Learning from Leitch

Regular Quest readers may recall Lord Sandy Leitch’s 150-page report ‘Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills’ in our February 2007 edition. It concentrated on the skills needs of the country in relation to the competition, and its starter was the reminder that the UK could continue to slide down the global skills table: of the 30 OECD nations it is currently 17th on low skills (Level 1 and below), 20th on intermediate skills (Levels 2 and 3) and 11th on high skills (Level 4 and above). Five million UK adults lack functional literacy, 17 million have difficulty with numbers and more than one in six youngsters leave school unable to read, write or add up properly. The cost of the latter to the economy is £10 billion a year, with industry picking up the bill for nearly half of that sum.

To allow Britain to become a world leader in skills by 2020, and thus achieve a competitive advantage, Leitch reported that 95 per cent of working-age adults must have basic literacy and numeracy skills (currently 85 per cent and 79 per cent respectively), the number of adults skilled to Level 2 and above must rise from 70 per cent to 90 per cent (and to 95 per cent as soon as possible thereafter), and the number of adults skilled to Level 4 and above must rise by 10 per cent to reach 40 per cent. He also called for more Apprenticeships (500,000 a year), with all these measures focusing on ‘economically valuable skills’ to shift the balance of intermediate skills from its current Level 2 to Level 3, with 1.9 more adults achieving Level 3.

By 2020, the number of jobs available to people without Level 2 skills will have fallen from today’s 3.4 million to just 500,000, so there will be even less opportunity than there is at present for relatively unskilled people to find employment. The UK’s economy loses £10 billion a year due to poor literacy and numeracy, with industry losing nearly half that sum.

A number of system reforms were also proposed, which have been accepted almost entirely by the government. And it may be significant that Gordon Brown has signed the government’s response to Leitch, alongside the ministers who will be charged with implementing it. A skills envoy has been appointed, with Sir Digby Jones – former director general of the Confederation of British Industry and no Labour Party poodle – being selected. He will be supported by 20 senior managers from major companies acting as skills advocates.

Splitting the old DTI and DfES into three new government departments with one of them taking responsibility for Innovation, Universities and Skills may also be a significant step forward. And, among its first acts, the new DUIS has published its proposal to implement the Leitch reforms in England. (The rest of the UK may implement some or all of these plans and may collaborate in some of the proposals.)

This document, World Class Skills, makes a commitment to join the world’s ‘premier league’ for skills by 2020. It recognises that: ‘This will require an enormous shift in attitudes and aspirations, not only in government, but also within workplaces, schools, colleges, universities and society itself. It means adopting a much more positive approach to creating new opportunities for all; it means encouraging people to raise their aspirations for themselves and for their families; and it means giving them the opportunities and help they need to achieve them.’

These are lofty ideals which, once separated from party political boasts and criticisms, will demand a major programme of activity. The government promises to provide the right supporting framework, but quite reasonably points out that creating the right culture for skills will require a collective effort. Each individual will have to take responsibility for updating their own skills and qualifications, so they give employers what they really need. Employers must actively help to reform vocational qualifications, to ensure that they are relevant and reflect changes in the global economy. And both individuals and employers will have to invest time, effort and money that will far exceed the government’s direct contribution.

The change of culture required to achieve this will present the biggest challenge to us all. It is not easy to see how such a dramatic turnaround can be achieved within the 12 years or so that lie ahead. How do you motivate people to do more than the bare minimum necessary? How do you develop a collective sense of the value of self-improvement through learning? There will always be some individuals for whom even a carrot is unnecessary; others may be stirred into action if the carrot is big and juicy enough. But what to do about the individual who cannot be led into action? Will there be a stick applied to force them into learning? And how effective could that stick be?

The first set of targets is that, by 2011:

·participation in full-time education among 16–18 year olds should rise to 84 per cent

·89 per cent of adults should have at least Level 1 literacy

·81 per cent of adults should have at least Level 3 numeracy.

By 2014, 36 per cent of adults should be qualified to Level 4 and above.

