Apprentices will have access to cheap cinema tickets, free coffees and discounted gyms and restaurants during this year’s national apprenticeship week.
Retailers Pret a Manger, Prezzo and Cineworld have been mobilised by training provider Lifetime to provide deals and discounts this February for their ‘Big Apprenticeship Thank You’ campaign.
Lifetime said the campaign “aims to go beyond traditional recognition and show thanks to over 700,000 learners who participate annually in over 700 apprenticeship standards, improving the productivity of their businesses and developing their own skills”.
More than 1,000 apprentices have signed up since the campaign was launched on Monday.
Movie-loving apprentices can get tickets for £4 at Cineworld through the scheme between February 7 and 12.
Marie Bhardwaj, head of people development, UK and Ireland at Cineworld, said: “Apprentices are essential to the success of our business, and we are pleased to be able to reward their hard work and dedication by offering a unique experience at one of our cinemas.
“Through The Big Apprenticeship Thank You, we can congratulate not only our own apprentices but also recognise anyone who has chosen to invest in their learning and development through an apprenticeship nationwide.”
Meanwhile, Prezzo is offering apprentices £5 pizzas between February 9 and 12 and Pret free coffee on February 14. Greene King and the gym chain Everyone Active will also offer deals and discounts.
Dan Howard
Organiser Dan Howard, partnership development director at Lifetime said: “This campaign is all about not just celebrating apprentices, but really giving back. Across the UK in every sector, apprentices are juggling the demands of work and study, while developing their own skills for the long term and supporting national economic growth.
“We’re delighted that so many of our partners recognise this invaluable contribution and have joined us in launching this initiative.”
MPs will question Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver next week on the watchdog’s progress in addressing concerns raised by a coroner following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Oliver, who has just marked one year in the role, will appear in front of the Parliamentary education committee on Tuesday, alongside national education director Lee Owston and national regulation and social care director Yvette Stanley.
The committee said it would “scrutinise Sir Martyn’s progress in addressing the coroner’s concerns, implementing the previous committee’s recommendations, and responding to the inspectorate’s own Big Listen public consultation”.
MPs will ask about new report cards
In September 2024, the new government axed single-phrase headline judgments for schools with immediate effect. It plans to remove them for FE and skills providers in September 2025. Ofsted is currently developing plans to replace current inspection reports with a system of report cards.
Last month, the watchdog announced it will soon trial “a new approach to inspections” ahead of a consultation on its new inspection framework, which is likely to include longer notice periods for providers and “proportionate” inspection teams.
Committee chair Helen Hayes
MPs will ask Oliver about “forthcoming changes such as the use of report cards instead of Ofsted’s single-word judgements from September 2025, and improving scrutiny of how schools manage to be inclusive to pupils with SEND”.
A spokesperson for the committee added: “He will also be asked about new government proposals for schools to receive shorter annual reviews of their safeguarding practices, and for Ofsted to gain new powers to inspect multi-academy trusts – both policies recommended by the previous committee.
“There may be questions on changes that appear to be outstanding, such as setting a new time frame for publishing reports following the inspection of a school, and how Ofsted will ensure its inspectors have specialist knowledge of the subjects and lessons they observe.”
College principals, governors, a former education union leader and a well-known vocational education professor are among the recipients of the 2025 new year honours for services to education.
This year’s list includes one damehood, five CBEs, two OBEs, ten MBEs and two British Empire Medals for people linked to further education and skills.
Professor Alison Fuller has been made a Dame. For over two decades Fuller has been a leading academic researching and advising governments on apprenticeships, vocational training and work. Her recent work on apprenticeships includes a paper on the future of quality in apprenticeships, advising the Department for Education on T Levels and was a member of Labour’s commission on lifelong learning.
Fuller said: “I was hugely surprised and humbled to be recognised for my services to higher education. I am delighted to accept this honour, and on behalf of all the inspirational and committed people I have worked with in vocational, further and higher education and that have helped and supported me throughout my career.”
Joining Fuller at the top of the list were the former schools minister Nick Gibb, former West Midlands mayor Andy Street and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who have been knighted.
Former Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton has been made a CBE for services to education. Former English teacher Barton stood down from the leaders’ union earlier this year after seven years at the helm.
Geoff Barton
He said: “I feel a genuine sense of pride at receiving this honour, especially because when a formal-looking letter arrived in November marked ‘for addressee only’ my wife assumed I’d got a speeding fine.”
