Terry Watts
The new skills strategy white paper, Skills for Growth, is a positive move forward, but there is still significant room for improvement in the proposals, particularly in regard to the implications for the companies represented by Proskills and the wider manufacturing sector.
We welcome the strategy's commitment to giving industry, through the employer-led sector skills councils (SSC), a voice in the skills system, to help develop the British economy for the future.
The paper also increases the amount of investment in apprenticeships, which will help tackle youth unemployment and train people for real jobs.
However, the strategy also suggests that this investment will see the withdrawal of support for other, equally important vocational qualifications.
I find it hard to understand the decision to withdraw funding from qualification units, and the removal of support for additional "non-first" qualifications that can be used to "multi-skill" people in the workplace.
Our research shows that these are precisely the training options that will be of most benefit to companies and people in our industries as we move out of the recession.
The vital need to simplify
The strategy recognises the vital need to simplify the skills system and Proskills welcomes the plans to reduce the number of regional bodies with overlapping responsibilities.
I am concerned though, that the suggested changes will serve only to simplify the system for the government and stakeholders rather than for industry.
If changes are not made with employers in mind they will not benefit the economy or the people who work in this country.
To keep employers engaged with the skills system it is vital to use a sectoral approach but the white paper gives the strategic lead to the regional development agencies, rather than the sectoral bodies who know the needs of their industries.
As Stephen Falder, the chairman of Proskills and director of HMG Paints commented: "employers will welcome the commitment to continuing investment in vocational education but there is a view that many previous government promises have been hollow especially as the funding promised to the manufacturing sector through Train to Gain was not delivered".
The findings of the recent review of Train to Gain by the National Audit Office highlighted significant inefficiencies and my concern is there will continue to be considerable wastage in the system after this strategy is implemented.
Proskills and other SSCs have achieved more efficient results through sector compacts. These agreements helped to assign funding directly where it was needed and we believe that this approach is the right one for the future.
Quantity over quality
The "quantity over quality" approach to training still seems to form a central part of the process by which funding is allocated. We should be placing public money where it can generate the best results. It seems incredible that there are 14 times as many publically-funded apprenticeships awarded annually in hairdressing than manufacturing, despite the turnover per head generated in manufacturing being more than 7 times as high as in hairdressing.
Clive Bowers, chairman CPI Corrugated Sector and chief executive of Smurfit Kappa Corrugated UK, has added his backing to this argument, recently saying, "public money should be invested in skills where it can generate the best results for UK PLC. Manufacturing has to be supported as it is the fundamental source for the future prosperity for UK PLC".
If we're to increase productivity and competitiveness in the UK, it is essential that we have support to upskill and multiskill our current workforce as well as investment in young people.
The "picking the winners" approach implied by the recent New Industries, New Jobs paper doesn't cover key parts of the UK economy and significant parts of manufacturing and industry are likely to continue missing out on much-needed government funding and support.
A wider vision of the future, identifying priorities for investment based on real employer demand through sectoral bodies, would be more successful and would ensure true value for money in the skills system.
Terry Watts is chief executive of Proskills UK
