Committee to question Ministers on skills and training
The Industry and Regulators Committee will discuss the findings of its inquiry into skills and training with Skills Minister Baroness Smith of Malvern and Employment Minister Alison McGovern MP. The Committee wrote to Ministers last month, explaining its view that the skills system is complex, short-term and lacks strategic direction. The Committee called on the Government to develop a simpler system through its strategy for post-16 education, with greater long-term funding for a smaller number of priorities and programmes. The Committee also argued that apprenticeships have increasingly become a means of training older and existing workers, reducing opportunities for younger people. The Committee suggested that there is a case for ring-fencing a substantial proportion of Growth and Skills Levy funding for young people, new starters, or lower levels of qualifications.
The Committee will also discuss how to increase employer investment in training, the establishment of Skills England, the balance between devolution to local areas and a coherent national system, and how the Government’s youth guarantee of access to education, training or employment support will be delivered.
Meeting details
Possible questions include:
- What plans does the Government have to simplify the skills system by focusing on a smaller number of strategic priorities?
- Will the post-16 education strategy and the Get Britain Working White Paper be closely linked with the Government’s industrial strategy?
- What will the Government do to boost employer investment in training?
- What is the Government’s view of the purpose of apprenticeships?
- How will the Government ensure that further education receives sufficient funding to fulfil its role in delivering the youth guarantee?