He added that receiving his award for “services to education” felt “to me particularly special as I wouldn’t have gone into education if it hadn’t been for an extraordinary English teacher back in my teenage years”.
“This honour demonstrates that education isn’t on the periphery, that it matters, and I see it as a recognition of the extraordinary, humane leadership of all of those people I have worked with, learnt from, and represented over the years.”
Doing the honours
Three college principals and one former chair of governors have also been named CBEs.
Fazal Dad, principal and CEO of Blackburn College, Gerard McDonald, group principal and CEO of New City College and Satwant Deol, The Henley College’s former principal and CEO, have each been honoured for services to further education.
Dad told FE Week he was “deeply honoured” and the gong was “testament to the dedication and passion of all those I have had the privilege of working with in advancing opportunities and outcomes for learners”.
Dr Fazal Dad at Blackburn College
McDonald told FE Week he was “deeply humbled to have received this honour and grateful for the recognition it brings for the further education sector”.
Joining them as a CBE this year is Alastair Da Costa, who recently stood down as chair of Capital City College Group’s board. Da Costa oversaw several college mergers to form one of the largest college groups in the country, having previously chaired one of its former colleges, City and Islington College.
Over the last decade, Da Costa has also served as a commissioner on the government’s Social Mobility Commission, the council of the University of Sussex and the board of the London School of Economics.
Da Costa said: “It is a tremendous honour for me to receive this award, but it is also a great recognition for further education and the many people in FE I have worked with over the past 13 years.”
Hullraiser made OBE
Lynette Leith
Hull College vice principal and Bradford College governor Lynette Leith has been made an OBE for services to further education. Leith began her career in FE in 2008 as a hairdressing lecturer, but she quickly rose through the ranks of curriculum management to senior leader at various colleges, including Uxbridge College, Hertford Regional College, and Loughborough College.
Leith said: “Receiving this recognition is incredibly humbling. For me, this reflects the wonderful FE sector and the many teams and individuals that have coached, counselled, and guided me along the way.
“Most importantly, this is recognition of the entire Hull College team – The Hullraisers. It is a genuine privilege to work with the team every day, and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together. I am honoured, humbled and proud.”
South Bank Colleges executive principal Fiona Morey has also been made an OBE, while principals Abigail Appleton (Hereford College of Arts), Andrew Cropley (West Nottinghamshire College), Peter Kennedy (Franklin College) and Michael Kilbride (Birkenhead Sixth Form College) have been named MBEs.
Morey said: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of the further education sector and to work with so many amazing staff who give so much to support the thousands of young people and adults that benefit from the life-changing opportunities colleges provide in their local communities.”
Cropley, who has led West Nottinghamshire College since 2019, said he was “extremely humbled” by the award, which he accepts “as part of the incredible team at West Nottinghamshire College.”
He added: “Whilst this honour marks an incredible milestone, we are absolutely committed to being even more responsive to our community’s needs. There is still much to do, and I can’t wait for the next chapter.”
Also among new MBEs was Kate Barclay for services to education and skills. Barclay is on the board of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and used to chair the life sciences and industrial sciences trailblazer group.
The 2025 new year honours roll: FE and skills
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Alison Fuller, professor of vocational education and work at University College London, for services to higher education
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Geoff Barton, former general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, for services to education
Alastair da Costa, former chair of Capital City College Group, for services to further education
Fazal Dad, principal and CEO, Blackburn College, for services to further education
Satwant Deol, former principal and CEO, The Henley College, for services to further education
Gerard McDonald, group principal and CEO, New City College, for services to further education
Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Lynette Leith, vice principal for curriculum and skills, Hull College, for services to further education
Fiona Morey, executive principal, South Bank Colleges, for services to further education
Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
Abigail Appleton, principal, Hereford College of Arts, for services to further education
Katherine Barclay, board member, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, for services to education and skills
Andrew Cropley, principal of West Nottinghamshire College and chair of Mansfield Place Board, for services to the community of Ashfield and Mansfield
Gareth Hopkins, apprenticeship programme manager at the Forestry Commission, for services to forestry
Catherine Hitchen, professional adviser on SEND at the Department for Education, for services to education and SEND
Gary Horne, deputy chief executive of Colchester Institute, for services to education
Peter Kennedy, former executive principal of Franklin College, for services to further education
Michael Kilbride, principal of Birkenhead Sixth Form College, for services to education
Christine Lyness, governor at Ashton Sixth Form College, for services to education
Wendy Mackie, managing director and deputy designated safeguarding lead at Works4U, for services to education
Medallists of the Order of the British Empire
Marlene Burt, governor at Christ the King Sixth Form College, Bexley, London, for services to further education
Maggie Waring, independent living manager at Portland College, for services to people with disabilities or social care needs
If you think a name has been missed, please email news@feweek.co.uk
The former joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) has been made a life peer by prime minister Keir Starmer.
