The government’s new Lifetime Skills Guarantee is too restrictive, former universities, science, research and innovation minister Jo Johnson has said.
Speaking in the Lords during the second reading of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, Mr Johnson criticised the government for excluding creative arts from the list of 400 courses available.
He said: “The other area of concern that I have is around the Treasury, what I see as the Treasury’s persistent flawed conception of how to measure value for money in post-16 education, the idea that you can measure the worth of a course by the proportion of the student loan that ends up being repaid. I think this is really far too reductive, and it will prevent us, if we stick with it, from funding properly what are socially useful and valuable, if lower-earning, professions and paths in life.
“We already see hence that this is the prevailing view and will continue to be the prevailing view in the list of 400 or so qualifications that are eligible for funding in the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. That list of 400 qualifications is too restrictive still, it doesn’t include, as far as I can see, any creative arts courses, for example.”
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The Lifetime Skills Guarantee was introduced by prime minister Boris Johnson in September 2020, and forms an integral part of the Post-16 Education and Skills Bill, which is making its way through the Lords.
It was officially launched in April 2020, and under the scheme, adults without an A level or equivalent qualification are offered a free, fully-funded FE course to try and provide them with “skills valued by employers”, and the opportunity to study at a time and location that suits them.
At the time of launch, the shadow further education and skills minister Toby Perkins compared the guarantee to an “April fool’s joke”, and claimed it left out more than 9.4 million jobs including those in the arts, hospitality and retail.
The Lifetime Skills Guarantee: what do the Lords think?
In the Lords today, other speakers called on the government to provide funding for training adults who were at level 2 and below, or who needed to gain a second level 3 qualification. Currently, only adults who don’t hold a level 3 qualification are eligible.
Baroness Wilcox of Newport said: “The bill does not provide support for any qualifications below level 3, despite lower-level qualifications offering many adult learners key progression routes, nor does it support subjects outside a narrow band of technical disciplines.
“Labour is concerned that nearly 1 million priority jobs will be excluded from the LSG in sectors facing a skill shortage. It also appears to admit reskilling and second level 3 qualifications.
“So can the minister confirm that the LSG does not cover subsequent level 3 courses? Does she agree that all adults should be eligible for retraining given the impact of the pandemic and changing market needs? And is it not now the time that the government puts the LSG on a statutory footing?”
Lord Storey added: “Many adults achieved their level 3 many years ago, and maybe want to pursue a new career or reskill, support could facilitate this. Should we not be making funding available for these learners?”
And Lord Shipley said: “I welcome national skills funding to help adults have free access to level 3 qualifications through some 400 courses now. But there is no mention of any qualifications below level 3, yet it is these which promotes progression to higher levels.
“Six million adults were identified by the Augar Review as not having qualifications at level 2. Yet the total number of adult learners has been falling in recent years. If we want people to reach level 3 and above, we more need to achieve level 2 and I wonder if the government has a plan?”
Jo Johnson is chairman of Tes Global
