PM’s Lifetime Skills promise is welcomed
Government plans to transform the training and skills system have been welcomed by a manufacturing chief.
In a bid to up-skill the UK workforce to aid the post-Covid economic recovery, the Prime Minster has announced that from next April, every adult without an A-Level or equivalent qualification will be able to study a college course that is “valued by employers” for free. This is known as the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
Christopher Greenough, chief commercial officer at Shrewsbury-based SDE Technology, said: "This is a welcome initiative that will help us with a highly skilled workforce going forward.
"But with the news that training providers are struggling, the Government needs to support both FE and private training providers with short and long-term cash injections, to maintain a training sector capable of the volumes that will be required over the coming years.
"Only recently we had the sad news that GB Training (UK) Ltd, an independent training provider in Birmingham, has ceased trading. This has left 70 staff without jobs and the capacity for training literally thousands of youngsters now lost.
"So, the time has come for less rhetoric and less unsubstantiated promises, what we need is real action and real support for the training sector. Only with world-class training provision can we expect lifetime skills to be delivered.
"I have been in communication with both local and central Government, but had little in the way of response, apart from general interest and agreement that more needs to be done.
"The scheme roll-out is a welcome step, and indeed shows the Government continue to look for innovative ways to help kick-start the economy. 2020 has been an unprecedented year, but we have to look to the future and remain positive.
"But, it will be a catastrophe that we will not be able to recover from, if we lose more training providers while the Government continue to spend the promised £2.5 billion, with more than £1.5 billion of which is going on buildings."
Shrewsbury-based SDE Technology is one of the largest manufacturers of pressings and assemblies in the UK.
