05 January 2007
The Treasury-commissioned skills report is not radical enough in the solutions it offers to halt the crisis facing Britain, the Conservatives are warning.
An interim report this week from the party's policy review criticised Lord Leitch's long-awaited review of skills, published last month, for failing to address bureaucracy, which the Tories maintain is stifling the further education sector. It added that Leitch also failed to suggest ways of encouraging employers and learners to invest in training.
The neglect of intermediate skills – above operative, but below professional level – was singled out. Too much time and money is devoted to boosting basic literacy and numeracy levels at one end and high-level professional training at the other, the report said.
The January 1 document sets out a six-point plan for tackling the skills crisis, including the establishment of a careers service for use by people of all ages; power for Sector Skills Councils to direct and fund training; and greater freedoms for FE colleges.
John Hayes, shadow minister for vocational education, said: 'Britain is losing the international skills race. We're falling even further behind because our system is burdened by bureaucratic regulation and skills investment is too rarely directed towards intermediate skills... the problem demands urgent action.'
Julian Gravatt, director of funding and development at the Association of Colleges, told Public Finance: 'We are pleased to see the Conservatives focusing on skills once again. We welcome their call to free colleges from bureaucracy, the attention they pay to intermediate skills and their call for a universal careers service.'
PFjan2007