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The key messages in Mandelson’s skills white paper

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Iain Mackinnon

13 Nov 2009 | 16:27

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Cutting quangos down to size (or entirely) always makes good copy, so it’s no surprise that proposals for a “substantial reduction” in the number of sector skills bodies have dominated the coverage of Lord Mandelson’s skills white paper. But we shouldn’t miss the other messages that the government is sending us, some of them offering a radical (and welcome) shift in the skills agenda.

The white paper contains a lot to interest PM readers, but I want to pick out two aspects. First, it signals a major shift towards higher level skills:

“We will change the focus of our skills system so that a new premium is put on higher skills, especially the technician skills that are the foundation of high-tech, low-carbon industry.”

This is new thinking that marks a decisive move away from ensuring that everyone gets at least a Level 2 qualification and towards aligning the state’s massive investment in further education more closely with the requirements of the national economy.

There’s probably some politics in it as well: Labour sees an opportunity to show its commitment to vocational education and hopes to highlight any Tory ambivalence. I think David Willetts, the shadow minister for universities and skills, is quicker on his feet than that and I certainly hope so: a shared national commitment to vocational success is vital.

At this stage, however, we’re talking about a shift in emphasis. Although Mandelson calls it “a radical shift in our national priorities”, the commitment to those “first Level 2” qualifications is still there, as is the existing commitment to tackling literacy and numeracy needs.

Although there is no new money, there is ambition – and it’s a good one:

“Our ambition is that, thanks in large part to the innovations in this strategy, three-quarters of people should participate in higher education or complete an advanced apprenticeship or equivalent technician-level course by the age of 30.”

This doesn’t replace the existing aspiration that half the population should go to university, but it is a much more intelligent reworking of it.

Second note of interest for PM readers, there is a commitment to provide learners with “skills accounts”. I’ve always liked the idea of skills accounts because I’ve never forgotten something I heard early in my career, when a training instructor asked me: “Why do so many people use more skill driving to work than they do when they get there?”

There’s a great deal of talent locked away in Britain’s workforce, and with some imagination skills accounts can help to unlock it. Done badly, they are a threat to employers who fear that their employees are spending some of their best energies on improving themselves. Done well, they are a great opportunity for employers who know their employees are spending some of their best energies on improving themselves.

What’s missing from the white paper? Critics will shout “money!” That’s true but, frankly, it’s a lazy response. The public sector has done rather well in recent years, and when there’s money around people don’t ask the tough value for money questions with the same rigour.

Now’s the time to ask those questions. Culling quangos is the easy bit – what’s missing is a determined effort to get much better value from learning, not just from each institution. Why, for example, do so many courses last exactly a year? How do we use e-learning better to drive down costs while maintaining standards? And so on.

And let’s not forget, there will be a general election next year that might change everything.

PS. I asked in my previous blog how long it should take to develop a qualification. The white paper offers an answer: “We will work with the UK Commission, Sector Skills Councils, awarding organisations and Ofqual to reduce development times to an average of six months and maximum of 12 months.”

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