The Leitch Review of Skills

On 5th December 2006, The Leitch Review of Skills published the findings of its two year investigation into the long term skill needs of UK. The following day, the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report signalled the government’s acceptance of the ambitions and principles of the Review, and announced that it “will consider how best to achieve the Leitch ambitions and implement its recommendations, alongside the level of resources it will allocate to them, as part of the 2007 CSR process.”.

Key recommendations of the Review

• Increasing skill attainments at all levels
• Routing public funding of vocational skills through Train to Gain and Learner Accounts
• Strengthening the employer voice on skills
• Launching a new 'pledge' for employers to voluntarily train more employees at work. If insufficient progress has been made by 2010, introduce a statutory right for employees to access workplace training
• Using Investors in People to support delivery of Review recommendations
• Increasing employer investment in higher level qualifications, especially in Apprenticeships and in degree and postgraduate levels
• Raising people's aspirations and awareness of the value of skills, creating a new universal adult careers service to diagnose skill needs with a skills health check available for all
• Government to introduce compulsory education or workplace training up to age 18 following introduction of new diplomas
• Expanding Apprenticeships

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EEF expects there to be further opportunity to influence the implementation of the Leitch Review recommendations, and will be consulting members extensively on these issues.

Text added 11 December 2006