Lord Blunkett urges Labour to prepare skills ‘revolution’

A new national taskforce should form part of efforts to trigger a ‘revolution’ in skills, former education secretary David Blunkett has said.

Lord Blunkett has made fresh recommendations to Labour in a new report on skills (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

A new national taskforce should form part of efforts to trigger a “revolution” in learning and skills, former Labour education secretary David Blunkett has said.

The call is one of a number of recommendations from Labour’s council of skills advisers, led by Lord Blunkett, and could inform a slate of policies if Sir Keir Starmer’s party gains power after the next general election.

The idea of a national skills taskforce, inspired by a former New Labour policy, comes alongside calls for a shake-up of the careers service as well as a new apprenticeship and learning levy.

The taskforce would include large and small employers, trade union representatives, government officials and higher education staff, according to the new report.

In advance of Labour's victory at the next general election, it is recommended that the Shadow Cabinet should begin preparation for building a National Skills Taskforce

Lord Blunkett

Lord Blunkett said that the document, which includes 24 separate recommendations, sets out “nothing short of a revolution in meeting the skills needs of the nation”.

Elsewhere, the report also calls for a new National Curriculum Authority to reshape the curriculum “free from party political interference” as well as a reform of the exam and assessment system.

Lord Blunkett said the report “addresses the immediate pressures of the moment, but it also offers a social democratic solution to the challenges of the future, including the rapidly increasing impact of artificial intelligence and robotics, re-equipping the nation for the economy of tomorrow”.

He added: “This comprehensive analysis of what is currently wrong with the approach to learning and skills for economic recovery, along with detailed consultation, has led to a whole series of proposals laid out in the report, which, if adopted by an incoming Labour government, could transform Britain’s competitiveness, productivity, and therefore the chance of sustainable growth.”

The report, the culmination of a process that began at the end of 2021, is also critical of the record of the Conservatives after over a decade in power in the area of skills and learning, accusing the Government of “neglect” and having left the UK economy in “dire straits”.

Welcoming the report after meeting with Lord Blunkett on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said: “One of the biggest problems we’ve had over the last 12 years is low growth and that’s because this Government has not modernised our skills and training across the whole country. It’s been holding us back.

“So I’m really pleased to receive this report. It’s a comprehensive report. It sets out how we will ensure under a Labour government that everybody has the skills that they need for life, for the jobs that they are going into.

“This is a very good report about skills, it’s also an essential part of the argument that we are making about how you grow the economy in a way which works for working people across the whole of the United Kingdom.”

Labour will consider the proposals in the coming months but Lord Blunkett urged the party to begin preparing now to take over from the Tories.

“In advance of Labour’s victory at the next general election, it is recommended that the Shadow Cabinet should begin preparation for building a National Skills Taskforce, and undertake crosscutting work, sponsored by forward-looking businesses, foundations and academic institutions,” the report says.