UK Manufacturing Skills – Empowering employer and education provider partnerships along with regional bodies

The All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group recommends that government empowers industry and education provider partnerships to ensure a manufacturing workforce fit for the future.

Today Policy Connect and the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group publish their latest report: Supporting UK manufacturing Skills in a post Covid-19 world. The report outlines how the government can support the development of UK manufacturing skills to ensure an adaptable, capable and diverse workforce, ready to put manufacturing at the heart of tackling urgent societal challenges, including Covid-19 recovery, levelling up through job creation and business growth, and paving the way to a net zero and digitalised society.

For the Business Department to deliver its priorities of enterprise, net zero and innovation, it must empower employer and education provider partnerships along with regional bodies to drive the delivery of skills, to ensure that skills are ‘replenished’ at a local level and to fit local needs. Government and the manufacturing sector must also jointly fund this regional approach to skills improvement policy.

Any successful sector needs to combine inclusivity and diversity to actively draw on the strengths and talents of the whole population. This report also recommends that government needs to drive forward the equality objectives published in July 2021, to create a more inclusive, accessible and diverse manufacturing sector actively drawing on all talents.

To find out more about the report and its recommendations or to hear some best practice examples from the sector, please contact the report co-author, Floriane Fidegnon, on Floriane.Fidegnon@policyconnect.org.uk.

“Covid-19 has presented an opportunity for the sector to reflect on its skills needs going forwards and create an environment where manufacturing professionals reskill and upskill in line with demand. The examples of existing good practice the inquiry found shows that we can do this, but that there is more the government needs to do to support the sector across the board, in order for it to support society’s transition to net zero.” – Report co-author Shiza Naveed, Policy Connect

Recommendations

Recommendation 1: Empowering employer education partnerships in place to drive skills for enterprise, net zero and innovation

To deliver its priorities of enterprise, net zero, and innovation, the Business Department must empower regional and local bodies (LEPs, Chambers of Commerce) to drive the delivery of skills for these critical government priorities. This will ensure that skills are being ‘replenished’ at a local level, in accordance with local needs.

Recommendation 2: Funding the future workforce

Government and the manufacturing sector must jointly fund a regional led approach to skills improvement policy. Government should provide more autonomy to local authorities on funding allocation, to ensure that training is targeted to the skills demand in each UK region, supporting all manufacturers across the supply chain.

Recommendation 3: Creating a more diverse sector that actively draws on all talents

Government needs to drive forward the equality objectives published in July 2021, including through published reporting and follow-on strategies on how it can best support industry to deliver these targets.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @  Supporting UK Manufacturing Skills in a post Covid-19 world | Policy Connect