King’s speech: Government to shift powers from IfATE to ‘Skills England’

A Skills England bill will also involve apprenticeship levy reform role

A Skills England bill will also involve apprenticeship levy reform role

17 Jul 2024, 11:49

More from this author

New legislation that paves the way for a body called Skills England by “transferring functions” from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has been announced in the King’s speech.

In his address for the first state opening of parliament under a Labour government in 15 years, the monarch also confirmed his ministers will “reform the apprenticeship levy”.

The speech sets out the government’s legislative agenda for the next year, which will include a Skills England bill.

Labour pledged to establish Skills England in the run up to the election. The aim of the body will be to “bring together businesses, providers, unions, mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) and national government to ensure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs”, a Number 10 press briefing document said.

There will be consequences for existing quango IfATE, which currently works with employers to develop, approve, review and revise apprenticeships and technical qualifications.

FE Week reported this month that IfATE had reduced its headcount by 30 staff, including second-in-command Rob Nitsch, after being ordered to find savings by the Department for Education.

It is not clear from today’s announcement exactly what parts of the institute will be transferred to Skills England. A timeline for launching the new body has not yet been released.

There is also no mention of Skills England’s responsibilities in areas of higher education, such as the incoming lifelong learning entitlement. Its relationship with HE regulator the Office for Students also gets no mention in today’s King’s speech documents.

Number 10 said: “The Bill will transfer functions from IfATE to Skills England, which will sit at the heart of a system that provides learners with the skills required to thrive in life, businesses with the trained workforce they need to succeed, and local areas with access to the right skills to spur economic growth.

“Skills England will support economic growth by greater coherence to the assessment of skills needs and training landscape; ensuring training programmes are well designed and delivered to meet these needs; and that regional and national skills systems are providing the skilled workforce needed to enable businesses to thrive and to contribute to the Industrial Strategy at the heart of our growth mission.”

Reformed apprenticeship levy role

One key task of Skills England will be to identify non-levy training eligible for funding under Labour’s proposed “growth and skills levy”, set to replace the apprenticeship levy.

Today’s announcement didn’t include any further details about how Labour’s new levy would operate, but the party previously said it plans to allow up to 50 per cent of employer payments to be spent on non-apprenticeship training.

Skills England will “consult on (and maintain a list of) levy-eligible training to ensure value for money, and that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers aligns with skills needs,” Number 10 said today.

The body will also be tasked with developing a “single picture of national and local skills needs”. This will involve Skills England working with industry, the Migration Advisory Committee, unions and the Industrial Strategy Council to “build and maintain a comprehensive assessment of current and future skills needs” to help inform the Department for Education’s policy priorities.

Number 10 said the volume of skills shortage vacancies in England more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, from 226,500 to 531,200. Skills England will “build the evidence base needed to address these gaps and will be responsible for sharing this insight with actors at a national and regional level, supporting the development of provision that addresses this need”.

Skills England will also “ensure that the national and regional skills systems are meeting skills needs and are aligned, including using local and regional vacancy data as part of a robust evidence base”. The body will “convene MCAs and other key stakeholders to identify system issues and provide advice to Government, leading to a more coherent system”.

IfATE and DfE have been approached for comment.

Latest education roles from

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Romero Catholic Academy Trust

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Ormiston Academies Trust

Principal & Chief Executive

Principal & Chief Executive

Truro & Penwith College

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

London & South East Education Group

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

Supporting the UK’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan Through Skills

The UK Government’s Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain strategy sets a legally binding path towards a net-zero transport...

Advertorial
Sponsored post

Project power: ASDAN expands its qualifications portfolio

From 2026, ASDAN’s planned Foundation and Higher Project Qualifications will sit alongside its Extended Project Qualification[CM1] , creating a complete...

Advertorial
ATAs

Spotlight on excellence: Nominations now open for the Apprenticeship & Training Awards 2026

Nominations are open for the 2026 Apprenticeship & Training Awards, celebrating outstanding employers and providers with national recognition, a...

FE Week Reporter
Sponsored post

Funding Adult Green Skills

New sources of funding are available to finance the delivery of green skills to all learners. Government policy is...

Tyler Palmer

More from this theme

Apprenticeships, Politics

Badenoch: I’ll double apprenticeships budget by slashing uni degrees

Leader of the opposition would reintroduce student number controls for 'poor quality' uni courses to fund apprenticeship boost

Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships, Politics

Starmer swerves a deadline for headline ‘two-thirds’ target

'If there’s no date for people to work towards, then it’s just a vague aspiration', says ex-SpAd

Billy Camden
Politics, Skills reform

DWP will take over apprenticeships, minister confirms

Shifting adult skills and apprenticeships policy will give "bigger emphasis on skills", Jacqui Smith claims

Anviksha Patel
Long read, Politics

Reform plots a political tsunami, but skills policy is lost at sea

Farage's turquoise tide: The insurgent party’s supporters want to fix ‘broken Britain’, insisting that trades and industrial automation are...

Jessica Hill

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *