Skills
Tuesday April 28th 2009, Central London, 09:30 - 16:00
Integrating Employment and Skills: Securing a Prosperous for All
"The right skills are crucial to getting people who are out of work into a decent job or to start their own business. And they are crucial to getting a better job too. We have set ourselves the goal of integrating our welfare and skills services so they can respond to the needs and ambitions of both employers and individual people. We will make sure that when people sign on for benefits, they sign up for skills as well. Increasingly, addressing skills needs, where they are preventing someone returning to work, will be an important part of receiving an out-of-work benefit."
Rt. Hon John Denham MP & Rt. Hon. James Purnell, Secretary of States for Innovation, Universities and Skills and Work and Pensions, June 2008
Overview
In a global age, the ability to equip our people with higher and new skills is increasingly important. The Government has already embraced this agenda by adopting Lord Leitch’s recommendations to provide everyone with the opportunity and encouragement to develop their skills to the maximum. We have also seen the start of the integration of our welfare and skills systems to give people the best chances to get into and on in work.
The Government is creating integrated employment and skills services that are more responsive to the needs of individuals and employers. It is also planning to ensure that the delivery systems work more closely together, and are driven by those who know best how to shape services to meet local needs.
An integrated system is being put in place that will increase people’s chances of getting into sustained employment with skills progression, and through which in 2010-11, over 100,000 people will be helped to gain sustainable employment and to achieve a recognised qualification. This shared ambition will be an incentive for all partners to deliver a system that truly helps individuals into sustainable employment and progression and supports businesses to succeed in the future. In 2010, the UK Commission will make recommendations on whether further action is required to deliver the integration of employment and skills services. However, this may be deferred to 2015, if the new right to request time to train goes ahead.
The Government recognises that if we are to succeed in the highly competitive global economy, it must create the conditions that foster investment in our nation’s talent. With around 74% of the workforce of 2020 having left compulsory education, this will mean investing in the skills of people already in employment. Due to the value of skills to our economy, society, employers and individuals, Lord Leitch concluded in his independent review that to compete and prosper, we need to raise our game on skills, and aim to be a world leader on skills by 2020. He estimated that delivering world class skills could bring net benefits of at least £80 billion over 30 years, driven by increased productivity growth.
Since the publication of World Class Skills, the Government has:
- Set up the independent and employer-led UK Commission for Employment and Skills to advise the governments of the four UK countries on the effectiveness and integration of employment and skills systems, and on updating of targets;
- Launched an ambitious expansion of Train to Gain, rising to a budget of over £1 billion by 2010-2011;
- Set out proposals for a new Skills Funding Agency to replace the post-19 function of the LSC from 2010; while
- More than 3,000 employers have made the Skills Pledge covering nearly four million employees.
In the last decade, real progress has been made in driving up the nation's skills, supported by significant investment from Government and from employers - who invest some £38bn in training for their employees each year. But despite that progress, too many adults still struggle with low or out-of-date skills; one third of employers do not train their staff; and 8m employees in England go without training every year. These skills challenges must be tackled head-on if we want to secure a prosperous future for our economy, and a just one for our society.
Objectives
Stakeholders at this event will be able to discuss and debate the key issues surrounding the importance of a highly skilled workforce to the UK economy and employment rates, namely:
- Local Solutions to National Issues- Local Employment Partnerships; City Strategy Pathfinders; Local and Multi Area Agreements;
- The impact of skills on the life chances of individual citizens
- How do we encourage and enable adults in the workforce to improve their skills and gain new qualifications?
- What is the government doing to address all the issues?
- Is employer leadership of the employment and skills system necessary?
- How do we improve skills in the workplace?
- How do we ensure that the Apprenticeship programme continues to expand and improve?
- How do we enable individuals to realise their potential?
- How do we embed the value of skills and lifelong learning in our culture?
- How do we ensure that those in work remain their and get the skills required to progress?
- How do we ensure that those out-of work are given an integrated employment and skills support?
Audience
The event will be comprised of an audience from central government departments & bodies, local authorities, science and innovation, space sector, defence, technology, communications, defence, engineering, international aid, environmental organisations, research councils, think tanks, businesses and employers, regional development agencies, local strategic partnerships, NGOs, academia, legal & voluntary and all those interested in the skills debate.