Skills Reform

Bridget Phillipson Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)]

I am today announcing the creation of Skills England in shadow form, before it is established as an arm’s length body within the next twelve months.

The first mission of our new Government is to grow the economy, and for that we need a skills system that breaks down barriers to opportunity and delivers for our businesses.

Skills England will build stronger, more coherent connections between skills partners including employers, education and training providers, unions and combined authorities. We need a stronger, more widespread, and more data-driven understanding of the skills needed to deliver regional and national industrial priorities. Where skills gaps are identified, we need the system to support more rapid development and delivery of high-quality training opportunities which employers and learners understand and can access.

Skills England will help ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade, aligned with the Government’s forthcoming industrial strategy. This effort will be central to enabling delivery of the Government’s growth mission, filling skills gaps in key industries.

Skills England will convene employers, education and training providers, unions, experts, combined authorities and national Government to:

develop a single picture of national skills needs, working with industry, other Government Departments, the Migration Advisory Committee, unions and the Industrial Strategy Council to build and maintain a comprehensive assessment of current and future skills needs;

identify the priority areas for skills training, including the training for which the new growth and skills levy will be accessible—in doing so, it will ensure that businesses are able to use their skills funding more flexibly and effectively, for which so many have been calling;

play a crucial role in ensuring that the national and regional skills systems are aligned in meeting skills needs, in constituencies the length and breadth of England.

Skills England will support employers across the country to shape skills training, and it will identify levers to encourage them to invest in upskilling their workforces. In doing so, it will build on the contribution that thousands of businesses already make to grow the pool of talent from which they can draw.

The functions which currently sit with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education will transfer to Skills England, as part of the new organisation’s broader remit. IfATE will continue its important work in the interim as the transition of functions to Skills England is finalised. A permanent board, Chair and CEO will be appointed in due course, to provide Skills England with the best possible leadership.

For us to deliver on the forthcoming industrial strategy and the Government’s missions, we will need to boost skills and unlock economic growth in all parts of the United Kingdom, so Skills England will also engage and work closely with the devolved Administrations.

[HCWS14]