Skills minister David Lammy to announce Train to Gain expansion plans

Skills minister David Lammy will reveal expansion plans for the ailing Train to Gain scheme in the next fortnight, he has told Personnel Today.

Lammy said the flagship skills service would grow to include more providers, easier delivery and services useful to all employers.

World Class Skills, the government’s official response to last year’s independent Leitch Review, pledged to bring about a ‘skills revolution’ to ensure the UK remained competitive in the global economy.

Train to Gain, a free brokerage service available to employers, forms the backbone of the government’s attempts to bring about this revolution. But three months ago, it was revealed that just 96,000 people had completed full Level 2 qualifications through Train to Gain, against a target of 1.25 million between 2007 and 2011.

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“The primary target for Train to Gain has been ‘hard to reach’ employers, many of whom are small employers,” said Lammy.

“World Class Skills now commits us to an expansion of Train to Gain to address the skill needs of all employers. By [the end of] November 2007, we will publish a detailed delivery plan for the improvement and expansion of Train to Gain, including how we will enable new providers to deliver the service more easily.”