Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson have announced the launch of Skills England.
The initiative is designed to unify the ‘broken’ skills landscape and establish a shared national ambition to boost its citizens’ abilities.
Skills are essential to economic growth, contributing to a third of productivity improvements over the past two decades.
However, the period from 2017-2022 saw the skills shortage double, impacting over half a million vacancies and representing 36% of job openings.
“Our skills system is in a mess, which is why we are transforming our approach to meet skills needs over the coming decades,” said Sir Keir.
“They will help to deliver our number one mission as a government, to kickstart economic growth, by opening up new opportunities for young people and enabling British businesses to recruit more home-grown talent.”
Skills England will integrate central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to address the skills needs of the next decade across all regions.
The organisation will provide strategic oversight of the post-16 skills system in alignment with the government’s Industrial Strategy.
Dr Adeshola Cole, CEO of Tritek Consulting, said: “Skills play a crucial role in all organisations so the government’s focus on upskilling through Skills England is encouraging to see.
“As part of this launch, the government should work closely with educators and industry to bridge the gap between the curriculum and the skills that employers need in the workplace, better equipping young people to transition into their first role.
“Areas such as AI and FinTech are moving quickly, requiring a new generation of digitally skilled people to oversee innovation and continue driving these sectors forward to fuel economic growth.”
The first phase of Skills England’s launch involves the setting up of the organisation within the next 9-12 months.