Select Committee Inquiry - After Leitch (UK)
From: Innovation, Universities, Science and
Skills
Date announced: 4 March
2008
Evidence due: 18 April
2008
Semta evidence submitted: 18 April
2008
Report published: 16 January 2009
Government response published: 24 March 2009
Summary
The Innovation, Universities and Skills
Committee held an inquiry into how responses to the agenda set out
in the Leitch Report will affect the broader structures of further
education (FE), higher education (HE) and lifelong learning.
The Committee invited evidence on:
- the responses of RDAs to Leitch
and how coherent and structured these are
- what the existing regional
structures of delivery are and what sub-regional strategies may be
required
- the role of the Learning and
Skills Council and Sector Skills Councils in this
context
- the respective roles of the
further education and higher education sectors in delivering a
region-based agenda for Leitch and their coordination with one
other
- the impact on students of these
initiatives, particularly in the context of policies for lifelong
learning
The Committee published a report which recommended a refocus of
the Leitch agenda on the training needed to address the recession -
with greater emphasis on 'reskilling', as well as
'upskilling'.
Next
steps
The governement accepted some of the
recommendations of the Committee's report, but declined to act
on others, including a review of Sector Skills Council
funding. A number of recommendations in the report are
ongoing, and will be filtering through the skills system in the
coming months.
Documents and Links
Government response to 'Reskilling for
Recovery'
Committee report - Re-skilling for recovery: After Leitch,
implementing skills and training policies
Semta's
submission
Evidence
from David Lammy and Stephen Marston
Evidence from Digital 2010, University of Bradford, North
Lindsey College, Leeds Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Skillfast
UK, NG Bailey, Barnsley Learning Net, Yorkshire
Forward
Lord Leitch's appearance before the
Committee
Semta represents the views of our
employers across government and the media. If you are an
employer in the science, engineering, or manufacturing technology
sectors, we welcome your views at policy@semta.org.uk
7 April 2009