Recommendation 16

The NAO report highlighted that there exists a complex and sometimes overlapping set of skills-related initiatives, and the system can seem complicated and difficult to navigate. For example, people can access numeracy training through at least three routes: DfE’s Essential skills – numeracy programme, some standalone technical qualifications, and the Multiply initiative, which is led by DfE in England but is funded via DLUHC’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The NAO report also noted that DfE considers that the range of programmes reflects the diverse needs of employers and learners, but that it recognises that there is some duplication between programmes and scope for simplification.21 We asked whether this complexity might deter employers from participating in the skills system. DfE accepted that complexity could put employers off from taking part, and told us that it was working hard to try and rationalise skills programmes to ensure that they did not overlap and were easier for people to navigate and understand. It said, for example, that it was attempting to encourage other government departments that are leads for particular sectors not to design additional programmes but to articulate the skills that their sectors need. It explained that DfE could then incorporate training provision through its main suite of programmes.22