UKCES

What's the project about?

To ensure that skills play a critical role in developing a vibrant UK economy it is vital to maximise the leverage of the employer voice in shaping the employment and skills system.

Employers need to be able to articulate their demand for skills and have the confidence that the system will meet this demand, both now and in the future. To achieve this we need to examine where, and for what purpose, employers are most profitably involved in shaping the system and identify any changes needed to ensure their involvement has impact.

The project will result in recommendations to the UK Government and Devolved Administrations identifying how to make best use of the employer voice to articulate demand and ensure that a robust and accessible system is in place to respond.

Over the last decade government policy has placed a great deal of emphasis on capturing the employer voice. This has resulted in the establishment of decision making structures at different spatial levels and an employer-led sector approach. The landscape is complex and it is not clear who sets priorities or has the authority to direct funding. Furthermore there has been a different response in each of the four nations.

To maximise the impact of the employer voice a clear strategy for involvement is needed that specifies in what ways employers are expected to engage, and to what end. Mechanisms for capturing the employer voice also need to be given an appropriate level of authority to influence public sector planning and spend.

To achieve this we will need to examine the current system to understand what works well, what can prevent the employer voice from having impact and ultimately how employer leadership can be improved. Involving a greater number of employers is not necessarily the aim, but improving how the employer contribution is utilised and translated into action or policy decisions might be a better measure of success. This comes at a time when the employment and skills system is subject to major change, particularly in relation to whether decisions are made nationally, regionally or locally.

The Grant in Aid letter asks that:

The UK Commission should work with co-sponsors to deliver a one-off review of the employer engagement landscape across the UK. This review should include an assessment of, and proposals on the structures that are necessary to deliver more effective engagement, taking account the integration of employment and skills services and the desire for simplification.

This project will provide a description of types of employer voice and the ways in which these currently feed into the employment and skills system and provide a narrative of the strengths and weaknesses of the current arrangements by:

• Looking in detail at different types of employer voice across the UK to establish which are the most successful at ensuring a demand-responsive employment and skills system
• Examining the relationship between different types of employer voice and how they operate and relate at different spatial and sectoral levels   
• Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of current arrangements for capturing the employer voice
• Identifying the impact that Machinery of Government changes and devolution of responsibilities for economic development to more local levels might have on the effectiveness of the employer voice
• Assessing the degree to which the spatial and sectoral approaches add value and examining the relationship between them
• Identify to what degree the employer voice currently impacts on the design of services and the way money is spent in the employment and skills system
• Provide a case for change
• Recommend how to maximise the leverage of the employer voice in the employment and skills system
• Suggest the steps that government or identified stakeholders should take to ensure that the employer voice has maximum impact in ensuring an effective employment and skills system and increasing UK productivity.