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National Skills Strategy
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Woolas.]
5.30 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Ivan Lewis) : I am delighted to have the opportunity to consider hon. Members' views as we reach the conclusion of our consultation on the skills White Paper, which we will publish next month.
Improving our national skills performance is at the heart of the Government's overriding mission to strengthen the country on the dual and inextricably linked foundations of social justice and economic success: strengthening social justice by giving all citizens the opportunity to fulfil their potential and know the dignity of self-improvement, and strengthening economic success because skills are a crucial lever of competitiveness and productivity. Our companies will need increasingly highly skilled workers in the competitive global marketplace. Our public services will need skilled front-line staff—managers and leaders—as they strive to offer 21st century public services.
The Government have put in place many of the key building blocks that will strengthen our skills base in the longer term: universal nursery provision and sure start in the early years; literacy and numeracy strategies in our primary schools; secondary school reform through the key stage 3 strategy and specialist status; the framework for a new and distinct 14 to 19 phase of learning; the development of the Connexions service and education maintenance allowances that will be available nationally from September 2004; a renewed commitment to modern apprenticeships; significant reform and investment agendas for further and higher education sectors; and our skills for life crusade to tackle the scandal of the 7 million adults who cannot read or write to the level expected of an average 11-year-old. We have established the Learning and Skills Council and regional development agencies to drive forward social and economic regeneration.
Mr. Stephen Byers (Tyneside, North): I am grateful to the Minister for giving way on his point about RDAs and the Learning and Skills Council. He will know that the north-east stands to gain considerably from Ministry of Defence orders for two new aircraft carriers, but it is important that the orders provide benefits that last beyond the life of the contracts. Will he pull together the RDA and the local learning and skills council in the north-east so that they can put to him a regional skills strategy for the north-east that will ensure that we have the trained people necessary for such orders and, most importantly, that we broaden, extend and improve our skills base in the region so that we can seize the opportunities that will come from those two orders?
Mr. Lewis: I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend's work with employers and trade unions on the economic regeneration of the north-east. The issue that he raised underlines the importance of pilot projects on skills budgets involving RDAs and local learning and skills councils, which are designed to focus on regionally specific issues in the short, medium and longer term. I am delighted to give him the assurance that he wants. I
shall ask the RDA and local LSCs in the north-east to produce a specific strategy to cope with the skills needs generated by the contracts.
Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield): Before my hon. Friend leaves that point, does he think that the relationship between RDAs and local LSCs is good enough yet? The relationship is good in my own region of Yorkshire, but I hear that it is not as joined-up as we would like in other regions. It is important that there is a close relationship between those bodies if we are to achieve what my right hon. Friend the Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) asked for.
Mr. Lewis: My hon. Friend is right to be concerned about that issue, and that is why we have instituted four pilots on RDA and local LSC budgets. It is especially encouraging that even though such pilots are not being conducted formally in several regions, the good practice that is spreading means that RDAs and local LSCs in those regions are aligning their budgets more than before. There is a much more integrated and cohesive approach in each of the English regions. The pilots will move that agenda forward, but we want a far closer relationship between those two essential structures that drive both economic and social regeneration in each English region.
Mr. Mark Todd (South Derbyshire): Just to draw out my hon. Friend a little further on the role of development agencies, after substantial job losses at Rolls-Royce, an initiative was set up in the east midlands by which a taskforce engaged trade unions and others in the use of the company's resource centres. I know that he has been approached by representatives of Rolls-Royce on the model of how it tried to redeploy and reuse skills. Is he interested in that and would he like it to be pursued on a broader basis?
Mr. Lewis: Very much so. I received a delegation from Rolls-Royce positively and asked it to draw up specific proposals on how to make that model work. The days of a job for life are gone; employability for life should be our aspiration and objective now. We should increasingly pursue that policy on a region-by-region and sector-by-sector basis. We need a far more flexible approach, not a one-size-fits-all approach. I welcome that positive proposal from my hon. Friend's region.
On the building blocks of the skills agenda, it is also important to highlight the achievements of University for Industry, which has reached nearly 800,000 learners who have taken more than 1.7 million learn direct courses. In addition, the trade union learning fund has supported 28,000 people to complete a variety of courses. That will now be supported by statutory recognition of trade union learning representatives. We have also worked closely with the Department of Trade and Industry on management and leadership, which is essential for all sectors—public, private and voluntary—to support existing leaders and to encourage and develop the leaders of the future.
