Employers reject audit body’s critique of training programmes

Employers have rejected a governmental report criticising their training programmes.

A report by the government’s auditor the National Audit Office (NAO), released yesterday, stated that more employers needed to concentrate on employment-related education and skills training.

But Susan Anderson, director of human policy at the CBI, said it was the government’s responsibility to produce a numerate and literate workforce.

“It is not a role for employers although, in reality, many are already paying for remedial lessons for staff despite their valid expectations that the government should have equipped people with these skills by the time they have left school,” Anderson said.

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Employers spend an estimated £23.7bn on education and training but 6% of employers have skill shortage vacancies and a fifth have skills gaps, according to the NAO report.

More than one-third of working age adults in the UK do not have a basic school-leaving qualification.