Government needs to provide greater direction to the skills system, says Lords committee

Baroness Taylor of Bolton, chair of the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee, has written to the government today (Wednesday 23 October) calling on it to ensure that apprenticeships and training programmes meet the UK economy’s future skills needs.

In a letter to the minister for skills, Baroness Smith of Malvern, Baroness Taylor, warns that the current skills system is complex, short-term and lacks strategic direction. The letter also highlights widespread dissatisfaction with the Apprenticeship Levy, soon to become the Growth and Skills Levy, raising concerns that it is disadvantaging young people.

During its inquiry into the UK’s skills needs for the future, the committee heard evidence from former ministers and government advisers, skills institutions, and representatives of businesses, local enterprise partnerships, colleges, training providers, apprentices, and trade unions.

The committee also found that:

·       Apprenticeships have increasingly become a means of training workers of all ages and funding the training of existing staff, reducing opportunities for younger people and those moving to new industries

·       Some apprenticeships are overly academic for learners and bureaucratic for employers and providers

·      Effective devolution adds value to the skills system through linking local employers and educators, but there is a need to avoid reinventing Whitehall locally through new processes and separate programmes

·       The UK is behind other countries in having a nationwide culture of employer led training with employers fearing investment in training due to the risk of losing staff to other employers

·       Proposals for a youth guarantee of access to education, apprenticeships or training are ambitious. There is as yet, little detail on what they will involve or who will be responsible for delivering them.

The committee is therefore calling on the government to develop a simpler skills system through its strategy for post-16 education, with greater long-term funding for a smaller number of priorities and programme, as well as ring-fence a substantial proportion of Growth and Skills Levy funding for young people, new starters, or lower levels of qualifications.

It also suggests reviewing current apprenticeship content criteria, including functional skills requirements, which can be restrictive, and using the establishment of Skills England to provide a greater focal point for the skills system.

Ensuring local institutions have the resources to enable local work, health and skills plans to be a success, alongside introducing financial incentives for employers to invest in training, for instance through a skills tax credit, has also been suggested by the committee.

It has also been suggested by the committee that the government ensures further education is funded sufficiently to deliver a youth guarantee, including considering a greater level of demand-led funding.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton said: “Our inquiry has raised fundamental concerns that apprenticeships and training programmes are not meeting the UK’s future skills needs. We also found that the lack of opportunities for young people who do not go to university is of great concern.

“We look forward to seeing the government’s future policy plans in this area and invite them to take our findings and recommendations on board as they flesh out their initial proposals.”

Image: Baroness Taylor of Bolton © House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris