LGA responds to Skills and Post-16 Education Bill in Queen’s Speech

Responding to the Government’s new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, aiming to reform the post-16 education system to support more people into work and training, Cllr Sir Richard Leese, Chair of the Local Government Association’s City Regions Board, said:

“It is clear that many people will need to reskill for new jobs after the pandemic and it is good that the Queen’s Speech has included plans to attempt to address this.

“Councils are uniquely placed in their communities to bring together partners to address these challenges. With adequate resourcing and powers and the ability to work in partnership with national government and others at an early stage, councils can help well-intended but often disconnected national schemes keep people in work and businesses recruiting.

“As new jobs are created in the green economy across England, councils are also best placed to work with providers and industry to ensure the right training is provided to help local people gain the right skills to progress their careers.

“If the Government is to fulfil its ambition to support adults back into training and education, councils and combined authorities must see their Adult Education Budget, which has been halved since 2010, restored in full so they can provide the best possible support to all those needing to retrain after the pandemic.”