SkillsActive focus on Leitch – Train to Gain

Will Pickering, SkillsActive – 22/08/2007

Train to Gain was rolled out nationally in 2006, to offer employers free, independent and impartial advice on skills and help them access high quality, flexible training that meets their needs.

Skills Minister David Lammy said recently, “By ensuring that employees have the right skills to do the best job, Train to Gain helps to improve business productivity and competitiveness.
Meanwhile employees benefit by increasing their skills, which leads in turn to better job prospects and a better quality of life.”

Working closely with a Skills Broker, employers can, through Train to Gain:

• Identify skills needs of the organisation;
• Pinpoint the right training;
• Agree a tailoured training package;
• Find available funding;
• Regularly review progress being made.

The government feel that performance to date has been good (with employer satisfaction with Skills Brokers at 90%), although believe that the brokerage service must be expanded, to help employers of all sizes and in all sectors to invest in their business by improving the skills of their employees.

As part of the government’s response to the Leitch Review of Skills, it was announced that from 2008/2009, employers will be able to access matched funding for level 3 programmes as part of the package they put together with skills brokers, they will also be able to access Apprenticeships and support for leadership and management. Train to Gain will also be opened up to those in the voluntary sector.

The Learning and Skills Council will be asked to expand the remit and capacity of the National Employer Service so that it can work with greater numbers of employers with more than 5000 employees.

The amount of money available to employers from Train to Gain will be around £440 million in 2007/2008, over £650 million in 2008/2009 and is expected to rise to over £900 million in 2010/2011.

A new Train to Gain advertising campaign was launched recently aimed at helping to address the country's low skills levels and inspire people to take control of their future by investing in learning.

Click here for the Train to Gain website

Click here to download SkillsActive’s briefing paper on the government’s Leitch Implementation Plan.