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2nd December 2010

NEWS IN BRIEF

According to a report published this week by the Learning and Skills Network and the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning, UK employers currently contribute only £6billion to skills investment – a mere £250 per employee.

“Fair Shares: the role of employer contributions to skills development” says that the government must do more to ensure employers pay their fair share towards training in order to avoid a collapse in skills investment.

It says that official figures, such as the £39.2billion claimed in the government’s skills strategy (“Skills for Sustainable Growth”), are inflated because they count costs like the employee’s time. This would have been incurred irrespective of whether training took place.

The UK is also under-investing compared to competing nations. The report says that Britons spend an average of 315 hours in training over their lifetime, less than half the level of French workers, and significantly behind other leading economies like Germany and the United States. In each of these economies, industry is required to invest much more in skills.

The report proposes four key measures to encourage employers to play a fuller role:

• An industry-led expansion of training levies to drive up employer investment, while protecting responsible firms from the risk of free-riding.
• An industry-led expansion of industrial licences to practice where there is a public interest and where these will meaningfully drive-up skill levels within the industry.
• Clear milestones set by government to introduce a comprehensive system where sectors have not voluntarily introduced new professional standards or levies which are proving effective in driving up skills.
• A significant expansion of skills academies, both nationally and locally.

To read “Fair Shares: the role of employer contributions to skills development”, go to: http://www.lsnlearning.org.uk

To read “Skills for Sustainable Growth”, go to: http://www.bis.gov.uk

Also this week

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