Train to Gain: Developing the skills of the workforce.

The House of Commons public accounts committee report. Train to Gain:Developing the skills of the workforce. Full report http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmpubacc/248/248.pdf Report Summary Train to Gain has delivered a substantial expansion of training that is flexible and meets employers’ needs. By July 2009, 1.4 million learners had been supported, and around 200,000 employers had staff involved in training through the programme. Most learners have benefited and some employers have seen business benefits. There have, however, been serious weaknesses in the way the programme has been managed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (the Department). It started badly with over-ambitious targets, and under-spending in the first two years as the programme failed to sufficiently expand demand for, and supply of, training. In year three, eligibility for training was widened which, together with the recession, increased the attractiveness of the programme for employers. At the same time training providers were still being pressed to increase training activity. These factors led to a swing from underspend to overspend, resulting in the current unacceptable position where too much training is in the pipeline and employers with new requirements are being turned away. Three common failings in public sector programmes are responsible for this situation: • initially high targets that do not reflect reality as they are not based on evidence of what is achievable; • action to address under-performance that takes insufficient account of trends in demand and capacity and economic factors, such as recession, and • poor, untimely management information, making it difficult to identify and respond to problems quickly. For Train to Gain, the priority is to bring expenditure under control while minimising damage to training providers and the demand for training. The Department and the LSC should focus expenditure on training with the most benefits, in sectors with the highest needs, and with providers who provide good quality training. The Skills Funding Agency, which is to take over the LSC’s responsibility for Train to Gain in April 2010, should address these issues in the future running of Train to Gain and in their management ofother demand-led training programmes, such as Skills Accounts. LSC Statement in response to the Public Accounts Commitee report on Train to Gain http://www.lsc.gov.uk/news/latestnews/Statement+in+response+to+the+Public+Accounts+Commitee+report+on+Train+to+Gain.htm