Employers should 'control' UK's national skills budget

Employers should be given almost total control of the national skills budget, a report to the British government recommends.

The report was commissioned by the government to help find ways to improve the skills base in a population where statistics show nearly a third of British adults do not have a basic school-leaving certificate and more than a tenth have no qualifications at all.

The Leitch report also says the unemployed should find it harder to get benefits without signing up for further training, and young people should have to stay in education or training (possibly in the workplace) until they are 18.

Taxpayers' money is only to be spent on approved qualifications in skills that are deemed to have economic value.

That would be decided by national employer-led groups, working under a new body, the Commission for Employment and Skills.

The report suggests suggests that England adopt a pledge scheme, similar to one in Wales, where employers would promise to help every eligible worker gain basic skills and a Level 2 qualification and be encouraged to invest more in Level 3 and 4 qualifications.

Resources

The Leitch report is at this web page.

Guardian stories on the report are at this web page and this web page.

A story in the Economist on the report is at this web page.