As part of the landmark reforms announced in our Queen’s Speech, we are setting out new legislation for the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, in the form of our Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, giving people the skills they need for well-paid jobs and opportunities to train throughout their lifetime.
As Minister for Employment, I know it is so vitally important we move past the outdated notion there is only one route up the career ladder. We need to ensure everyone has the opportunity to retrain or upskill, and this proposed legislation will provide millions with the opportunity to do just that.
The new legislative measures set out today, thanks to the tireless work of the Prime Minister, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education, will enable a new student finance system to transform the current student loans system, give employers a statutory role in planning publicly-funded training programmes with education providers, and give the Secretary of State for Education more powers to intervene in colleges that fail to meet local needs.
Through revolutionising the skills system, we are levelling up our country’s population across the UK, ensuring equal opportunities for all, setting people on the route to better, well-paid jobs.
The Prime Minister had the following to say on these ground-breaking measures:
“The government’s focus is on recovering from the pandemic and building back better. The Lifetime Skills Guarantee is fundamental to that – with free courses giving adults the expertise they need to find new, better jobs.
“My message is clear. At every stage of your life, we will help you get the skills you need to train, retrain, and get into jobs you want and our economy needs.”
Additionally, my departmental colleague and friend, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Therese Coffey MP, said:
“Opening up a wider choice of courses and qualifications for jobseekers could be the clincher that lands them their next job. Helping people get the skills they need is a central part of our Plan for Jobs which is already supporting people of all ages into work as we build back better from the pandemic.”
More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pioneering-reforms-to-boost-skills-and-jobs