Industry: Training

(asked on 2nd April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the British Chambers of Commerce's Quarterly Economic Survey suggesting a decline of business investment in staff training in the (1) services, and (2) manufacturing sector.


Answered by
Lord Henley Portrait
Lord Henley
This question was answered on 10th April 2019

The Government recognises the importance of business investment in skills in driving productivity. That is why, through its modern Industrial Strategy, this Government is committed to working with sectors across the economy to ensure the workforce is equipped with the skills they will need now and in the future to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the UK.

This includes reforming our technical education system to achieve a world-class status and developing a National Retraining Scheme to support adults to upskill and reskill throughout their career as the economy changes.

We are continuing to work with employers and wider stakeholders on how the apprenticeship levy is spent so that the funding system works effectively and flexibly for industry and supports our commitment to delivering 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020.

For the services sector, the Government works closely with Professional & Business Services (PBS) businesses to understand sector issues through the industry-led Professional and Business Services Council (PBSC) which is made up of representatives from the PBS sector, including Professional Bodies.

The PBSC has a Skills & Inclusion working group focussing on apprenticeships, professional qualifications, social mobility, lifelong learning & digital skills and the effects of immigration on access to and retention of talent. This group collaborates with Government to inform and challenge on the key training & development issues facing the sector and provide insight into future directions such as the emergence of new technology and AI which has the potential to impact future ways of working and employment.

For the manufacturing sector, through Made Smarter, our key national industrial digitalisation programme delivered in partnership with industry, developing an upskilling programme is one of our key priorities. We want to ensure that every worker has the opportunity to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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