The King’s Speech: skills reform will help address severe skills crisis

King Charles recently unveiled the new Government’s proposed legislation at the State Opening of Parliament. The King’s Speech contained about 40 pieces of legislation or draft legislation, with the Prime Minister promising “nothing less than national renewal”. Amongst the many expected bills, universities and businesses are likely to be particularly interested in proposed legislation on:  

- An Industrial Strategy Council will be formed, consisting of business leaders from across sectors. The reintroduction of this important body is something NCUB has long been advocating for, to hold the Industrial Strategy to account and provide expert guidance and direction.

- New legislation will pave the way for a new body, Skills England. The aim of the body will be to “bring together businesses, providers, unions, mayoral combined authorities and national government to ensure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs”, a Number 10 press briefing document said. In our press release NCUB welcomed the announcement and particularly celebrated that employer partnerships will be central to this new body.

-We also welcomed the Government’s plan to reform the Apprenticeship Levy to be more flexible. With the nation facing a severe skills crisis, it is crucial for businesses to fully utilise their Levy funds for to upskill their workforce. We hope that a more flexible Levy will meet business needs by expanding the variety of high-quality training available to young people and adults, and look forward to contributing to its design.- Devolution will play a greater role in upcoming policy. A new English Devolution Bill will increase the powers of metro mayors and combined authorities, designed to support local growth plans that bring economic benefit to communities. This will be an important part of skills development plans in local economies, industry clusters spanning regions, and for the role of universities within their regions. Details of how power structures, and associated funding, will change is yet to be detailed.

- As a key policy issue and national priority, the King’s Speech announced a Bill to set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company which will accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind. The body and announcement will bring new opportunity and funding across the green and clean energy sectors, as well as within green jobs and skills.

Read NCUB’s full take on the speech in the press release.