Skills England Launched

The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson has announced the creation of Skills England, tasked with building stronger, more coherent connections between skills partners including employers, education and training providers, unions and combined authorities.

“Where skills gaps are identified,” she argued, “We need the system to support more rapid development and delivery of high-quality training opportunities which employer and learners understand and can access. Skills England will help ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.”

Skills England will bring together employers, education and training providers, unions, experts, combined authorities and national Government to:

• develop a single picture of national skills needs
• identify the priority areas for skills training, including the training for which the new growth and skills levy will be accessible
• play a crucial role in ensuring that the national and regional skills systems are aligned in meeting skills needs