Mary Bousted, who led the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and then the NEU between 2003 and 2023, was one of 30 new peers nominated by Starmer.
Others included Anne Longfield, the former children’s commissioner, and former Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan who served as minister for further education in the last Labour government.
Bousted, a former teacher and president of the TUC, is now an honorary professor at the Institute of Education, UCL, and leads an NEU-funded teaching commission.
Bousted told sister paper Schools Week she was “delighted to be appointed a Labour life peer”.
She added: “My life’s work has been education. I want to work for the profession and for pupils in the Lords and to support the Labour party’s reforming agenda”.
Longfield was the children’s commissioner at the Department for Education from 2015 to 2021, and has since founded the Centre for Young Lives.
She previously led a national children’s charity, 4Children, and worked on the delivery of the Sure Start programme as a policy advisor in the Cabinet Office.
Former Capital City College Group governor Simon Pitkeathley was also made a life peer by Starmer.
Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch nominated six peers and Sir Ed Davey nominated two peers on behalf of the Liberal Democrats.
Toby Young, co-founder of the West London Free School and director of the New Schools Network was nominated by Badenoch.
In total, government appointed 30 new Labour peers, including “party-gate” investigator Sue Gray – just two months after she stepped down as the prime minister’s chief of staff.
While in opposition in 2022, Labour pledged to abolish the Lords and replace it with a “new, reformed upper chamber”.
But it watered this down before the election, with its manifesto promising a consultation to replace the House of Lords with a “more representative” alternative chamber.
It committed to removing the 92 remaining sitting places for hereditary peers – left over as a compromise from a Tony Blair-era purge – and introducing a retirement age of 80.
There is still much we don’t know about Skills England, from how it will deliver on high-level policy targets to how it will avoid the pitfalls of previous incarnations. However, we do know that 2025 promises to be a year of significant change – and with change comes opportunity.
As the sector positions itself to take advantage of the ongoing consultation phase and to share views collectively, we must find ways to ensure that employers can have their voices heard.
Coordinating a collaborative reform on this scale necessarily means making choices about representation, but employers are the ones witnessing skills gaps and facing retention and recruitment challenges. Without their buy-in, policy pledges like the industrial strategy and the Youth Guarantee will be hamstrung from the outset.
As the department for education and Skills England are consulting, at Lifetime we’ve also been in listening mode. We’ve brought together employer partners from across sectors to understand what they would want to see from reforms and from independent training provider support more broadly as we enter this new phase.
Closing the skills gaps
One key observation is just how universal – and familiar – their pain-points are. Employers consistently identify critical gaps in soft skills, digital literacy and leadership competencies.
They witness daily how a disconnect between education and employment can lead to disappointment and dissatisfaction in early-career roles. And they see that despite being digital natives, young people are often unequipped to utilise work-essential tools such as Microsoft Word.
Employers also recognise that young peoples’ expectations of the world of work are changing, with flexibility more highly prized than by previous generations. This creates an undeniable challenge, particularly for sectors such as retail, care and hospitality, where the potential for that flexibility is more limited.
With flexibility being the buzzword of Labour’s emerging skills approach, it is positive that the rigidity of apprenticeship programmes with regards to duration and functional skills are at least being addressed.
Unfortunately, and despite decades of campaigning from our sector, employers still find that apprenticeships are poorly understood.
Old habits die hard, and many find that young people are put off pursuing apprenticeships because of outdated misconceptions that they are ‘just’ for electricians and plumbers, or ‘just’ for those who are not suited to an academic path.
The fact that we have not managed to significantly move the dial on this perception highlights how essential employer collaboration is. Without involving them in the conversation, we risk preaching only to the choir.
We need their support to demonstrate real-world case studies and highlight inspiring success stories which counter misconceptions, as well as to tailor apprenticeship programmes to industry-specific needs, making them fit for purpose.
Balancing priorities
Many have already argued that Skills England should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. It must balance the need to move swiftly in response to skills shortages with creating something which does not repeat its predecessors’ mistakes.
There are already several examples of successful employer involvement which Skills England should emulate. We know from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s trailblazer groups that involving employers in the process of shaping apprenticeship standards can be successful, delivering job role-aligned occupational standards.
