Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the skills gap through the establishment of Skills England; and how they will measure the effectiveness of this new body.

Skills England will identify current and future skills gaps and put in place plans to address those gaps, bringing together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to meet the skills needs of the next decade across all regions.

Skills England will:

• Develop a single picture of national and local skills needs. It will work with industry, the Migration Advisory Committee, unions and the Industrial Strategy Council to build and maintain a comprehensive assessment of current and future skills needs. This will also inform the department’s policy priorities. We are establishing Skills England in shadow form within the department, and it is already taking on its important role in identifying skills gaps and talking to the key organisations that will need to work together to fill them.

• Identify the priority areas for skills training, including the training for which the Growth and Skills Levy will be accessible. This includes engaging with stakeholders on, and maintaining a list of, levy-eligible training to ensure that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers aligns with skills needs.

• Ensure that the national and regional skills systems are meeting skills needs and are aligned, including using local and regional data to produce a robust evidence base.

Having a close relationship with the key organisations needed to bring coherence to the skills system will enable Skills England to identify and address challenges efficiently and effectively.