Government restructure tackles 'hideous waste of talent'

Speaking exclusively to Steph McGovern on the podcast Steph on Skills, powered by Enginuity, she revealed that the departmental restructure, announced in recent days, was designed to ensure that fewer people ‘fall out of the system’.

"Skills are really crucial for everything that we need to do across government. I have been saying that for the last year," Lady Smith stated. "We can't grow the economy, we can't rebuild the NHS, we can't shift to green energy, we can't build the homes that we've promised, unless we can, grow, skills.

"But I think the argument that Pat McFadden now makes is that we need skills even more at the centre of what we're doing in government. We need the linkup between the skills that people can develop and the job opportunities that will be available to them.

"That's why putting skills in the departments of Work and Pensions makes sense. We've got nearly a million young people who have not got a job or, a training place or continuing in education. That's a hideous waste of talent. 

"That's a whole load of young people who are at that crucial point in their life are basically, falling out of the system with nothing to help them to develop.

"Skills that relate to people over the age of, 19, apprenticeship budget, adult skills funding, the work that we're doing with mayors will be essentially in the Department of Work and Pensions, and that's where you can make the real join-ups through into employment support, make sure it's in the Jobcentre, make sure employers are being really engaged in what you're doing with skills.

"But of course, you can't deliver that without the work that happens in further education, higher education in our universities who also do important work in delivering, key areas of skills. 

"But that's the education system and that will stay in the Department for education. I will be making sure that all of those links continue to be to be made, bringing them all together and getting the best out of everything that we can do in DWP and everything that we can do in the education system as well.”

The podcast, which drops on 17 September, was recorded when Smith travelled to Denmark to visit Team UK, selected trained and managed by WorldSkills UK, as they competed in the prestigious EuroSkills Finals in Herning, Denmark.

"I think this is about really making sure that we're putting as a government some real umph behind that whole area of skills from young people through to people that need to reskill during the course of their working lives in order to get new jobs or to develop the skills that are necessary in the sort of world we live in now where things are changing so quickly," she continued.

"Success for me will be when we can grow the economy at the speed we need to grow it. We can do that largely with people that we've been able to train and upskill in this country because of the investment and the real sort of national endeavour that we're putting into it all."

Ann Watson, CEO of Enginuity, the former sector skills council, highlighted the value of the conversation between McGovern and Smith, noting that it provided important insights into how the government approaches the future of skills development.

She stated that Enginuity supports the proposal to prioritise upskilling and education, as this aligns closely with the organisation’s key mission. McGovern also asked for reassurance that transferring skills responsibilities to the Department for Work and Pensions, would not undermine the significance of skills in comparison to academic pathways.

"Such an interesting discussion between Steph and the Minister, which reveals much about Government thinking on the future of skills provision.

"We broadly welcome the proposed alignment of the need to upskill and educate, which in many ways mirrors Enginuity’s core functions and vision. 

"Steph was keen to seek assurances that a shift to the Department for Work and Pensions would not indicate that skills were a secondary, or inferior to academia - and any fears of that were allayed for the time being."

Enginuity recently revealed that it is to hold an annual Vocational Celebration Day to celebrate the achievement and vision of those that choose to be skilled - the first of which will be 6 August 2026.

Watch Steph on Skills Here

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