Given how many of the challenges employers experience are long-standing (and therefore risk becoming intractable), there is also a need for new forms of engagement. We’re facilitating roundtables early next year to listen to employers’ views around foundation apprenticeships so we can feed these insights in at a policy level.
As we enter 2025, the stakes could hardly be higher. Without meaningful employer involvement, we risk perpetuating a skills mismatch that stifles innovation and hampers economic growth.
But by placing employers at the heart of the conversation, we can benefit from their collective insight as co-creators of a reformed and effective skills system.
Parliament’s education select committee has launched a major inquiry to find solutions for the growing crisis in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.
Expert witnesses will be called for hearings in the new year to suggest ways to stabilise the creaking SEND system in the short term and offer longer-term solutions to improve outcomes for children and young people up to age 25.
In the meantime, the committee is now inviting evidence from learners, parents, local authorities and education professionals.
Its call for evidence lists over 40 topics of concern for the committee along five themes: support for young people with SEND, current and future SEND needs, current and future model of SEND provision, accountability and inspection of SEND provision and finance, funding and capacity of SEND provision.
In addition to questions on future demands on local authority finances for SEND provision, the committee will also ask about how councils should improve their transport offer to post 16 students.
Questions will also be raised about the improvements needed in post 16 provision, including whether qualifications on offer are fit for purpose.
Not another one
This inquiry follows numerous research reports on the SEND system this year alone from organisations like the Local Government Association, Education Policy Institute, and the National Audit Office. All of them point to a system struggling to cope with rapidly rising demand amid deteriorating local authority budgets.
But it’s been five years since the parliamentary committee last held an inquiry on SEND.
Education committee chair Helen Hayes said: “In recent years, report after report has documented the failures of the SEND system to deliver the support children and their families need.
Helen Hayes MP
“This crisis has many symptoms that bleed into the rest of the education system: from attrition in the teaching workforce to soaring levels of pupil absence. There are also symptoms which blight local councils’ budgets – ever-increasing spending on transporting pupils to settings far from where they live and the chaos of money being poured into tribunals that parents are expected to win.
“It’s widely accepted that many more councils could face effective bankruptcy if change doesn’t come soon.”
An FE Week investigation earlier this year found councils signed up to so-called ‘safety valve’ deals were cutting the use of specialist SEND provision for post 16 students in favour of places at general FE colleges that aren’t always equipped to meet their needs.
And a recent survey by specialist college body Natspec revealed 65 per cent of their members had students start late this year because of issues with local authority arranged transport.
Written evidence that addresses some or all of the committee’s lines of enquiry can be submitted from now until January 30.
Ofsted will trial “a new approach to inspections” ahead of a consultation on its new inspection framework, which is likely to include longer notice periods for providers and “proportionate” inspection teams.
A “small number of volunteer schools” have been selected to “informally test” a revised inspection model from the start of the spring term. Findings from these informal pilots will then inform Ofsted’s consultation on a new inspection framework, expected later in January.
Further education and skills settings will also get to trial the inspectorate’s new approach, but not until “later in the term” once its proposals have been published.
Ofsted has not set out what will be different in those early informal pilots in volunteer schools.
A new inspection framework has been on the cards since chief inspector Martyn Oliver’s Big Listen exercise. Its next iteration is likely to diverge from Ofsted’s current model which places all education provision under one governing inspection framework.
Oliver told FE Week in September that a new framework for FE and skills inspections would “better tailor our inspections to the diverse range of provision in the sector.”
“This means the framework needs to work as well for classroom-focused qualifications as it does for employer-led vocational and technical training,” he said at the time.
Once next year’s consultation has closed, Ofsted has promised more pilot inspections to test its final proposals with a number of volunteer providers. It will also run a series of events to inform the sector of its new approach.
This will come as Ofsted prepares to finally abandon single-word overall effectiveness judgments in the FE and skills sector and replace its inspection reports with provider “report cards” in September 2025.
Despite the education secretary describing single-word headline judgments as “reductive” and “low information, high stakes”, they have remained in place for FE and skills inspections. They were removed for school inspections in September, but Ofsted said it needed more time to remove them from FE inspections because “FE is a little more complicated.”
Alongside dropping the headline overall effectiveness grade and new proposed “report cards”, next year’s pilots could also include longer notice periods.
