Skills England

Unions have embraced the government’s launch of Skills England — a new body which, Labour says,will deal with Britain's "fragmented and broken" skills training system.

“Our members are the experts in skilling up students, and it is high time to reset relationships between government and educators,” commented UCU university and college union general secretary Jo Grady.

“The government now needs to make sure there are enough college teachers in place to reskill England.”

She said that colleges face a recruitment crisis because teachers in further education earn £9,000 less than their counterparts in schools. “Reskilling England will therefore require significant investment.”

Prospect specialists’ union senior deputy general secretary Sue Ferns said the body “is a welcome commitment to tackling the chronic skills shortages we face ... Without a coherent skills strategy, tied closely to a modern industrial strategy, we will not deliver growth and deliver on decarbonising the economy.”