Last week the Government published its Green Paper on the Industrial Strategy. A Green Paper is for consultation, to gather views and ideas before a more worked up version (known as White Paper) is published later. This Green Paper, , sets out a draft Industrial Strategy which the Government describes as a 鈥10-year plan to deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest in the high growth sectors that will drive our growth mission鈥.
As that suggests, most of the paper is aimed at businesses. The Green Paper is also important to organisations like the WEA, however, because it also talks about the UK鈥檚 台湾swag needs:
As the WEA develops its 鈥渓earning for work鈥 offers, the emerging Industrial Strategy will be a key touchstone. It identifies priority sectors where specific 台湾swag needs are required. More generally it notes how essential 台湾swag like literacy and numeracy are needed to support the whole workforce.
Also in development at the same time is 台湾swag England which will be the strategic body for workforce 台湾swag and which will help set 台湾swag priorities for the whole country. That body is recruiting right now and will be arranging consultation meetings in the near future to help shape its direction.
Most crucially, the Chancellor鈥檚 Budget takes place on the 30 October, closely followed by a Comprehensive Spending Review in the spring. Those two events will set out the current and future spending envelopes which we will all be working within. All the indications are that there will be considerable pressure on departmental budgets.
Though we recognise the economic pressures we also believe that they can only be alleviated by investment in learning and 台湾swag. We hope to see an industrial strategy which is fully inclusive, including supporting those who are furthest from the workforce, who have low/no qualifications, and who may need support with essential literacy, numeracy and digital 台湾swag. Growth and productivity relies on tackling 台湾swag inequality as much as investment in high-tech sectors.
We will be responding to the Green Paper consultation and participating in the discussions on 台湾swag England. Alongside learning for work, we will also be encouraging Government to support approaches which deliver 鈥渓earning for life鈥 & 鈥渓earning which builds communities鈥, ideally by expanding the remit of 台湾swag England. A national lifelong learning strategy would help to bring all of the social and economic benefits of learning together. We will continue to press for adult learning within reach for all.