Paul Joyce, Ofsted’s deputy director for FE and skills, told the AELP autumn conference in November that notice periods of inspections featured heavily in the sector’s response to the Big Listen.
Joyce said: “You wanted longer notice periods for providers, and we’ve listened. We’ve heard that, and we’ll respond in due course.”
Ofsted’s Big Listen report card
Ofsted has also published its first “monitoring report” detailing progress towards 132 actions from the Big Listen and Dame Christine Gilbert’s review of the inspectorate’s response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. It will be updated after every Ofsted board meeting.
So far, just under a third (42) of the 132 actions have been completed.
One of its objectives for reform is to “improve our inspection processes to – as far as possible – reduce the anxiety of inspection while always putting children first.”
For FE and skills providers, Ofsted said the progress it has made on this includes updating the inspection handbook in September to clarify how personal development and behaviour and attitude judgments are made.
It adds, under “update on progress,” that the sector will be consulted on changes to inspection notice periods and the size of inspection teams to “reduce the burden” on FE and skills providers.
Oliver, said: “Our response to the Big Listen set out our determination to retain the confidence of children, their parents and carers, and to earn back the trust of the dedicated professionals working hard to improve children’s life chances.
“I’m pleased to now be publishing this first monitoring report, which describes all the work we are doing to improve our culture and practices. I hope that it shows that we are willing to listen, accept challenge, and take action where it’s needed.
“I am also delighted that the work to trial our new inspection approach begins in early January. Feedback from these trials, and from our soon-to-be-launched consultation, will shape and improve our proposals.”
Strict performance measures for intensive upskilling courses launched during the pandemic meant some providers only focused on “job ready” candidates, an evaluation of learners has revealed.
This week the Department for Education (DfE) published an evaluation of completions and outcomes from skills bootcamps in the 2021-22 ‘wave 2’ of courses, which ended in March 2022.
More than 18,000 learners started bootcamps in that year, with the majority enrolled on courses covering digital skills such as coding, and heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driving.
The evaluation found that for some, the experimental courses – which last up to sixteen weeks and are supposed to include a “guaranteed” job interview – have been transformative, leading learners to good ‘outcomes’ such as new roles and improved pay.
But others, often from more deprived areas, were less likely to complete the course or see a positive impact on their employment.
Targets set by the DfE and the intensive structure of the course also meant some providers changed their tactics to achieve better outcome targets by recruiting “job-ready” candidates who already had higher-level qualifications.
This indicates that, although the courses enhanced skills for some individuals, the likelihood of benefiting those with fewer opportunities diminished.
The evaluation is based on in depth interviews and 430 surveys with providers, learners and employers. Here’s what you need to know:
Targets ‘unrealistically high’
Some providers—80 percent of whom were independent training providers—felt that the key performance indicators (KPIs) assigned to them were “unrealistic.”
This included a target of a job interview for 100 per cent of participants and strict evidence criteria for showing DfE learners achieved positive outcomes.
Evidencing positive outcomes was a “barrier” due to the time-consuming task of chasing learners after they left the course and the six-month “cut-off” for collating evidence.
The KPIs also failed to measure success differently based on learners’ profiles, such as whether they had been long-term unemployed, ex-offenders, or new entrants to a sector.
Recruitment
Some of the ways providers found to improve their KPIs led to “strategies to reduce non-completion”, such as vetting candidates to prioritise the “job ready”.
One provider told researchers they changed their approach after initially prioritising “hitting recruitment targets” over recruiting the right learners.
Another said they later began favouring participants whose employer co-funded the course or who were “job-ready and able to complete their course and achieve a successful outcome.”
One company reduced its contracted learners to cut its drop out rate, improve its reputation with employers and concentrate on “high-quality delivery and wraparound support for learners”.
Other strategies to improve KPIs through recruitment included asking learners to sign a ‘contract’ promising to keep providers informed about their outcomes. Some also negotiated with the DfE over definitions of a positive outcome and focused some staff on achieving and evidencing outcomes.
Transformative for some
As DfE statistics have already shown, the programme delivered positive outcomes for 6,480 participants, about one-third of those who started the course.
One learner said the course was “genuinely life changing.” It provided training they could not afford, gave them confidence, and supported them through interviews.
However, the data showed that outcome rates were worse for learners from deprived areas, with lower existing qualification levels, who were on universal credit or who had caring responsibilities.
Guaranteed job interviews rare
Only one in four learners received the “guaranteed” job interview, a key selling point of the course.
Some learners felt “disappointment” and felt the course had been “mis-sold” when they found out the interview was not available or in line with their expectations.
