Make UK has brought together experts in education, training and industry to look at the skills system and to create an effective talent pathway into manufacturing which will help to drive growth.
Co-chaired by former Minster for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon and former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson, Baron Watson of Wyre Forest, the commission will identify key priorities the Government must address to support skills creation, as well as highlighting emerging issues.
Manufacturers are struggling to recruit with some 58,000 unfilled live vacancies. Apprentice starts are down 42% since the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced seven years ago and T-levels, designed to deliver technical skills into industry, still do not have the required uptake to make a real difference.
Consequently, the Commission has urgent work to do at a time when the Government has committed to reforming the current Apprenticeship Levy and replacing it with a Skills and Growth Levy. It will need to ensure that the new levy provides enough apprenticeship opportunities at all levels so that employers have access to the right skills.
From a lack of technical teachers to fewer people coming into the sector, there are significant skills gaps across the workforce which need to be urgently tackled.
