About Research and Policy
In its remit letter, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills has been asked by government to develop a view of how employment and skills services can be improved. The objective is to increase employment retention and progression and skills and productivity. We will provide advice to inform strategic policy development, analysis and exchange of good practice to drive and shape the skills and employment system in the UK.
Key to this will be the activity of the Research and Policy Directorate which plays a fundamental role in the work of the UK Commission. It supports our advisory role to government and the assessment of progress made in the employment and skills system.
Below is a list of our current research and policy analysis projects.
Labour Market Analysis
Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs
Ambition 2020 is our annual assessment, to the four UK nations, of our progress towards becoming world class in productivity, employment and skills by 2020. (This means being amongst the top eight OECD countries). This report is our second assessment of how well we are doing and what we need to do to achieve our ambition to be World Class by 2020. It aims to provide a sound evidence base and an agenda on which future success can be built.
Read more about Ambition 2020 here
Research and Policy Briefings: Intelligence
This is a monthly skills and employment policy and research e-briefing which provides up to date intelligence relevant to our partners. A new accessible online space has been developed for the e-briefing, enabling visitors to both keep up to date with, and look back on, policy developments, research outputs and analyses in the areas of employment, learning and skills and the labour market. This project is led by Catherine Hodgkinson
SSC Common LMI Framework
We have produced an LMI framework for SSCs, setting out the standards and expectations of SSC research. This was produced by Dr Vicki Belt and was published in April 2009. Download the Framework PDF
LMI Think Pieces and Workshops
To inform our LMI development, we asked experts in the field to produce 'think pieces' on the current standard and suitability of skills and employment data. We have conducted workshops with key partners in LMI collection. At present we are identifying priority issues that need to be addressed and intend to launch a new LMI forum in 2010. This element of our work is being led by Mark Spilsbury and Dr Vicki Belt
Research and LMI Portal
The portal aims to help users of our website to access a range of online resources in skills and employment research. Go to the LMI portal
UK Employment and Skills Almanac
This annual project provides a comparable, comprehensive, and robust labour market information resource. The first UK Employment and Skills Almanac 2009 and accompanying website have now been launched. The project acknowledges the need to develop a more agile and responsive skills and employment system, in which there is an increasing emphasis on the need for robust labour market information (LMI) to underpin government policy. Four key themes are identified which are used to structure the project: productivity, employment, skills, and inequality. Indicators are presented across UK nations, regions, sectors, sector skills councils, and various socio-economic groupings, with international benchmarking for the UK undertaken where possible. Genna Kik leads this project.
To access the UK Employment and Skills Almanac 2009 data, please visit the project website
Download the UK Employment and Skills Almanac 2009 Report PDF
The National Strategic Skills Audit for England 2010
In August 2009, the UK Commission received confirmation that it would have an important role in advising government about future strategic skills needs in England, producing a key publication - the ‘National Strategic Skills Audit’ - on an annual basis. The first National Strategic Skills Audit, Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow has now been published. The final reports and more detail about this project are available here. The key contact for this work is Dr Vicki Belt
National Employer Skills Survey
The National Employer Skills Survey for England is the largest survey of English employers’ training and recruitment practices and skills needs. Continuing a biennial time series established by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in 2003, NESS09 surveyed 79,152 employers. The sample surveyed was selected by size of organisation, English region, industrial sector and Sector Skills Council (SSC). This sophisticated sampling technique means NESS provides the most comprehensive view available of employer recruitment difficulties, skills shortages, skills gaps, training and workforce development, product market strategy and employers’ view of education leavers.
NESS is now available as a Main Report here , a Key Findings summary report, as well as an interactive Datasite. The Datasite allows users to interrogate the entire dataset online, create cross-tabulations, drill-down, export tables in Microsoft Excel format.
The data for NESS09 are now available. Preparation for the next Employer Skills Survey is currently under way, with the next iteration scheduled for completion in 2011.
Research and Policy Analysis
Skills Utilisation
This research project has examined skills utilisation and its relationship with productivity, focusing specifically on the role of high performance working (HPW) in UK firms. The work consisted of a number of key strands - a synthesis of existing literature - the development of a high performance working survey tool, a set of case studies and a policy review. The Work Foundation and the Institute of Employment Studies were appointed to undertake the research. Dr Richard Garrett, Katerina Rudiger and Dr Vicki Belt are the Commission's project managers.
Download the project outputs here:
High Performance Working: Developing a Survey Tool - Evidence Report 5
High Performance Working: A Synthesis of Key Literature
Review of Employer Collective Measures
The review will consider the levers available to stimulate employer investment in skills and the cost/benefit of the options. Literature reviews to inform the study have completed and a final report to ministers will be available in autumn 2009. A consortium of the Institute of Employment Studies, the Institute for Employment Research, Policy Research Institute, Ipsos MORI and SKOPE has been commissioned to undertake the bulk of the work. The project is led by Carol Stanfield and James Sloan in the Commission.
Employee Demand Study
This literature review investigates what is known about the existing barriers and challenges facing individuals (particularly low skilled) in accessing career-enhancing training and in what motivates them to invest in their own skills development. We are undertaking consultation to inform how best to tackle the barriers presented via a Praxis paper to be published in December. Views are welcome as outlined in the Praxis paper. The project is led by Carol Stanfield
Download the Employee Demand Study PDF
Employability: A Research and Policy Briefing
This briefing reviews recent literature on the issue of employability skills, looking at different definitions, the extent to which there is an 'employability skills problem', and policy responses. Dr Vicki Belt and Paul Drake prepared the review. This work is linked to the broader Employability project being led by the Strategy and Performance Directorate.
Download the Employability Challenge PDF
Employment and Skills
This review of the literature explores what we know to date about the role of skills in accessing, and progressing in, employment and is due to complete in summer 2009.
Value of Skills
Identifying the value of skills is important to build the business case for investing in skills by employers, individuals and governments. To this end, two important projects are being managed by Dr Richard Garrett. The Value of Skills report will review literature on the economic value of skills to individuals, employers and the State. Non financial and social benefits of skills to individuals and society are also considered. The report will be available early in 2010. The Economic Value of Intermediate Vocational Qualifications examines the financial benefit to individuals of acquiring vocational qualifications at NQF Levels 2 and 3 as their highest qualification. This report will be published in late 2009.
Employer Perspectives Survey
This survey of 13,500 UK business establishments explores their experience of training and vocational qualifications and their perceptions on aspects of the skills system. The project was managed by Carol Stanfield and was reported in November 2008 as the Commission's Evidence Report 1. Download Skills for the Workplace: Employer Perspectives - Evidence Report 1. A further survey is planned in 2010.
Policy Portal
The portal is being developed by Abigail Gibson and its aim is to help users of our website to access a range of online resources in skills and employment policy. The portal will be available during 2009.
Praxis
Praxis, a new occasional series of policy think pieces, aims to challenge, inspire and stimulate discussion and debate. Over the coming months the UK Commission will publish a series of articles authored by a variety of employment and skills experts, and we hope that these will provide a starting point for further discussion and exploration. Abigail Gibson manages this project. Visit the Praxis homepage now.
The UK Skills Convention 2010: Skills, Jobs, Growth
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills held its first Policy Convention on 8 and 9 February 2010. This unique conference brought together national and international skills experts and leading thinkers to focus on the UK's future strategy for skills, jobs and growth.
You can find out more about the event, watch the videos and read the blogs on our conference website.