Professor Mike Campbell closed this year’s TJ conference in June with a stark assessment of the state of UK skills, declaring that Britain’s future prosperity was dependent on how many people were in work and how productive they were. His statistics show that we are comparatively skills-poor in relation to our competitors, and unless we improve dramatically we will be left behind in the race for economic success.

The same week as Professor Campbell’s speech, Gordon Brown became prime minister and within a few days he split the old DfES into two new ministries: the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) led by Ed Balls and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) under John Denham. Schools are now run by the DCSF and set pre-19 education policy, while the new DIUS focuses on reform of skills for 14-19 year-olds, the universities, research and adult learning.

The new arrangements make schools and colleges for 14-19 year-olds accountable to one set of funding bodies, the local education authorities. This should be positively received as it should encourage curriculum reforms for 14-19 year-olds and the development of new diplomas. It may even mean equal funding between schools and colleges – something that the latter have sought for some time.

General FE college students and apprentices aged 16 to 19 will come under the DIUS and, although 16 to 19 year-olds in general FE colleges will be in institutions that are accountable to DIUS, they and sixth-form college students will be funded by local education authorities. While the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) retains funding for apprenticeships, the loss of responsibility for general FE places reduces its budget by at least half and may put its future in question.

DIUS will cover further education in colleges and adult education institutions, including foundation degrees, and workplace training that attracts public funding. It will take over Train to Gain and basic skills and manage the £4bn adult portion of the LSC budget – hopefully this should see adult skills gaining a much higher profile.

The statement announcing the changes talked of raising the skills of the wider adult workforce, including the unskilled. The new DIUS seems to be a powerful endorsement of the Leitch Review and, by putting adult skills with universities, could also show a determination to boost their importance; but excluding colleges from DIUS responsibilities suggests
that skills and universities are mutually exclusive. Suspicions that universities will enjoy greater official regard are reinforced by the fact that they will get the bulk of the department’s
budget.

There are fears that the creation of these two new departments could hamper efforts to encourage more children from poorer backgrounds to apply to university, and the loss of dialogue between schools and higher education is a nagging concern and seems to indicate a lack of insight into a unified education and skills system. Yet again, the government seems to apply greater value to university students than it does to those struggling to achieve more basic and practical skills.

Time will tell whether these new initiatives will meet the skill requirements of 21st century Britain – but will they be given the time to see?

Debbie Carter, Editor

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