Six million people in England risk being without a job or in work
they are over-qualified for by 2030, new research for the Local
Government Association suggests today.
A new report commissioned by the LGA, which represents councils
in England, estimates that not meeting the skills needs of
employers could lead to a potential loss of £120 billion in
economic output by the end of the decade.
The research for the LGA by the Learning and Work Institute
(L&W) also reveals that by 2030 there could be:
- 5.1 million low-skilled people chasing 2 million low-skilled
jobs – a surplus of 3.1 million low-skilled workers;
- 12.7 million people with intermediate skills chasing 9.5
million jobs – a surplus of 3.1 million people;
- 17.4 million high-skilled jobs with only 14.8 million
high-skilled workers – a deficit of 2.5 million.
Brexit is an opportunity to improve the current
centrally-governed skills and employment system, which sees £10.5
billion a year spent by eight government departments or agencies
across 20 different national schemes.
The LGA says this is creating a confusing, fragmented, untargeted
and ineffective system.
It said that councils, combined authorities and their partners
can help the Government tackle skills gaps and more effectively
reduce long-term unemployment and the number of young people out
of work by being able to target support locally.
The LGA is calling for the Government to use the Budget to
devolve all back-to-work, skills, apprenticeship, careers advice,
and business support schemes and funding to the local areas in
which they are used.
This would see groups of councils across England given the power
and funding to deliver a one-stop ‘Work Local’ service for
skills, apprenticeship, employment, careers advice and business
support provision. It would bring together local skills planning,
oversee job support including Jobcentre Plus and the Work and
Health Programme and coordinate careers advice and guidance for
young people and adults.
Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chairman of the LGA’s People and Places
Board, said:
“Millions of people face a future where they have skills
mismatched for jobs at a huge cost to people’s lives and the
local and national economy.
“Councils are ideally placed to lead efforts to help the
Government bring growth and jobs to all parts of the country and
ensure everyone is fully equipped with the skills they need to
compete for future jobs.
“For that to happen, our complex and fragmented national skills
system needs to adapt to a changing jobs market.
“Better local coordination of services would provide better
opportunities for young people to increase their skill levels and
adults retrain and upskill for future jobs. This is key to
driving up productivity, closing local skills gaps and boosting
local economies.”
Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute,
said:
“Improving skills is central to making the 2020s a decade of
growth.
“Other countries have continued to invest in skills, while
progress in England has stalled over the last decade, the result
of large cuts in England’s adult education budget which has left
us lagging behind other countries and the number of adults
improving their skills at a record low.
“We now need a decade of investment, in order to boost life
chances, economic prosperity and to level up the country. That
investment needs to be delivered through a partnership between
national and local government, employers and trade unions. The
cost of inaction is large and growing: it is time for action and
investment in lifelong learning.”
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