The Government have announced the launch of Skills England to bring together the fractured skills landscape and create a shared national ambition to boost the nation’s skills.
The Education Secretary has also today appointed Richard Pennycook CBE, former chief executive of the Co-operative Group and lead non-executive director at the DfE, as the interim Chair.
Skills, says the Government,are crucial to economic growth, with a third of productivity improvement over the last two decades explained by improvements to skills levels.
But between 2017 and 2022 skills shortages in this country doubled to more than half a million, and now account for 36% of job vacancies.
Launching the new scheme this moring at the Farnborough Air Show Kier Starmer said that organisation would transform the relationship between businesses and the education system, calling it “another marker of the future”.
it was “the launch of a new organisation that we hope will transform not just how we train our young people and adults, but also the relationship between business and education system”.
Skills England will bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to meet the skills needs of the next decade across all regions, providing strategic oversight of the post-16 skills system aligned to the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Supporting local areas to develop the skilled workforces they need – in particular across construction and healthcare – is fundamental to the Government’s mission to raise growth sustainably. By working with the Migration Advisory Committee, Skills England will also help reduce reliance on overseas workers.
The organisation will identify the training for which the growth and skills levy will be accessible – an important reform, giving businesses more flexibility to spend levy funds on training for the skills they need, which employers have long been calling for.
Skills England will be established in phases over the next 9-12 months to create a responsive and collaborative skills system.
Starmer said his government “won’t be content just to pull the easy lever of importing skills”.
“All too often young people in our country have been let down, not given access to the right opportunities or training in their community And that’s created an over-reliance in our economy on higher and higher levels of migration,” he said.
He added: “I do not criticise businesses who hire overseas workers and I certainly don’t diminish the contribution that migration makes to our economy, to our public services, and of course, to our communities – migration is part of our national story. It always has been, always will be.
Dr Joe Marshall, Chief Executive of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), said:
“It’s no secret that the UK is facing a severe and acute skills crisis. Between 2017 and 2022 skills shortages in the nation doubled to more than half a million, and now account for 36% of job vacancies. What’s more worrying still is that businesses face barriers to upskilling their staff and accessing new talent. The new Government has wasted no time in taking action. We warmly welcome that Skills England, which will bring together business and training providers, is being launched today.”
Marshall concluded: “A strong education system, matched to the talent needs of employers is what underpins a productive economy and drives opportunity. The collaborative nature of Skills England that has partnerships with employers at its heart, is particularly welcome. Businesses, as both customers of talent and drivers of evolving skill needs, must be central to this transformation.”
