Skills for Productivity
Priorities
Priority 1: Increasing the demand for and supply of higher-level skills
A highly skilled workforce is adaptable to structural changes in the economy and is well positioned to grasp new opportunities. Higher-level skills lead to higher productivity for employers and higher incomes for employees, and are crucial to realising a higher standard of living for the region’s residents. The demand for higher-level skills is increasing and the share of jobs in sectors that use highly skilled labour intensively is set to rise.
The East of England performs below the national average in the proportion of the workforce with higher-level skills - both qualification-based and more transferable skills such as management, leadership, team-working, communication and problem-solving. The region also produces and employs relatively low proportions of graduates and postgraduates relative to the size of the population. To counteract this, we need to establish a virtuous circle, in which employers recognise the value of - and therefore demand - higher-level skills, while highly skilled people can be confident of finding high-quality employment opportunities in the region. This will require increased engagement and investment from employers and individuals in higher education, addressing market failures around information and risk, and ensuring that the higher education system is geared towards meeting workforce needs.
Priority 2: Creating a culture where people aspire to train and learn throughout life
Continuous participation and investment in skills - by individuals, employees and employers - enables our economy to keep pace with global economic and technological change and provides economic security for our residents and workers. Levels of participation in education and training must therefore improve.
In the East of England, a significant number of young people with GCSE achievements leave education early for - often low-skilled, low-wage - work, where no further training or vocational education is offered. This reduces the pool of intermediate and technician-level skills in the region’s labour market. For many adults, particularly those in parts of the region with lasting legacies as low-skilled economies, participation in learning is not seen as an integral part of their working lives. The East of England also has an increasing supply of older workers, who are more likely to have to update their skills but are least likely to participate in training. To motivate young people to stay in education and training and to continue to learn and improve their skills as adults, we must therefore raise aspirations and communicate the links between learning, work and prosperity. With the majority of our 2031 workforce having already left compulsory education, it is particularly important to ensure that the culture of continuous learning becomes embedded in the workplace.
Priority 3: Providing clear progression pathways for learning that improves business performance
Young people taking up vocational and further education opportunities after compulsory school-leaving age will improve their future career prospects, while adults progressing towards higher-level skills will contribute to increased productivity. Individuals must therefore be free to progress up the skills ladder.
In the East of England, many individuals face blockages to progression, with the transition from lower to intermediate and higher-level skills being complicated by different provision and funding arrangements. Progression across the further and higher education divide is particularly problematic due to such issues as non-recognition of further education qualifications by higher education institutions and financial contributions being required from individuals and/or employers. There are also market failures in the provision of work-related learning, with employers often more prepared to invest in skills than in whole qualifications, and workers being unable to commit to full-time learning while remaining in work. Removing barriers to progression, improving the links between further and higher education and offering more flexible provision into the workplace market, often as accredited units that lead to full qualifications and progression over time, are therefore important in improving participation and skills attainment in the region.
Priority 4: Providing education and training that meets the needs of individuals, employers and the economy
Value added from participation in education and training will be maximised if skills provision is economically relevant and meets the needs of individuals, employees and employers. The Leitch Review therefore advocates a shift to a more demand-led system of flexible provision to deliver what employers and individuals need: this will help to manage global market pressures, given the difficulties of predicting and planning the future supply of skills.
At present, the complexity and bureaucracy of skills provision, combined with the large number of qualifications available that are not valued by individuals and employers, has constrained investment in skills. There is therefore a need to assist employers to influence provision and to participate in the design of relevant courses, and to assure existing and planned vocational courses so that they reflect the skills that are valued by employers. Services to help employers identify and meet the training needs of their workers will also need to be expanded, while the format and location of course delivery will need to be flexible to encourage the takeup of learning by individuals and employees. The region’s schools, colleges, universities and other providers will need to adapt and develop their courses and methods of delivery to respond to this challenge. As such, major investment programmes are renewing the region’s schools and further education colleges, while universities are adapting to improve access to higher education.
Implementation priorities
- continuous work between employers, sector skills councils, local authorities, commissioning bodies and providers to understand current and future skills demand
- major upgrades of the skills infrastructure through Building Schools for the Future, the further education capital programme, national skills academies and university expansion programmes
- ensuring accessible and flexible vocational provision and pathways between skills levels and institutions to meet individual business needs
- improving demand for and access to new level 4 products and higher-level skills training in the workforce.