Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of predicted skills shortages in each sector as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

The department recently conducted the latest Employer Skills Survey, which provides robust assessments of skills shortages across the UK by region and by sector. The results of this survey will be published later in 2018 and will provide insight into different industries’ skill needs. Findings from the previous Employer Skills Survey in 2015, which was run by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, are available on GOV.UK. The department also holds responsibility for Working Futures, which provides labour market projections https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-labour-market-projections-2014-to-2024.

We are making our skills system more responsive to employer needs. As a part of this, the department is working with local areas to bring about a closer alignment between skills supply (from FE Colleges, training providers, apprenticeships, as well as centrally-held programmes) and local employer demand. We are also supporting employers to lead the design of new technical education programmes (including apprenticeships and T-levels) to meet the specific skills needs of their industries. This provides an opportunity for employers to maintain and enhance the skills of their workforce.