British businesses have had to grapple with persistent skills shortages in recent years. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of vacancies that went unfilled because employers couldn’t find candidates with the appropriate skills doubled to 531,200, according to the Department for Education’s Employer Skills Survey. Skills shortages are now responsible for 36% of all job vacancies in the UK.
The Labour government is seeking to rectify this with the establishment of Skills England, a national body that will bring together businesses, training providers and unions to improve training and apprenticeship opportunities across the country.
Speaking at the launch of Skills England this past week, Keir Starmer described the UK’s skills system as “a mess” and claimed that the organisation will “open up new opportunities for young people, enabling British businesses to recruit more home-grown talent”.
What changes will Skills England bring?
Addressing the UK’s skills gaps was a key issue in the Labour Party manifesto. The priority for Skills England will be to assess the future skills needs of the country and establish where the biggest gaps exist, through consultations with employers.
Skills England will eventually replace the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, a non-departmental public body that works with employers to develop and review technical qualifications and apprenticeships.
It will eventually be tasked with determining which non-apprenticeship training courses can be funded under the new growth and skills levy, a replacement for the current apprenticeship levy.
Shazia Ejaz, director of campaigns and research at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says the apprenticeship levy has “failed to meet employer demands”. The more flexible growth and skills levy, she adds, will be a “huge help” for temporary workers who often miss out on training opportunities.
The revised skills system will also be aligned with Labour’s industrial strategy and should help to reduce the reliance on overseas workers, according to the government.
Lizzie Crowley, skills adviser for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, hopes the changes will be enough to simplify the UK’s “fragmented and complex” skills landscape.
“The new agency must join up policy across the government’s industrial strategy, the migration advisory committee and local skills and growth priorities,” she says. “This is no easy task.”
Skills England is expected to be fully established in a year, with these changes happening in phases over the next nine to 12 months.
