Introduction
Significant progress has been made in getting people into work and increasing levels of skills across all of the population.
Ten years of reform and economic stability have delivered high levels of employment and consistently low levels of unemployment. There are now two million more people in work than in 1997 and those claiming unemployment benefit make up only 2.5 per cent of the labour force. The New Deal programmes have played a key role in this success, moving from a system based on the passive receipt of benefits to an active system, where people have the support they need to find work, and in return are required to take up that support.
We have also made significant progress in giving people the skills they need to work and prosper in today's world. Since 1997 over four million adults have been supported in getting the skills and qualifications they need. Through Skills for Life programmes alone, more than 1.76 million people have achieved a first qualification in literacy and numeracy skills.
However, as set out in the Leitch Review (1), the world is changing: continued prosperity and opportunity for all depends on our ability to give everyone the opportunity and encouragement to develop their skills and abilities to the maximum. Too many people claiming out-of-work benefits do not have the skills they need to find work: while 8 per cent of those in work have no formal qualifications, this rises to 29 per cent for those not in work (2). Getting skills by acquiring qualifications clearly has an important role to play in moving people into work. We need to do more to help the most disadvantaged into work, ensuring that those who are in work can remain in work and get the skills they need to progress.
Employment rate by level of highest qualification
Source LFS, Quarter 4 2007, UK, Working-age (16-59/64) 3
The Leitch Review set out the challenge and we have adopted its recommendations and targets (4), as detailed in World Class Skills (5).
Since the publication of World Class Skills we have:
- set up the independent and employer-led UK Commission for Employment and Skills to advise the governments of the four UK countries on the effectiveness and integration of employment and skills systems, and on updating of targets;
- launched an ambitious expansion of Train to Gain, rising to a budget of over £1 billion by 2010-2011;
- set out proposals for a new Skills Funding Agency to replace the post-19 function of the LSC from 2010; while
- more than 3,000 employers have made the Skills Pledge covering nearly four million employees.
The Government has also made significant progress on reform of the education system for young people. We have focused on developing learning routes that are right for every young person including:
- the development and delivery of Diplomas;
- increased numbers of Apprenticeships, reforms to A levels and GCSEs;
- the creation of the Foundation Learning Tier;
- underpinning all these with new functional skills qualifications in English, mathematics and ICT for both young people and adults.
And, perhaps most importantly, we have plans in place to raise the age of participation to 18 by 2013.
There has been much progress with the adults of tomorrow but for the adults of today we have also started to integrate our skills and employment services to best meet the needs of those out of work.
In November 2007 we jointly published Opportunity, Employment and Progression: making skills work (6). This paper set out further details of how DWP, DIUS and our partners will work together to ensure that those people out of work get the skills they need to move into work and progress.
This was followed in January 2008 by Ready to Work, Skilled for Work (7), which set out our plans to build the employment and skills partnerships for the future with employers.
This document builds on both these publications and sets out how we're moving forward.
Chapter 2 illustrates how we're making the skills system more responsive to the needs of both individuals and employers. We also set out how we're extending the principle of rights and responsibilities to those with skills needs that are preventing them from finding work.
Chapter 3 shows how we will deliver these changes on the ground: ensuring our delivery systems work more closely together, and that they are driven by those who know best how to shape services to meet local needs.
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