The Government has officially launched Skills England to bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to meet the skills needs of the next decade across all regions.
Richard Pennycook CBE, former chief executive of the Co-operative Group and lead non-executive director at the DfE, has been appointed as the interim Chair.
Prime Minister Kier Starmer said skills were crucial to economic growth, with a third of productivity improvement over the last two decades explained by improvements to skills levels.
But between 2017 and 2022 skills shortages in this country doubled to more than half a million and now account for 36% of job vacancies. 
He said: “Our skills system is in a mess, which is why we are transforming our approach to meet skills needs over the coming decades.
“They will help to deliver our number one mission as a government, to kickstart economic growth, by opening up new opportunities for young people and enabling British businesses to recruit more home-grown talent.
“From construction to IT, healthcare to engineering, our success as a country depends on delivering highly skilled workforces for the long-term. Skills England will put in place the framework needed to achieve that goal while reducing our reliance on workers from overseas.”
Jane Gratton, Deputy Director of Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said businesses were suffering due to a lack of skills, much of which pre-dated COVID.
She said: “The UK economy has a pervasive skills and productivity problem that stretches back long before the pandemic and Brexit.
“Skills shortages ramp up pressure on firms, damaging their ability to operate profitably and leading to unsustainable wage inflation.
“Alarmingly, our research shows that recruitment difficulties have increased in recent months across all sectors.
“Better planning for skills is crucial. We need a stable and coherent national skills strategy that ensures institutions are delivering the training the economy needs and that gives businesses the confidence to invest for the long term.
“The new Government must work at pace to establish Skills England, reviewing and joining up skills initiatives across the departments, aligning with immigration policy, and working closely with the devolved administrations to drive impact for local communities.
“Employers and the economy’s skills needs must remain at the heart of the system. Building on Local Skills Improvement Plans will help develop strong partnerships between employers, training providers and others – to ensure people get the skills and support they need.
“But this will not happen overnight. As we transition to a better planned, high-skilled and high wage economy, we need to ensure firms can access global talent to fill urgent job vacancies.
“This requires a more efficient and effective visa system that can support sectors of the economy when they’ve tried everything they can to recruit and train locally.”
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