The World of Skills

Policy

Public Policy - The Leitch Review

Lord Leitch’s review of Skills in December 2006 set out a clear challenge for the UK economy. Given the rapid growth in skills and competitiveness elsewhere in the world, he said,

“Without increased skills, we would condemn ourselves to a lingering decline in competitiveness, diminishing economic growth and a bleaker future for all. The case for action is compelling and urgent. Becoming a world leader in skills will enable the UK to compete with the best in the world.”

To meet this challenge, his recommendations were on the same scale, including specific targets to increase skill attainments at all levels, strengthening the employer voice on skills through their SSCs and launching a new ‘pledge’ for employers voluntarily to train more employees at work. If insufficient progress had been made by 2010, he recommended introducing a statutory right for employees to access workplace training.

One key recommendation of the Leitch report was the creation of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, to advise Government on the changes needed to the skills and employment systems to deliver the necessary economic ambitions. In particular, the Commission will examine how skills and employment issues themselves can be better integrated. The Commissioners themselves have been drawn from across all aspects of the public and private sectors in the UK, with one Commissioner from each of the devolved administrations.

Government skills policy has been strongly shaped by Leitch, although devolution means that there are effectively separate skills policies and systems in each of the four nations of the UK. As an organisation working across the whole of the UK, Cogent is very familiar with the differences in skills policies, and we understand the need for them in the context of devolved decision-making. We do know, however, that our employers can find these differences confusing and even irritating - this is especially true where they operate at a UK or global level, and find that for example, they cannot have a single apprenticeship framework or qualification at their sites in England and Scotland. Many of our efforts are aimed at developing ways to explain these differences to employers and to minimise their impact at delivery level.

England policy – World Class Skills – (July 2007)

The balance of funding responsibilities has been reviewed, with the Government expressing its clear intention to focus on getting young people ready for the labour market, on basic skills for existing workers, and on any areas of market failure. In return for this, the Government increasingly expects employers and individuals to meet the cost of acquiring intermediate and higher level skills, since these are the levels where clear economic benefits can be seen to accrue directly to the individuals and firms.

The Government is also committed to changing funding systems to ensure that they are led by demand from learners and employers – checked against robust labour market intelligence – rather than by the need to meet inaccurate quotas.

To meet these aims, a number of English policies have been announced, including Skills Accounts to give more choice and control by individuals over their learning, and a strong programme of vocational qualifications reform meaning that only the qualifications really relevant to employers – as determined by their SSCs – attract public funding. To give these policies time to make a difference, the Government has postponed the time at which it will review the potential statutory right to access training, from 2010 to 2014.

Scotland policy – Skills for Scotland - (September 2007

Scottish policy, while taking account of the Leitch review, also concentrates on a drive to improve basic and generic skills. It remains focused on the needs of individuals, but a stronger role for employers acting through their SSCs is envisaged – as long as they understand properly the Scottish policy context. This role extends to ensuring that, “…employers have a say in the design and development of learning at all levels and in all settings, not just in vocational qualifications”.

To deliver upon the skills policy, the Scottish Government has undertaken some significant institutional changes, creating Skills Development Scotland and bringing together the following four partner organisations to deliver comprehensive information, advice and guidance for careers and learning as well as support for skills development:

  • Careers Scotland
  • Scottish University for Industry
  • Key skills elements from Scottish Enterprise
  • Key skills elements from Highlands and Islands Enterprise

In Scotland, there has always been a particularly explicit pivotal role for colleges, and the Scottish Government is currently reviewing their formula-based funding to ensure that the investment follows what is relevant for the modern economy.

Wales policy – Skills that Work for Wales - (August 2008)

The Welsh policy focus is also on re-aligning the balance of public and private sector responsibilities so that people pay where they derive most benefit, and the Welsh contributions policy is to be developed to formalise this.

To ensure learning opportunities match economic need, a new Welsh Sector Priorities Fund has been established to fund training providers to deliver the strategic priorities identified through Sector Skills Agreements. All new vocational qualifications and units are required to reflect the Sector Qualifications Strategies developed by the respective Sector Skill Council(s).

In a particularly strong move towards work-related learning at higher levels, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales is brokering arrangements with universities to develop provision according to needs identified by Sector Skills Councils.

Northern Ireland Policy – Success through Skills (Feb 2006 with update and Progress Report May 2008)

The Northern Ireland administration published “Success through Skills” in response both to the Leitch Review and to the Irish Government’s own Skills Strategy published last year, which reached many of the same conclusions as Lord Leitch’s. Although they have agreed to move towards demand-led funding, with SSCs having an integral role in approving appropriate vocational qualifications, the details of the systemic changes to make this happen are yet to be announced. They are keen on the local dimension of skills provision, and are looking to SSCs and Workforce Development Forums to identify skills needs at sectoral and local levels respectively.