Skills for sustainable growth
Skills for sustainable growth
TUC submission to the consultation on the future direction of skills policy.
The TUC welcomes the opportunity to comment on the government's consultation on the future direction of skills policy. As the Minister quite rightly emphasises in his foreword to the document, lifelong learning and skills are vital to our economy but as importantly they also deliver wider social and cultural benefits including promoting greater social cohesion. The long-term strategy of government should be to embed a learning and skills culture in all our workplaces and make access to lifelong learning readily available in all our communities.
Ministers have rightly emphasised the social, as well as economic, role that learning plays. Nowhere is this more evident than in promoting equality. Investing in skills can play a very large part in reducing inequalities in relation to gender, disability, race, age and other areas. Low pay and unemployment is often a result of lack of skill and is disproportionately concentrated within already disadvantaged groups in society. The government has in particular expressed concern about the position of women and BME workers. We look forward to a skills strategy which prioritises reducing inequality, as well as raising national competitiveness.
Download Skills for sustainable growth (203kb, PDF)
Stay Updated
Want to hear about our latest news and blogs?
Sign up now to get it straight to your inbox