions’ membership knowledge and experience in providing advice on how policies and practices can best be shared and implemented.
• improving the way in which information, advice and guidance is offered to young people and the way this improves their employability skills and life chances. Our plans are set out in a new and demanding Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) strategy, published on 26 October 2009. This included a review of the quality and effectiveness of local authorities’ delivery of IAG within two years; committed to a range of measures to increase mentoring and work experience opportunities; and launched a campaign to take forward the aims of the Milburn Panel.
• ensuring that access to the life-changing opportunities offered by a university education are based on talent and potential, not birth or background. Our plans are set out in the Higher Education Framework, published on 3 November 2009. It describes our vision for the future and how we can improve the opportunities for talented people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access the most challenging and rewarding courses at our most selective universities. This includes incentivising programmes that open up new routes into higher education; improving partnership arrangements between universities and schools; and considering, through the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, how we ensure finance is not a barrier to higher education and how we cater to part time as well as full time students. We announced further financial support in the Pre-Budget Report on 9 November 2009 for undergraduate internships, and we will bring together undergraduate and graduate internships opportunities through a refined, on-line National Internships Service, building on the success of Graduate Talent Pool. This is to ensure that students from low income backgrounds can benefit from the opportunities that internships offer.
• maintaining our ambition that 50 percent of young people participate in higher education, but we realise that this has meant that we may have focused less than we should have on the 50 percent who will not go to university. That is why we committed to a new aspiration that three quarters of young people should participate in higher education or complete an advanced apprenticeship or equivalent technician level course by the age of 30.
• ensuring that young people can progress through vocational routes to high status professional careers and that adults have the chances to acquire the skills to get on in the workplace and branch out to create new enterprises. The Skills Strategy, published on 11 November 20095, set out plans to take this forward, including a commitment to develop proposals for a scholarship scheme for apprentices; and new opportunities through Skills Accounts to empower learners. The new adult advancement and careers service will help adults make the choice.

14. In addition, the Employment White Paper published in December 2009 sets out how we will continue to support people from a variety of backgrounds back into work.

15. The White Paper, Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system, set out how we will build upon significant improvements in the last decade, create a world-class education system and build a strong economy and workforce for the future. Pupil and Parent Guarantees underpinned by legislation will ensure that every child can succeed. School Report Cards will look to measure a school’s contributions to children’s wider development, resilience and life chances.

16. The Milburn Panel’s report was about fair access to the professions, but we will also continue to focus on those with furthest to travel recognising that some people have many barriers to overcome to achieve success. Our programmes with the most disengaged, with offenders, with people in the lowest income brackets, provide opportunities to everybody to improve life for them and for their families.

Specific Government Actions in Response to Recommendations in the Final Report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions

This section of the Government response describes specific actions we are taking or propose to take to address the issues raised by the Panel’s Final Report. It covers all 88 recommendations, the vast majority of which we have accepted in full or in principle. Recommendations accepted in principle acknowledge the spirit and intention behind the recommendation, but propose actions based on policy developments since the Panel’s report was published in July or to be implemented in other ways. We have also accepted in principle the recommendations for the professions themselves, which will be taken forward by the reconvened Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum. The professions’ endorsement and commitment are critical to ensure we make rapid progress.

The detail of our policy prescription responding to many of the recommendations is contained in the following strategies – Information, Advice and Guidance Strategy, Higher Education Framework, Skills Strategy, Employment White Paper and in the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance. Many recommendations have already been implemented. For the remainder we have provided implementation dates, most of which are consistent with the timetabling suggested by the Panel. Acceptance of the Panel’s recommendations represents a substantial and significant programme of work which has commitment from across Government.

Finally, as a result of accepting two specific recommendations in the report, we will have put in place the means to monitor and drive progress over the coming period though the new Social Mobility Commission and the reconvened Panel on Fair Access to the Professions which will help to drive the Social Mobility agenda in the years ahead.