Making support more responsive to individuals and employers

While our employment rate is one of the highest of the world's major economies, significant challenges remain. If we are to meet our ambitious goal of an 80 per cent employment rate and our target to eradicate child poverty we need to go beyond just getting people into work. (1)

Government now needs to help people to move into sustainable jobs and to get on when they are in work. Support which puts everyone in charge of their skills will be crucial for this.

Employers also have an important role to play in helping their employees get the skills they need for now and the future, and in return they have a right to shape skills support.

We recognise that getting new skills is only part of the solution. It can be as hard for someone to change their job as it is to move into work in the first place because of the wider issues that get in the way: not just a lack of skills but other potential barriers like childcare, travel and housing. So our support services must be easy to find and comprehensive enough to address these needs.

Employers of all sizes also need to have access to our full range of skills and recruitment services. Our support for employers must become more responsive and flexible to the needs of individual businesses including easier access to recruitment and skills support.

As Government continues to improve its skills support for both individuals and employers, expectations on individuals to acquire the skills they need for work are changing. We believe it is no longer acceptable for those without the necessary skills to work simply to remain on benefits. We will therefore take the powers necessary to require unemployed people to attend training. We will also consult on whether lone parents claiming Income Support, and people starting a claim for Employment and Support Allowance, should be required to attend training to help them get a job, if they lack the skills to work.

This chapter sets out how we're:

  • making the system more responsive to help all individuals and employers get the skills they need to get on in life;
  • joining up our services to reflect the wider needs of individuals and employers, which go beyond skills; and
  • focusing on the particular needs of those out of work by making skills an integral part of support to get them into sustainable employment.

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