Train to Gain employer training funds will be around £440 million in 2007/08, rising to £900 million plus in 2010/11, with a total of employer-focused funding of £1.3 billion in that year. This employment-based programme to deliver lower-level vocational and basic skills in the workplace already has 33,000 employers involved and this number is set to increase to more than 80,000 this year. Unionlearn, the TUC’s training body, is also helping to deliver work-based training in basic and vocational skills, and has well over £12 million to help in this field.

Other plans include a new adult careers service working in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and skills accounts, which will give individuals greater ownership and choice over their learning. Legislation will strengthen the current funding entitlement for adults to free training in basic literacy and numeracy, and to achieve their first full Level 2 qualifications, and it will become easier for employers to have their own in-house training programmes accredited through a new Qualifications and Credit Framework. The Skills Pledge, launched in June 2007, which requires signature organisations to support their staff to get these skills, has already attracted more than 150 major employers with more than 1.7 million employees.

In 2010, this voluntary approach will be reviewed and a statutory entitlement to workplace training may be introduced. However, the principle of demand-led training, where employers and learners would be given the purchasing power and the leverage to decide which sort of training best suits their needs is totally endorsed.

Although much of these initiatives is about training and skills for adults, education and training for 14–19 year olds now include diplomas in many broad occupational areas. Basic English, maths and ICT skills will increase in importance, integrated into other qualifications or as standalone awards. Indeed it is probable that all young people will soon be required to continue in education or training until the age of 18.

The number of Apprentices is now 250,000. Free training for people aged between 19 and 25 should help more people in this group achieve their first Level 3 qualification, with an Advanced Apprenticeship often being the most appropriate programme. Train to Gain will be key in achieving this. Creating a culture of learning at all stages of a person’s career and skills development is essential. Too many people are left behind and face big challenges in breaking out of poverty, lack of work, or a low-paid, low-skilled job without prospects. Around half of those who have very low skill levels – around 2.5 million people – are unemployed or economically inactive, trapped in a cycle of low-skilled, poorly paid, often short-term employment, with few training opportunities and dependence on public support.

Gaining new skills and qualifications can help people improve their lives in a number of ways, including better wages, improved employability and progression to further learning. And by helping low-skilled adults achieve new skills and qualifications they can provide better support for their children to learn and develop as well. So skills are a powerful lever for social mobility, both for individuals and between generations. Qualifications also lead to higher earnings, as shown in many studies. And skill levels in basic occupations are also rising, so those workers too need qualifications. Other benefits include better health, less crime, and improvements in civic and community participation.

Skills Accounts are currently being trialled; these will allow individuals to access advice, support and funds for their learning. Particularly useful for those who are not in workplace training, Skills Accounts will not repeat the mistakes of the recent ill-fated Individual Learning Accounts. They will provide learners with induction packs, learning and career plans, and learner records that can be shown to potential employers. Learning providers will be quality assured by government, and a new adult careers service will merge current services into a one-stop shop in which skills needs, training available, support funding and employment opportunities may all be accessed from anywhere in the system. Jobcentre Plus exists to match supply and demand in local labour markets. This will become the employer-focused end of the new system, also providing ‘tailored and personal back to work support’.

While there is not yet much detail available about these changes, several things are significant. The first is that the government has accepted and endorsed the Leitch Report in full. It cannot have made happy reading for ministers with an election war cry of ‘Education, education and education’, but the failure of decades of tinkering has been acknowledged insofar as these things ever are. However, obstacles remain: motivating individuals to take their personal development seriously and to do something about it; persuading employers to put resources behind training; managing an advice, learning and employment-finding bureaucracy; overcoming educational theorists; and changing years of belief that a degree is good and vocational is second-rate in a very short timescale.

However, much of the above sounds startlingly familiar to a Service audience. A combination of in-Service learning and resettlement contains all the features of the proposed system. The MoD provides work-based learning (for career development), and it provides advice and funds to support personal development. The money available for both is staggering in comparison to that provided by other employers, as is the quality and quantity of the advice available. Training and education are regarded as mainstream activities rather than out-of-hours add-ons, with line managers having direct responsibility for their people’s learning.

Perhaps these measures need to be adopted by the rest of the country, and the government could do worse than look at how the MoD has supported and encouraged a learning culture (and continues to do so). Perhaps it already has?