The Queen’s speech, delivered on 11 May, announced legislation to support a lifetime skills guarantee to enable flexible access to high quality education and training throughout people’s lives. The Prime Minister’s press release introduces the legislative measures as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, including a new student finance system to give every adult access to a flexible loan for higher-level education and training and giving employers a statutory role in planning publicly-funded training programmes with education providers. The government will introduce the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill on 18 May which will form the legislative underpinning for the reforms set out in the Skills White Paper. The Queen’s speech also set out priorities for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, including the intention of strengthing the UK’s ambition of becoming a global science superpower and opportunities for the UK as an independent trading nation.
This article looks at what the speech promised for FE and skills, and this article on what employers need to know from the speech. This statement, from the Joesph Rowntree Foundation, expresses concern that security for low-paid workers was not made a priority in the speech.