Minister Jacqui Smith speech to Holex network conference - Dec 9

Speech on Quality, Qualifications and Progression delivered by Skills Minister.

"I'm delighted to be joining you today, so I'd like to begin by thanking Holex for inviting me for that kind introduction.

As you are probably aware, the theme of today's conference is Quality, Qualifications and Progression.   

These are all ambitions that this new, mission-led government shares wholeheartedly.

This government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity, to build a society where your ability to achieve and thrive is not determined by your background.

We're determined to drive opportunity and growth, which relies on people having the skills needed to thrive in life and work.

And I strongly believe that learning should be something we can return to throughout our lives.  I'm extremely proud to have returned as a Minister in the DfE, 25 years after I first started my ministerial career and after a 14 years break from frontline political life.  I'm proof of the importance of second chances and lifelong learning. 

I'd just like to focus on one of your chosen themes for a moment, because it's something your organisations do superbly well…

And that's progression…

You are all engines of opportunity for adults.

So I'd like to thank you for all you're doing to enable people to achieve their goals and enable them to work towards the employment and the opportunities in life that they want whatever age they happen to be.

But I am well aware that you face real challenges in doing this….  

Obstacles to progress

Over seven million people lack the essential digital skills they need for work.

We've got around 600,000 people who can't work because of a long-term health problem, but would if they could.

A skills system that is confusing for learners and employers.

Too little employer investment, and too many learning programmes.

And where because of the difficult fiscal position we find ourselves in, there are financial constraints which you will understand only too well.

This has a real impact. Skills shortages doubled between 2017 and 2022, with a staggering 36% of all job vacancies caused by skills shortages.

Analysis shows that around 70% of all jobs that are expected to exist in 2035 will be filled by someone who is already in work.

That is why it is crucial that education is a lifelong journey for all.

A journey that doesn't begin and end at set times and where it doesn't matter what your background is.

Unfortunately, at the moment it too often does matter.

Education and training should be excellent and accessible, providing people throughout their lives with skills needed to take them where they want to go.

But, in spite of your dedication, commitment and considerable success too many learners in the skills system often feel sidelined.

We must fix this.

Adult learners who need support

We need a more inclusive approach. One that supports those furthest from learning. Who perhaps had a miserable time at school and then lost heart.

That supports those adults that might have caring responsibilities, physical or mental health struggles or just feel it's too late for them to catch up.

That supports adults that have special educational needs and disabilities.That supports adults who are looking for new skills to progress in their current job or change to a new career path.

All of these learners rely on you to help get them where they want to be in life.

All of these learners need encouragement and support and because you understand the barriers they face you know how to do that better than anyone.

Because everyone has a part to play.

Positive value of adult education to skills growth

We need a whole cultural shift in our approach, where we recognise skills are part of a much wider ecosystem.  

Where skills not only support people to take up careers in health and social care, or to join green energy companies, but where learning can lead to wider outcomes such as a healthier population.

Your work with adults can help tackle economic inactivity.

Which not only contributes to the growth mission by getting people back into work, but also improves their lives.

This is how I define progress… that momentum shift we need to achieve real social and economic change.

So what more can we do to help you deliver this?

A culture of lifelong learning

I'd like to take you back to a promise we made in our manifesto that we would bring forward a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education and skills.

We want to develop a culture of lifelong learning, where learning does not stop at 18 or 21.

The Prime Minister has talked of how he wants skills to be respected and valued.

For education to be for everyone, no matter at what age or what stage.

Those principles will run throughout our government.

The education you and all your organisations deliver is essential for that purpose and we will back you and the work you do to provide adults with the skills they need.

Qualifications open doors for people.

None of us is going to argue against that.

But not everyone wants or needs a qualification.

One of your great strengths is that you offer learners that bridge, so that they can take incremental steps to the next level when they're ready…

For example, you might work to improve someone's digital skills so they can start accessing the things most of us take for granted like shopping or banking online, or keeping in touch with friends and families.

From there the next step is more sophisticated skills, that can translate to a workplace.

You are often the first port of call for adults wanting to return to learning, to upskill or to reskill. Or providing the support needed to enable integration into life in the UK.

Maths, English and digital skills are vital in their own right, and also gateway skills that unlock opportunities to progress to further learning.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your enthusiastic support for adults to improve their numeracy skills via the Multiply programme.

Multiply has reminded us that we need to think creatively about how to encourage adults to take part.

We will build on that learning.

In this way you can give people the means to thrive in life and in work throughout their lives.

Vision for change

We have a vision for the skills system, made up of three key changes.

Firstly, one where everyone is supported to progress, rather than the many who feel sidelined or left behind by the system.

Second, where we move from a fragmented system with a confused and overlapping landscape of qualifications and courses, to one where education and training pathways are coherent and lead to progression and employment outcomes.

And third, a system that moves away from unproductive competition, to one where partners in the system coordinate their efforts to meet skills needs, brought together by Skills England.

These three key areas of change underpin our entire approach to the post-16 skills system.

Our blueprint for a new era of skills

We have already taken some important steps. 

We have published the Get Britain Working white paper, explaining our ambition for an 80 per cent employment rate.

As part of this, we aim to rejuvenate the entire careers system by creating a new jobs and careers service that will enable everyone to access good, meaningful work, and give them the support they need to progress in that work once they've got there.

We've launched Skills England to consider the skills system as a whole, and to work with providers, policy makers and combined authorities as part of a coordinated approach to addressing skills need.

We're introducing a new more flexible Growth and Skills Offer that will provide funding to provision that meets skills needs.

And we're bringing coherence to education and training pathways, so that there is always a clear link to progression or employment outcomes.

What we are working towards is a societal change… one where businesses, trade unions, local authorities, providers, and learners, all come together to look at skills holistically and reimagine how we deliver them.

A great example of this is Tailored Learning, and I'd like to take a moment to thank you for the work you've done with the department in recent years to design and implement Tailored Learning.

Tailored Learning supports those learners who most need our support.

For example Jane, who took a digital skills class and is now able to use her iPad to buy train tickets to visit her friends and book theatre tickets.

Or Abdalazeez, who took an employability skills course and learned how to grow his confidence for interviews, which led to him securing a job and now intends to study further in order to become a nurse.

Now these are just two examples I picked up from the recent WEA impact report, but I know you will all have many similar stories.

I want to continue that partnership between providers and the department.

And I want you all to be part of the conversation about the future of the skills system.

Concluding words

I began by congratulating you for the work you do in helping people to take control of their lives by giving them the skills to thrive in life, and skills that will mean that jobs they have perhaps only ever dreamed of are now within reach.

But I want to end by reassuring you that you are no longer acting alone. You are part of a bigger endeavour.

We are all pushing in the same direction and I am proud to be your minister in government.

We are all working towards a skills system that delivers growth for the economy and above all that breaks down barriers to opportunity for everyone.

So that the least advantaged learners aren't sidelined, but supported. 

So that our fragmented skills system becomes a clear and coherent one. 

I want to start a national conversation on skills, in which everyone will have their say… and for you to feel this is being done with you, not to you.    

We all have a role to play – in development, as well as implementation. 

We have a long way to go to reverse 14 years of decline.

But I have seen the difference good government can make.

Together I know we can do it.

Thank You."