Skills England Update

As the dust starts to settle following on from the general election and the King's Speech, it has been made clear by the Labour government that skills and training remain a top priority. The Labour government has placed a significant emphasis on addressing the nation’s skills gap with the introduction of Skills England. The aim of Skills England is to consolidate the fragmented skills landscape and create a unified national strategy to enhance the skills of the British workforce.

This commitment to skills and training was re-affirmed in the King’s speech where His Majesty emphasised “My Government will establish Skills England which will have a new partnership with employers at its heart, and my Ministers will reform the apprenticeship levy”. This announcement further solidifies the government’s commitment to reshaping the skills system to better meet the needs of businesses and the wider economy.

Key Highlights of the Skills England Initiative

Skills England will unify the efforts of central and local government, businesses, training providers, and unions to address skills needs over the next decade.

This body will provide strategic direction for the post-16 skills system, aligning with the Government’s Industrial Strategy to support sustainable growth, particularly in sectors like construction and healthcare.

By devolving adult education budgets to Mayoral Combined Authorities, local areas will have greater control over addressing their specific skills needs and driving regional economic growth.

The reform of the apprenticeship levy will give businesses more flexibility to spend levy funds on the training they need, a long-standing demand from employers.

The Importance of Skills Development

Skills development is crucial for economic growth, with a third of productivity improvements over the last two decades attributed to better skills. However, between 2017 and 2022, skills shortages in the UK doubled, now accounting for 36% of job vacancies (GOV.UK, 2024). The creation of Skills England aims to tackle these challenges head-on by providing a more responsive and collaborative skills system.

CPCAB’s Role in the Evolving Skills Landscape

At CPCAB, we are poised to play a significant role in this evolving landscape. With our commitment to developing competent counsellors through the design of high-quality, relevant counselling and psychotherapy training programmes, we are well-positioned to support the goals of Skills England. The importance of Human-centred training that includes human interaction runs through the ethos of the design of our qualifications, which recognise and enhance learners’ knowledge, skills and competencies. We do this through assessment and quality assurance processes that employers, learners and stakeholders value.

Kelly Budd, CPCAB’s Chief Professional Standards Officer further emphasises, “Human-centred training that includes human interaction will always be the key for effective therapy. Creating competent, safe and compassionate practitioners is at the heart of what we do, and we are committed to providing future learners with the ability to make informed choices about the type of training that will meet their goals”.

Looking Ahead

The next steps for Skills England involve setting up the organisation in shadow form within the Department for Education (DfE) and beginning an assessment of future skills needs. A permanent board, Chair, and CEO will be appointed in due course, and the transition of functions from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) to Skills England will be finalised.

As we navigate this new era, CPCAB remains dedicated to supporting the Government’s mission to enhance skills and create opportunities for all. We look forward to working closely with Skills England, our valued centres and learners, and other stakeholders to ensure that our training programmes continue to meet the evolving needs of the counselling workforce and contribute to the nation’s economic success.

We aim to keep our centres, learners and stakeholders fully informed of any Skills England policy and legislation that impacts CPCAB and our centres through regular communications as the focus becomes more clear and policy is finalised.