Conservative Party Conference Roundtable

Chris Gale — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:54:27 GMT

At the Conservative Party Conference on 30th September, The City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development hosted a round table discussion, entitled ‘Letting the market decide? Achieving a genuinely demand-led system in vocational education’.

The greatest economic resource the UK has in the 21st Century is its people. To compete with the emerging economic powers of China and India, however, we now face a challenge: how can we release the true economic potential of our people? This means not just raising the skill levels of the British workforce, but ensuring that the skills developed are the ones employers need, at the level they need them.

Policy makers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of ensuring that training provision is tailored to meet the demands of the labour market. Nonetheless, we are still not getting this right. Recent research by the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development found that, of nine countries surveyed around the world, UK employers were the least likely to believe that vocational education and training gets individuals ready for the workplace.

If the UK is to retain its place as a leading global economic power, measures are needed to engage employers and to give them a real role in developing the skills profile of the UK’s future workforce. Arguably, the current Government’s initiatives have focused on old-style targets and international comparisons rather than allowing market forces to decide training provision. It is not clear how this sits with the Government’s stated aim of moving towards a demand-led system, or, indeed, if targets for upskilling the nation by 2020 are achievable. Importantly, one of the key areas of concern for employers – the shortfall in soft skills – is not one that can easily be addressed with target mechanisms.

Finally, it remains unclear how policy goals can be married to the individual interests of businesses. Employers – particularly SMEs – may not necessarily see the need to improve the overall skill level in their sector as a priority, especially when compared to the more immediate imperatives of their own profit and efficiency. Indeed, they may be reluctant to train if they feel their employees are likely to take their new skills elsewhere as soon as they have completed their training. Research shows, however, that provision of training by employers can help promote high morale and loyalty in employees. Achieving a demand-led system means to some extent changing perceptions of training issues by employers and promoting a better understanding of employer interests.

We discussed the following questions during the debate:

1. How can the needs of employers be balanced with what learners want to study and what providers are able to deliver?

2.Do mechanisms such as SSCs provide an adequate vehicle for employers to lead decisions on training provision? If not, how can they be improved?

3.Are upskilling goals from Government compatible with more immediate business objectives? If so, how can employers be convinced that Government is working in their best interests and be encouraged to engage in developments?

4.Is the refocusing of Train to Gain resources on apprenticeships sufficient to promote workplace-based training? What other mechanisms might help?

5.How can the soft skills challenge be tackled?

6.How can we raise the esteem in which vocational education is held, to encourage young people to enter skills training?

[b]We are now inviting other stakeholders to participate in the debate on this forum, ahead of the release of a report from the roundtable event.[/b]

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Conservative Party Conference Roundtable