Mr. Tim Boswell (Daventry): As this is at least in part a consensual debate, perhaps I can assist the Minister by asking him to comment on the links between adequate levels of education and information, and good
performance in the industrial relation sector. From what I have heard from industrialists, I have the strong impression that there is a much more constructive discussion with work forces that are skilled, educated and well briefed than if matters are left to megaphone diplomacy and industrial warfare.
Mr. Lewis: We seek partnership in the workplace at the beginning of the 21st century. There is no need for those old divisions to exist to undermine relationships at work. We have many models of good practice whereby good employers work with active and positive trade unionists to deliver competitive companies. That has to be a two-way relationship. Employers need to implement good practice in their relationship with their employees, and trade unions need to adopt a reasonable approach to working with management to drive forward the success of companies.
We do not focus enough on the many positive examples of that in our economy. We want such practice to grow and improve. The skills strategy is an opportunity to improve and enhance the relationship between business and the trade unions. A clear and strong consensus is emerging on the importance of skills for both the success of British industry and the advancement and development of individuals, many of whom are trade union members.
The results of our unprecedented investment in, and reform of, our education system are clear for all to see. We have the best ever results at 11 and 16 and the best ever teaching, as defined by Ofsted. The reading literacy of our 10-year-olds is among the best in the world and our 15-year-olds are among the best in the world at English, maths and science. Some 320,000 adults have achieved basic skills awards. Despite that progress, we are not complacent, and there remains a considerable amount to do.
Mr. Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough): In the spirit of co-operation, every time the Minister or the Secretary of State speaks on the skills agenda, the further education sector is missed out. Some 90 per cent. of work in FE colleges inspected by Ofsted is satisfactory or better and 93 per cent. of work inspected by the adult learning inspectorate is classified as better. I wish that the Minister would occasionally give them due recognition for the huge success of the FE sector.
Mr. Lewis: The hon. Gentleman should be more patient. I shall come to the further education sector in due course. I am happy to pay tribute to the work of FE. The Government have recently introduced a record level of investment into the sector. We want to raise the status and value of further education and of those who work in it. I was proud to work on the "Success for All" strategy, which has been well received in the sector. Of course there are many examples of good practice in further education, but I am sure that the sector would agree that there is also room for significant improvement. It is working with the Government to achieve that. I shall say more about FE later.
As I said, much progress has been made, but we are not complacent and there remains a great deal to do. It is essential that we bring a new cohesiveness to our approach to lifelong learning—a cross-Government strategy that will support a sustained improvement in
our national skills performance. Although our economy is undoubtedly fundamentally strong, our competitiveness and productivity lag behind those of other countries. Too many individuals and employers are still being left behind.I should say at the outset that the strategy is not about introducing lots of new initiatives. We will make changes where they need to be made, but our priority will be to join up our policies across the skills agenda and across Government. It will be a strategy owned for the first time across Government, with unprecedented co-operation now existing between the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Treasury and most other Government Departments. Our shared agenda on skills will be closely linked with action on innovation, enterprise and employment, focusing on the needs of employers and individual learners. To those who, understandably, are cynical about strategies, I confirm that the strategy will also be supported by a delivery plan. We will be single-minded in prioritising sustained delivery, backed up by regular review and evaluation.
Our objectives are clear: to develop a far better synergy between demand for and supply of skills; to ensure that the provider side is fit for its purpose, focused far more on the needs of individual learners and employers than in the past; and to stimulate demand from all customers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and non-traditional learners. We need greater clarity in defining the respective responsibilities of the state, employers and individuals, and where finite Government resources should most appropriately be deployed.
The White Paper will address a number of crucial issues, first, in relation to young people. There is a consensus about the importance of creating strong, high-status vocational opportunities for 14 to 19-year-olds, leading to skilled employment directly or via higher education. The Conservatives' proposals for vocational education published this week have repeated the mistakes of the past. They present vocational education as an alternative to higher education, and attempt to sort young people into sheep and goats. That is the very reason why up till now vocational education and training has always failed in England.
The White Paper will consider employers' concerns about generic skills. We must accept that, as employers tell us, even young people leaving the education system with high-level qualifications do not have good communication, interpersonal, teamwork and problem-solving skills. The White Paper needs to address those employer concerns.
We want to support everyday dynamic relationships between schools, colleges, universities and employers. In local communities throughout the country, those educational institutions should have daily contact with employers, and vice versa, to ensure that there is a much closer relationship between what happens in the education system and the needs of the labour market.
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