The talents and skills of everyone in the UK must be used to the full if the country is going to weather the current economic storm, says the government.

The new UK Commission for Employment and Skills has to work to make the most of the abilities of “every single person in our society” or the country will find it much more difficult to survive the tough economic conditions.

Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills John Denham told commissioners, MPs, peers and leading figures from the world of employment and skills last night: “The challenge to get skills right is even more important now than it was a year ago – it’s critical to our future prosperity. We live in a world in which the economic conditions are more challenging than we’ve known for a long time, and they are affecting every country in the world.

“Our ability to come through these challenges and come out stronger, not weaker, more prosperous, more competitive and with more of our fellow citizens enjoying the fruits of their labours depends on the work people here do to make the most of the talents and skills of every single person in our society.

“If we fail to do that, we will find it much more difficult in the months ahead.”

He was speaking at the first reception held by the UKCES since it replaced the Sector Skills Development Agency on 1st April this year. The event, at Westminster Abbey, was also addressed by employment and welfare reform minister Stephen Timms, Welsh Assembly deputy minister for skills John Griffiths, Northern Ireland employment and learning minister Sir Reg Empey and Scottish children and early years minister Adam Ingram. They each emphasised the importance of the UKCES’s role in achieving the goals set out by Lord Sandy Leitch – improving skills to enable the UK to remain competitive.

UKCES chairman Sir Michael Rake said: “We’re very conscious that we’re operating in an incredibly complex environment. We are determined to make the system clearer, easier to understand and access, simpler to administer.”

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