But three in five told researchers the course helped them find new employment, either by being included on their CVs or by preparing them for interviews.
Drop out reasons
An analysis of management information suggests that one in six (16 per cent) learners dropped out of their courses before completing them.
One-third of those learners who were surveyed said the course failed to meet their expectations.
Other common reasons included getting a new job during the course and personal commitments such as childcare.
Interviews suggested that some participants felt the course was inappropriate, while others appeared to lack commitment because it was free.
One provider said demands of the intensive course were also too “full-on” for some.
‘Useful feedback’
AELP chief executive Ben Rowland said: “While this report only covers outcomes from the very early stages of the Skills Bootcamps programme, it does contain some useful feedback, particularly on the higher success rates independent training providers deliver and how the demanding KPIs attached to the funding can have unintended consequences.
“That said, this evaluation report relates to 2021-22 financial year when the now well-established programme was in its infancy and should be read in that context”
This week the government published its plans for a ‘devolution revolution’, setting out how it intends to ‘unleash power from Whitehall back into communities that know their areas best’. But is what we’re getting radical enough?
Having spent the past three years working in a combined authority, I have seen first-hand the transformational impact that place-based approaches to employment and skills can have in addressing the skills needs of people, places and local businesses. The prospect of both deeper devolution to existing mayoral areas and of wider devolution to new areas of the country is therefore extremely welcome.
Indeed, I would argue that devolution – alongside a renewed focus on understanding and meeting sector skills needs – is critical to the delivery of the government’s growth ambitions, and particularly to ensuring that the benefits are felt across all parts of the country.
So, are we on the verge of a devolution revolution for skills?
A leap forward
On a positive note, the commitment to full devolution coverage of England provides an exciting opportunity to extend flexibilities that have previously been enjoyed in areas such as the West Midlands to other parts of the country.
Alongside this, measures to support greater collaboration between strategic authorities should also improve the sharing of effective practice and mitigate some of the risks of fragmentation that employers who work across national and regional boundaries are increasingly concerned about.
The removal of ringfences from Skills Bootcamps and Free Courses for Jobs funding and the introduction of integrated settlements for some mayoral areas is also good news. This will provide valuable flexibility to direct funding towards addressing local needs and supporting skills development for regional growth sectors, both of which should deliver better value for money and improve outcomes for learners and business alike.
Perhaps most exciting of all is the opportunity to align skills investment with growth funding, with employment support and with local transport services to ensure that more adults can be trained, supported and empowered to access good jobs in their local area.
Bolder moves required
But to me, it still feels like we are taking an incremental approach to what the centre is willing to give away, rather than a more holistic and strategic approach to delivering the step change that is needed for skills to ignite growth across the country.
The move towards aligning local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) with the sector skills priorities in local growth plans is welcome. However, I am not convinced that joint ownership between strategic authorities and employee representative bodies (ERBs) will achieve this.
Instead, I would have liked to have seen LSIPs devolved to strategic authorities as a vital enabler to their statutory duties in relation to local growth plans, alongside a recognition of the valuable role that sector skills bodies can play in supporting local areas to understand and meet sectoral needs.
I was also disappointed to see no further influence for mayors around wider skills investment. At present, the mayor of the West Midlands has influence over just 10 per cent of overall skills spending in the region. However effectively this is spent, it is inconceivable that he will be able to address the persistent skills challenges facing the region with such partial levers.
I expect Richard Parker and other mayors to continue to argue for a greater role alongside providers and employers in shaping the 16-19 skills offer for their regions as well as for a strategic role in shaping the new growth and skills levy and in creating more apprenticeship opportunities, particularly for young people.
So it seems that the English devolution white paper is more evolution than revolution. It’s a step in the right direction, but a smaller step than I was hoping to see. In this context, I am encouraged that the proposals are described as a “floor on our ambition, not a ceiling”.
The challenge now will be to demonstrate the impact of what this step can achieve, and then use it to make a case for the next. This is a challenge – and an opportunity – that we must all come together to embrace.
Having recently taken up a new role at Skills Federation, it has become clearer to me that while mayors and strategic authorities are best placed to understand the particular needs of their local areas, many of our sector skills challenges are national as well as local.
Overlaying the expertise of sector skills bodies onto that of places, will now be vital if we are serious about creating a coherent skills eco-system that works for everyone, about helping reduce duplication of effort across regions and about ensuring the development and delivery of effective solutions to meet shared skills needs.
