About the Skills Strategy
On 22 March 2005, the Government published its second Skills White paper 'Skills: Getting on in business, getting on at work'.
The 2005 White Paper builds on the first White Paper (21st Century Skills, July 2003) to develop our strategy for ensuring that employers have the right skills available to them to support the success of their businesses, and for individuals to gain the skills they need to be employable and personally fulfilled.
The White Paper sets out proposals and reforms designed to:
- Put employers' needs centre stage in the design and delivery of training – primarily through Train to Gain and employer-led sector based National Skills Academies supported by Sector Skills Agreements.
- Support individuals in gaining the skills and qualifications they need to achieve the quality of life they want – with a clear ladder of progression upwards in skills; improved information, advice and guidance; and new national entitlements with extra financial support at low skills levels. The New Deal for Skills has also been developed to get people from welfare to work, focusing on those people for whom a lack of skills is a barrier to employment.
- Reform the FE sector, allowing Further Education colleges to become the engines of social and economic growth, providing young people and adults with the right skills to meet the demands of our economy. This new economic mission for colleges and the FE sector is the key theme of the Government’s White Paper, Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances, published on 27 March 2006. It includes provisions to drive up the quality of teaching, to reward colleges for success and to make the sector more responsive to the skills needs of individuals and employers.
- Develop an improved qualification structure to support both 14-19 and adult reforms. The Vocational Qualifications Reform Programme is working with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) to develop and implement a modernised vocational qualifications system. Their programme of work over the next few years aims to develop a system of vocational qualifications which has the flexibility to meet individual and employment needs.
- Work with partners to deliver our shared agenda. The National Skills Alliance, led by the DfES and DTI, brings together key partners with an interest in skills and productivity, including the CBI, the TUC and the Small Business Council. Nine Regional Skills Partnerships bring together RDAs, the LSC, Jobcentre Plus, the SBS and other partners. They have been established to address skills, employment and business priorities within each region.
- Promote fairness of access for all through cross-cutting mechanisms designed to encourage equality of opportunity. These ensure that individuals, regardless of age, race, sex, disability and social background, can access training and, benefit from support to overcome the disadvantages they may face.
Download the White Paper:
Skills Strategy (2005), Part 1
Skills Strategy (2005), Part 2
Skills Strategy (2005), Part 3
The analysis of consultation responses to the White Paper is available to download here. (PDF)
Click here for the first Skills Strategy White Paper - 21st Century Skills: realising our potential (2003)
Regulatory Impact Assessment
The Prime Minister requests that no proposal for regulation which has an impact on businesses, charities or voluntary bodies be considered by Ministers without a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) being carried out. An RIA is an essential part of the policy-making process because it assesses the impact, in terms of costs, benefits and risks, of any proposed regulation. Download the Skills Strategy RIA here.
Skills Strategy Equality Impact Assessment - June 2007
In accordance with their obligations under equality legislation, the DfES and the LSC have published a joint equality impact assessment (EQIA) covering 23 Skills Strategy policy strands, examining each one for its impact on adults disadvantaged by age, disability, ethnicity or gender. As far as possible at the time of publication, the EQIA has taken into account proposals from the Leitch Review of Skills. The three documents can be downloaded here:
• Executive summary
• Full EQIA
• Statistical supplement