The parties’ 2019 commitments on skills and lessons from the past

Taking some of these in turn, we see the perennial ambition to expand the provision of Apprenticeships. However, despite many years of policy tinkering this has proved challenging (illustrated by the Conservatives deciding to not set a target for Apprenticeships, after missing their one million target set in 2015). It is not clear from the manifestos what is so different that this increase can be achieved.

It will certainly require engagement with employers but proposals to shift the Levy funds to other forms of training will disincentivise any increase in Apprenticeships, and without careful design could just serve to further ‘rebadge’ existing provision rather than raise the level of training overall. We saw from Train to Gain that providing funding for Level 2 and 3 could encourage training of employees; we also saw how removing this funding to focus on Apprenticeships could drive up expansion of those.

A more pressing question however concerns what qualifications will be suitable for adult training in the work place. It is largely recognised now that T Levels will not provide the way forward for workplace training as these are designed for full-time classroom-based delivery and similarly, the skills individuals already possess may mean Apprenticeships are not suitable.

Employer ownership is seen at the heart of developments for all parties however none explicitly acknowledges the work employers have led to date on Apprenticeships or T Levels. There is a policy gap now in respect of qualifications that are suitable for part-time and work-based delivery and until filled will constrain some of the new developments. It is also not clear how they will drive the agenda on filling the qualifications gap we now face.

Onto other matters, there are signs that individuals disadvantaged in terms of skills provisions will gain support. This includes those at risk of redundancy or in declining industries (Conservatives) as well as more targeted uplifts and opportunities via the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats.These latter two parties offer the most to individuals in terms of funding and targeted support. Notably both will re-introduce funding for learners in the 16-19 phase – thereby reducing barriers that may prevent individuals from making the best choices for their futures. The Liberal Democrats’ skills wallets stand out in some respects and offer policymakers the means to incentivise lifelong learning as well as individuals the autonomy to manage their own learning activity.

However, to be implemented successfully lessons could usefully be learned from Adult Learning Accounts (which became subject to high levels of fraud) and Individual Learning Accounts (where a lack of awareness constrained this policy from having a substantial impact). Further lessons are likely to be available from Wales where Personal Learning Accounts were launched in September 2019.

My final point concerns the creation of new institutes, an ambition that Liberal Democrats and Conservatives share. The time involved to get these off the ground may mean their impact is not seen for some years. It could therefore risk sustainability. Notably, while not available yet, lessons could be learned from our evaluation of the current National Colleges.

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Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute as a whole.