Skills will drive growth says Mandelson

Lord Mandelson stated that over the next two years, the government plans to expand advanced apprenticeships and create 35,000 new places. Every adult will be given a 'personal skills account' designed to encourage learners to shop around for specialised training and, by working with the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, the government also intends to reduce the number of public bodies by more than 30. Mandelson confirmed that around £100million will be deployed to support around 160,000 training places in areas such as life sciences, digital media and technology. The government will also offer 1000 new scholarships worth £1000 each, to encourage the best apprentices to progress into higher education. This, said Mandelson, will give more employers the chance to drive and shape training provision through launching a fifth competitive bidding round of the National Skills Academies programme. Mandelson said that higher level skills have never been more important to the UK's economic growth and cited the strategy as a 'radical shift' in the government's skill priorities. He noted: "It shows how we'll make sure we've got the skills to power the new industries and jobs of the future. We need engineers to lay the cables to expand access to high speed internet, skilled people to build the electric vehicles of the future, and technicians to develop the medicines that will save lives. "The goal of this strategy is a skills system defined not simply by targets based on achieved qualifications, but by 'real world' outcomes. Relevant, quality skills, with real market value." Mandelson concluded: "Through these policies Skills for Growth – The National Skills Strategy sets out a pathway to achieving a bold new ambition for three quarters of the population to go to university or get an advanced technical qualification by the age of 30."