Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest NewsEconomics, government & businessLearning & developmentSkills shortagesTraining strategies

Government to unveil skills pledge later today after six-months of false starts

by Louisa Peacock 14 Jun 2007
by Louisa Peacock 14 Jun 2007

The government today launches the long-awaited skills pledge today as part of its overall response to the Leitch Review, commissioned by the Treasury and published last December, to address the UK skills shortage.

Education secretary Alan Johnson, skills envoy Digby Jones and TUC general secretary Brendan Barber are expected to introduce the launch after a six-month delay, which will see some companies sign a pledge to commit to train their staff to the equivalent of five GCSEs by 2010 – in the hope that other employers will follow.

The pledge is just one of many recommendations made by Lord Sandy Leitch, who warned that if UK skills remain “fundamentally weak” they will “hold back productivity, growth and social justice”.

The TUC has already signed the pledge to help raise workers to Level 2, and its general secretary has asked every TUC affiliated union to sign up too.

Barber told a conference of union learning reps on Monday that employers should work with unions to make the pledge a success.

He said: “Here and now, in the world’s fifth largest economy in 2007, five million adults lack functional literacy and 17 million struggle with numbers. If we are to compete in the global economy of tomorrow, this has got to change and change fast.

“Our laissez-faire approach to workforce skills means more than one-third do not offer any training at all. This is simply not acceptable.”

Barber urged employers to use the pledge to raise their game on skills.

He said: “Don’t see it as just another initiative, or as something to be kicked into the long grass, but as a genuine opportunity to move forward.”

But Liz Smith, director of unionlearn, the TUC body set up to promote lifelong learning for union members, admitted the pledge should be made mandatory from the start to have any real impact.

She said: “We like the idea of the skills pledge but it should be a mandatory requirement. It needs to be high profile, way before 2010, as the pledge itself doesn’t mean anything.

“There should be some public funding to help employers the [skills pledge] commitment into a reality.”

If employers do not sign the skills pledge by 2010, the government will make it mandatory so that the UK has a chance of competing in the global skills market by 2020.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

How unions will support the skills pledge

Unionlearn has agreed to:

  • Raise union awareness of the pledge through events, toolkits, and union learning reps training
  • Encourage union learning reps to work with skills brokers to extend the pledge above Level 2 entitlement
  • Establish an object ive that all unionised workplaces have a skills pledge in place by 2010
  • Support unions to work with sector skills councils and employers to develop a sectoral approach to the pledge

Louisa Peacock

previous post
West Sussex County Council buys in e-learning expertise from Brightwave to reinforce emergency planning training
next post
McDonald’s feeds appetite for healthy lifestyle by offering staff up to 60% off bikes and equipment in run up to Bike Week

You may also like

Number of Neet women rises but figures fall...

23 May 2025

Bank holidays: six things employers need to know

23 May 2025

Unions ponder strike action after public sector pay...

23 May 2025

Personnel Today Awards 2025: Three weeks left to...

23 May 2025

Sighing in frustration at colleague was discriminatory, judge...

23 May 2025

Flexible working for teachers initiative extended

23 May 2025

Fire and rehire: the relocation question

22 May 2025

Public sector workers gain pay rises of up...

22 May 2025

Six ways to kickstart conversations about team stress...

22 May 2025

UK net migration slashed by half in one...

22 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+