Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve the statistic set out in the report by Boston Consulting Group Decoding Global Trends in Upskilling and Reskilling, published on 5 November 2019, that the number of Britons who spent a few weeks a year on learning were below the global average of those in training and work in 2019.

The government recognises that there are a number of international examples, including in Singapore and India, which provide useful insights to inform the development of our adult skills reforms.

We are also taking steps to improve productivity, employment levels and social inclusion. Programmes including Apprenticeships, funded or co-funded skills provision through the Adult Education Budget, access to Advanced Learner Loans and the National Retraining Scheme enable adults to gain the skills that they need to progress or reskill.

The government has started testing the first part of the National Retraining Scheme, Get Help to Retrain, in 6 areas across England. Get Help to Retrain is a digital service that will help users to understand their current skills, explore alternative occupations and find and sign up to training. We will continue to test and further improve the service in 2020. The government is also providing an extra £3 billion to develop a National Skills Fund that helps adults to learn new skills and to prepare for the economy of the future.