New skills strategy 'marginalises employers'

The Government's new skills strategy has been accused of opening the door to quangos that will marginalise employers, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Announced in the wake of yesterday's unemployment figures, which showed that joblessness among 18-24-year-olds had reached record levels, the Government's Skills for Growth national skills strategy is geared towards a self-proclaimed "bold new ambition": to see 75% of the population either go to university or achieve an advanced technical qualification before the age of 30.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson stressed the "real world outcomes" of the policy, which is designed to see a dramatic expansion of advanced apprenticeships and 'empowerment' of learners, while simplifying how the skills policy is delivered.

However, the CIPD hit out at the 'multi-tiered' approach to skills that it says is enshrined in the white paper, saying that there is little employer input at any of the levels.

And while the organisation highlights what it sees as a rise in "new powers for unaccountable quangos", it points to a reduction in the number of the employer-driven Sector Skills Councils.

CIPD skills advisor Tom Richmond said: "For all the talk of having a 'demand-led' skills system, the Government is clearly more interested in giving extra powers to quangos, government departments and local authorities than it is in giving individuals and employers control of how and where funding is spent.

"In an age when Government spending cuts are almost guaranteed, it is imperative that the collective voices of employers and employees are given more weight rather than allowing quangos to multiply like bunnies and divert precious resources at the same time as pushing employers further away from the decision-making process."

Image: Andrew Yates/PA