The government has launched its hunt for a permanent chair and seven board members to oversee its new quango, Skills England.
Labour ministers, who hope the organisation will fix the “fragmented and broken” skills system, are expected to form Skills England as a full arm’s length body over the next “six to nine months”.
Richard Pennycook, a Department for Education non-executive director and former boss of the Co-operative Group, was named interim chair last month. An interim chief executive is yet to be appointed.
Adverts for a permanent chair and seven board members went live yesterday.
According to job applications, the chair and board will be expected to spend 20 days per year delivering “clear strategic direction, specialist expertise and independent scrutiny” to Skills England.
The chair, paid £25,000 per year, will work closely with the CEO and board to set the organisation’s objectives, support “effective decision making” and “deliver high standards” of corporate governance.
The government is seeking a strategic thinker, with good communication skills and experience driving forward the work of an organisation.
This could include expertise in skills or migration, preferably through academia, a think tank, business or a public body.
By early November, all shortlisted candidates are expected to be interviewed by an advisory assessment panel, comprised of senior representatives from the DfE, Skills England and an independent panel member.
The successful candidate will serve a term of up to three years once Skills England is fully operational.
Board members – paid £10,000 to £15,000 per year – will be expected to provide “independent perspective and insight” to the responsible minister, helping set key strategic objectives and identifying “high-quality feedback loops” between the government and skills bodies across the country.
Other duties include ensuring Skills England complies with its legal duties, spends public funds appropriately and observes “high standards of corporate governance”.
The DfE has been recruiting for other Skills England roles in recent weeks. For example, it is currently recruiting a £75,000-a-year operations deputy director to help “develop and drive forward the design and set up” of the new body.
Boards of similar government bodies such as the DfE meet seven times last year, while the board of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, whose functions will transfer to Skills England and potentially many of its staff, met six times.
The government hopes Skills England will help the country meet regional and national skills needs over the next decade by developing a “single picture” of skills needs and prioritising funding for training.
Ministers have confirmed Skills England will also decide what non-apprenticeship training courses employers can fund through the proposed growth and skills levy, which is set to replace the apprenticeship levy.
Labour has said Skills England’s work will sit alongside a national industrial strategy and a requirement for towns, cities and regions to produce “local growth plans”.
During the general election campaign, Labour accused the previous government of lacking “a proper plan” to address national skills shortages.
The party promised to cut overseas recruitment and overall immigration figures by targeting training at key sectors.
Earlier this month, home secretary Yvette Cooper wrote to the migration advisory committee asking it whether training is one of the factors behind at high levels of foreign visas granted to IT and engineering professionals.
“The current high levels of international recruitment reflect weaknesses in the labour market including persistent skills shortages in the UK,” she wrote.
“The current approach is not sustainable and the system as it exists is not operating in the national interest. “This government will deliver a fair, coherent, more joined up approach to the labour market by linking immigration with skills policy.”
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