Annual Report and Accounts 2010-2011
This is the third Annual Report from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, and it follows a year of great change.
Annual Report 2010-2011 (PDF, 2.0 Mb)
Published July 2011
In our first three financial periods the UK Commission for Employment and Skills has sought to make a real contribution to policy and practice in the UK, improving the provision of skills and employment services to better meet the needs of the UK workforce and employers through recession and into longer term growth. To do this we identified three strategic priorities:
- Building a more strategic, agile and demand-led system
- Maximising individual opportunity for skills and sustainable employment
- Increasing employer ambition, engagement and investment in skills
As well as continuing delivery against these strategic objectives, 2010-11 was a year of change and of review. 2010 saw a general election and the formation of a conservative-led coalition Government. The first priorities of this new Government have included:
- Reducing the deficit and public spending (part of which was a review of all Public Bodies including the UK Commission, Sector Skills Councils and a number of our partners).
- Economic growth and job creation in the private sector.
As a result of these new priorities some work was stopped – such as on 14-19 Diplomas, but new work, including additional work on Apprenticeships and input to the Government’s Growth Strategy, has taken its place.
Following the Cabinet Office Review of Public Bodies (published October 2010) the UK Commission’s co-sponsors were required to undertake a “complete review, by the end of the year, of core functions and the most appropriate organisational model to deliver a simplified skills landscape”. Phase 1 of the review (organisational form and high level mission) determined that the UK Commission should continue in a “reformed and streamlined” form, with a refocused remit. This was confirmed by Cabinet Office in February 2011.
The new policy approach of empowering markets rather than directing supply-side provision required a fundamental shift in the role and approach of the UK Commission. Alongside this, the changing financial position was a further driver of the need for change, with a 39% cash terms reduction in running cost funding over the Comprehensive Spending Review period.
Work on Phase 2 of the review began in January 2011. Co-sponsors worked with the UK Commission and Sector Skills Councils to determine what needed to change to deliver the new approach and the UK Commission established a Transition Plan covering areas where new arrangements needed to be developed to fulfil the new role, approach and budget. This has included a Voluntary Exit Scheme and organisational redesign to create a flexible single team within the UK Commission; renewed Commissioner leadership; and a changing perspective on our work to become more outwardly facing.
It is against this background that the achievements highlighted in the annual report were delivered.
