The government has announced its plans to simplify the UK skills system and make it easier for businesses to access the training that they need.
Skills secretary John Denham welcomed proposals drawn up by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UK CES) in its ‘Simplification of Skills in England’ report.
A key element of the plan is its aim of reducing the level of bureaucracy currently involved in government training provision, skills Csar Chris Humphries told Growing Business.
“The programme will make [training] easier to find, more comprehensive and responsive to your business’ needs.
“It will also reduce the bureaucracy, and therefore the discomfort and pain of working with government support programmes. It’s no good telling them they should train their staff if we don’t make it easier.”
The government’s flagship skills service, Train to Gain, will be completely restructured as part of the plan to make more qualifications and courses publicly funded, with an emphasis on training to improve business productivity.
Another key part of the plan, which Humphries hopes will be fully operational by this time next year, involves the launch of a website, Talentplan, which will enable businesses to quickly locate organisations and services that are relevant to their training needs.
The overhaul follows Tuesday’s announcement that £350m of funding has been reprioritised to help small businesses train their staff, in a bid to help them survive the economic downturn.
Denham pledged a further £98m of skills funding for training in “vital industries” such as biotech, energy conservation and hospitality today, to close the gap between skills levels of British and migrant workers.
Responding to scepticism from the British Chambers of Commerce as to whether businesses will really see a fall in the level of bureaucracy, Humphries said:
“I ran the British Chambers of Commerce for three years and I know how tough the business challenge on this is going to be. I know what businesses are going to be looking for from us and we’re going to do our damnedest to make sure it delivers.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008