Boost for skills and apprenticeships  

The government’s Education and Skills Bill and Draft Apprenticeships Bill, both announced in the Queen’s Speech, are to introduce measures aimed at raising skill levels among the UK workforce.

Among the measures, school children will be required to remain in education or training until the age of 18.

There are also plans to increase the number of apprenticeships available to both young people starting out in work and to older workers who want to develop their careers.

Charlotte Moore-Bick, senior policy adviser at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The government has clearly recognised the problems that businesses have in finding skilled workers and a lot of the measures announced today are welcome.

“Giving young people the option of an apprenticeship will hopefully go some way to keeping them interested in learning and also help them to gain the social skills and aptitude needed to thrive in the world of work.”

Ms Moore-Bick added: “It is also heartening to see that the Government is now tackling the lack of skills in the existing working age population. 70 per cent of the 2020 working age population have already left compulsory education and unfortunately a substantial minority just do not have the necessary skills. By investing in adult skills we should hopefully see an increase in the number of people equipped with the skills needed in the workforce.”

John Cridland, the CBI’s deputy director general, commented: “Too many young people leave school without basic literacy, numeracy and employability skills, so employers accept the need to raise the age for compulsory learning.”

However, he warned against over-regulation: “The government must be careful not to discourage businesses from providing valuable work opportunities by asking them to police participation on training courses and setting a minimum number of training hours.”

John Wright, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The FSB welcomes a more flexible approach to education and training for the 16 to 18 age group. Employers want school leavers that can read, write and add up. They also want to employ people who can communicate and have the work ethic. At present this is lacking in some school-leavers who are not fully engaged while at school.”

Mr Wright added: “While we welcome the expansion of apprenticeships, we are disappointed that the government is not addressing the issue of engaging pupils in vocational subjects in school at an earlier age. This would establish education, employment and training as a natural progression. This would ensure that there will be no need for the government to feel the need to use the stick of compulsory training. The government must also begin to recognise the workplace training that small businesses already provide.”


Date:7 November 2007

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