Recommendation 24

HM Government Not Addressed

The Government recognises that there are several sectors undergoing rapid change, including those who have been significantly impacted by Covid-19. The Plan for Jobs programme is a part of the UK Government’s focus on protecting, supporting and creating jobs across the whole of the UK. The Plan for Jobs comprises of measures to help create, support and protect jobs. At Spending Review 2020, the Government provided £3.6 billion additional funding in 2021–22 to DWP to deliver employment support for people who need it the most – from helping the recently unemployed to swiftly find new work, to offering greater support for people who will find that harder. This includes funding for the Restart (£2.9 billion) and Kickstart Schemes (£2 billion). Other measures will include support to boost work search, skills development and apprenticeships. The Plan has been developed to run alongside existing provision in Scotland and Wales, with DWP working closely with the Devolved Administrations to ensure alignment. The Government is providing reskilling activities through the Skills for Jobs White Paper, as well as through DWP Train and Progress and the DWP Youth Offer within the Plan for Jobs package. The Skills for Jobs White Paper is focused on giving people the skills they need, so they can get great jobs in sectors the economy needs and boost this country’s productivity. This Government is introducing employer-led Local Skills Improvement Plans as part of the Skills Accelerator, which will set out the key changes needed in a local area to make technical education and training more responsive to employers’ skills needs. It is also ensuring people have the opportunity to study by delivering the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee to upskill at different points in their life. This includes a lifetime loan entitlement from 2025, funding free Level 3 qualifications in key areas for adults who do not already have a Level 3 qualification (equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or A levels), and short, flexible ways to train through employer-led bootcamps. The reforms set out in the White Paper will transform technical education and training, boosting UK productivity, building back better from the Covid-19 pandemic, and creating a more prosperous country for all. The Government is also developing sector specific support for those sectors experiencing short-term challenges. BEIS and DWP have been proactive in taking sector- specific interventions for sectors going through rapid change and to support them and their workers to harness new opportunities. For sectors that have a more immediate demand for vacancies and to facilitate economy recovery, DWP is working across Government, including with BEIS, to shape employment skills support that will unlock opportunities and ensure jobseekers are equipped for the future of work. For example, the hospitality sector has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, and its recovery is fundamental for the nation’s recovery. To help the sector bounce back resiliently, BEIS has developed a Hospitality Strategy that sets out the Government’s long-term vision to help the sector on their road to recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and build back better. The strategy is focused on three areas: supporting businesses to reopen, setting out measures to help the sector to recover in the short-medium term, and supporting the sector to be more resilient to future shocks. The Government is collectively addressing barriers to entry in sectors that have immediate high demand or are growing, setting out the key actions that the Government and industry need to take to remove barriers and maximise employment. These sector visions and the short-term sector approach complement one another to address both short-term and longer-term labour market barriers. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have played a role in the economic recovery from Covid-19, including through their role in coordination and delivery of schemes such as the £900 million Getting Building Fund. Mayoral devolution has strengthened local leadership and institutions, devolving key powers over transport, planning, skills and funding away from Whitehall, so that they are exercised at the right level to make a difference for local communities. People across the UK will benefit from support for local communities, skills and jobs through the launch of the £220 million UK Community Renewal Fund. The Fund is intended to help local areas across the UK to pilot programmes and to prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Later this year, the Government will publish a UK-wide Levelling Up White Paper setting out how we will improve livelihoods across the country, including as we recover from the pandemic. The Government’s plans for strengthening local accountable leadership, including considering the future of LEPs, will now be included in the Levelling Up White Paper.