Danger of vital skills programmes stalling while government is preoccupied with reform

Training boss Mark Dawe has challenged ministers to use the Chancellor’s spending review to step up their investment in skills programmes essential to give a post-Brexit Britain the workforce it needs to remain competitive.

The call comes after the Business Secretary revealed that the government’s letter of comfort to the Nissan board included a pledge on funding skills training as part of the agreement to maintain the car company’s investment in its Sunderland plant.

The chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers has pointed to examples where demand for training under government funded programmes isn’t being met in other key sectors when controls are being considered to cap migrant labour.

Speaking at the AELP autumn conference in Manchester where the latest apprenticeship reforms were being debated, Mark Dawe said that the government would find it difficult to meet its 3 million apprenticeship target unless it acted now instead of relying on the future proceeds from the apprenticeship levy which will start in April next year.

AELP CEO Mark Dawe said:

“Ministers need to look at the whole picture for skills rather than the budgets of individual FE and skills programmes in isolation and the spending review offers a good opportunity to do this.

“On apprenticeships, we are waiting for the Skills Funding Agency to advise training providers when they might allow growth in their funding contracts during the current academic year.  Providers are also waiting to hear whether their adult learners are going to get a positive response to their loan applications following a halt in the application process.  As stepping stones to apprenticeships, the traineeships programme is subject to modest government investment even though ministers have acknowledged its importance in the government’s skills plan for technical and professional education.”

AELP believes that the government could be getting more value for money from its current funding arrangements.  It’s asking for the proposed procurement of part of the adult education budget to be reconsidered so that all large providers of whatever type are required to re-tender, meaning that the government could gain better value from a £1bn investment.

Clarification on the direction of travel for the future of English devolution would also be welcomed by training providers.  The government has just announced a national initiative to improve adult digital skills as well as driving up levels of attainment in English and maths, but AELP points out that the funding for this lies with devolved budgets which means that some areas of the country may treat these objectives with less priority than others.  For the same reason, the association is also deeply concerned about the devolving of budgets for traineeships for 19 to 24 year olds.

According to AELP, better value for money could be delivered if the DfE and DWP worked more closely together on integrated employment and skills provision to secure more sustained employment for the unemployed adults and the 600,000+ NEET young people.   

Mark Dawe added:

“The latest apprenticeship reform announcements contained some very encouraging signals from the new ministerial team that the social justice agenda is being incorporated into the government’s approach to skills.  But post Brexit Britain will need highly competitive and productive businesses with skilled workforces.  If their access to European migrants is going to be constrained, then we need to get on with training more of our home grown talent now and the spending review is a good place to start.

“The FE and skills sector now needs a period of stability to get on with the job of meeting these challenges rather than endlessly dealing with an onslaught of government reforms which can be confusing for employers and learners as well as taking away of important resources from the front line.

“The government’s skills plan in itself will not end the confusion and be the complete solution because it is only really aimed at 16 to 18 year olds and higher level skills.  It is not a coherent approach to the skills needs of the whole nation and it certainly doesn’t embrace the social justice aims of this government.  Sustained investment nationally in core programmes such as apprenticeships, traineeships and English and maths for people of all ages is the way forward.”

The AELP Autumn Conference, sponsored by City & Guilds, is taking place in central Manchester on 1 November 2016.  The conference programme is available here:

http://www.aelpautumnconference.org.uk/ehome/autumn-conference/overview/