£4 billion spent annually “failing to deliver skills we need” for economy
In a report today the Public Accounts Committee says the Department for Education’s (DfE) £4 billion a year spend on activities designed to develop workforce skills in England is failing to deliver the skills essential to economic growth and prosperity.
The number of adults participating in government-funded further education and skills training has dropped dramatically, from 3.2 million in 2010/11 to 1.6 million in 2020/21. The drop is particularly marked in poorer areas.
The Committee says DfE’s response doesn’t match the scale of the problem and doesn’t address key factors involved in the national skills shortage, which include Brexit and the target in law to reach net zero by 2050.
