I was concerned by the news story that cites £28m being ‘wasted’ on our skills campaign, and calls for more awareness of Train to Gain (Personnel Today, 17 July).
The purpose of the new skills and Train to Gain advertising campaigns is to help address the country’s low skills levels and inspire people to take control of their future by investing in learning.
As part of the government’s response to the Leitch Review, we are trying to start a culture where everyone values learning, so that both employers and individuals can contribute more to their own learning programmes.
The government has committed £20m over the next three years towards achieving this (not the £28m quoted in the article). We at the Learning and Skills Council need to work with individuals, employers and the education sector to build on our successes. Much has already been achieved, with more than 43,000 employers engaged with Train to Gain to date, but there is still work to be done.
We need to continue to create the most appropriate solutions for both businesses and individuals, and we call on the country to help us move further, faster, together.
This is the first step towards our aim to create a cultural shift in the way we think about skills.
Christopher N Banks
Chair
Learning and Skills Council
