CBI: Government must recognise business input on skills

News Article - 19 July 2007
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The government is unlikely to meet its qualification targets by 2011 if it fails to appreciate the billions of pounds spent by employers on advancing their workers' skills, it has been warned.

According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the desire to raise skills levels among UK workers is also shared by businesses, with many illustrating their support by signing up to the national skills pledge.

"However, government plans to reform qualifications to better reflect the skills needs of employers will not be completed until 2010," said CBI director-general Richard Lambert.

"So there is no way that the government's 2011 qualifications targets can be met unless the system gives greater recognition to the £33 billion spent by employers on raising employee skills."

He added that if this does not happen, the result could be one of chasing qualifications for the sake of doing so, having little impact upon productivity or company performance.

Mr Lambert was responding to government plans to implement recommendations from the Leitch Review, which was carried out to identify the UK's optimal skills mix.

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