IoD welcomes Labour’s Skills England proposal

Responding to the Labour Party’s proposal for a new body, Skills England, that will oversee the national effort to boost skills in the UK, Institute of Directors Senior Policy Advisor Alex (Alexandra) Hall-Chen said:

“We strongly endorse Labour’s commitment to establish Skills England. Earlier this year we called for the creation of an independent agency with a remit to identify areas of skill shortages across the UK economy. We therefore welcome Labour’s plan to implement this recommendation and hope that the government will now do the same.

“Skills shortages are a long-term feature of the UK’s economy but are having a particularly acute impact at present. It is crucial that analysis from a national skills body is used to target government skills interventions in areas of current and future skills shortages so that our members can recruit the staff they need.”

In its policy paper ‘How to Increase Business Investment’, published in July this year, the Institute of Directors called for the creation of an independent Shortage Occupations Agency to advise on current and future skills shortages areas for the UK economy. This would enable the government to use the tax system to incentivise business training to address skills requirements identified.