Conservative Party Conference

Fringe Event - Who should pays for skills?

The fringe event on 'who should pay for skills' was chaired by Graham Stuart MP and chair of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, with Skills Minister John Hayes MP, Chris Banks who led the independent review of fees for further education, John Stone chief executive of LSN, and Lord Digby Jones, Business Ambassador. The main proposition was that there needs to be a rebalancing of who pays fees with the individual, government and the employer contributing.

There is concern that by colleges and providers often waiving the fee, and employers often paying in kind rather than in cash, in effect the funding for courses has defaulted to too low a level as only government funding is used. This limits colleges' and providers' investment in both the quality and the range of provision offered, as there is not enough cash. The Banks' review recommends that colleges and providers receive government funding after the fees from individuals and/or employers have been collected.

There was strong support for government needing to subsidise fees for adults who are disadvantaged. Other key themes included a sense of outrage about the numbers of young people and adults with poor literacy and numeracy skills and the need for more action, as this gap impacts hugely for individuals and their life chances and on both public and private employers.

There was also a feeling that small businesses might need support from government for skills, not larger ones. The 50% deadweight in Train to Gain was highlighted (national audit office findings), and although OECD finds that the UK has high levels of training in the workplace the actual hours are very low in comparison with other OECD countries - so it does not add up to enough. The US has some 29% licence to practise trades and professions but in the UK only 13.5% and raising this level needs looking at.

Government's thinking about a new Skills Strategy was described as having six priorities:

1) employers and individuals should drive what is offered, and good information and guidance is crucial

2) there is a duty and an obligation for those who can to pay

3) colleges and providers need more freedom within their funding so they can respond

4) adult and community learning is really important and needs reinvigorating

5) better incentives for innovation and economic growth through skills - skills matter and vocational learning should be accorded high status

6) UK needs a more productive workforce, and there are skills shortages and gaps as we speak eg skills in using new technology.

As skills and the importance of vocational teaching and learning was a very strong theme in discussions, IfL sought views on the need for proper recognition of the expert teachers with QTLS and school teachers with QTS. There was strong support, and IfL will follow up and influence further.