Critical Role of Skills Featured in Autumn Budget Speech

In his recent Autumn Budget (27th October 2021) The Chancellor, the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, was adamant that the UK needed to strengthen the skills of its people.

He stated: “Higher skills lead to higher regional productivity.And higher productivity leads to higher wages.

“With 80% of the UK’s 2030 workforce already in work, our future success depends not just on the schooling we give our children but the lifelong learning we offer to adults.”

At Fashion-Enter Ltd we couldn’t agree more and have said for several years that the emphasis on studying at university has created a vocational career skills gap. As an apprenticeship and training provider we have seen firsthand the financial implications for this sector and have been pushing for government support.

“Sunak added that this“budget invests in the most wide-ranging skills agenda this country has seen in decades.

“We’re increasing skills spending, over the Parliament by £3.8bn – an increase of 42%.

“We’re expanding T-Levels.

“Building Institutes of Technology.

“Rolling out the Prime Minister’s lifetime skills guarantee.

“Upgrading our FE college estate.

“Quadrupling the number of places on our Skills Bootcamps.

“And significantly increasing funding for apprenticeships.”

This is indeed good news for Adult Education Budget and is desperately what the employment sector needs to fill those many gaps that require skills as opposed to degree level qualifications.

The government has not only promised to inject cash but has also documented improvements in the apprenticeship system for all employers. These will include:

+ An enhanced recruitment service by May 2022 for SMEs helping them hire new apprentices.

+ Supporting flexible apprenticeship training models to ensure that apprenticeship training continues to meet the needs of employers.

+ By April 2022, the Government will consider changes to the provider payment profiles aimed at giving employers more choice over how the apprenticeship training is delivered, and explore the streamlining of existing additional employer support payments so that they go directly to employers.

+ Introducing a return on investment tool in October 2022 to ensure employers can see the benefits apprentices create in their business.

+ And as we recently reported, extending the 3k apprentice hiring incentive for employers until 31 January 2022.

Sunak also announced funding to extend the Kickstart scheme to March 2022 while schools are to get an extra £4.7bn by 2024-25.