The Skills Pledge

Frequently asked questions:

What is the Skills Pledge?

The Skills Pledge is “a voluntary, public commitment by the leadership of a company or organisation to support all its employees to develop their basic skills, including literacy and numeracy, and work towards relevant, valuable qualifications to at least Level 2 (equivalent to 5 good GCSEs)”.

The purpose is to ensure that all staff are skilled, competent and able to make a full contribution to the success of the company or organisation. The Pledge can be given by the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, owner, manager or other Board member, on behalf of the organisation.

It is a corporate commitment covering the whole company or organisation. For those employees who do not already have a full Level 2 qualification, the Government will provide funding to help them gain basic literacy and numeracy skills as well as their first full Level 2 qualification. The Skills Pledge is open to all employers of all sizes in the private, public and voluntary sectors.

What is the purpose of the Skills Pledge?

The Skills Pledge is an opportunity for the leaders of a business or organisation to show publicly and demonstrably the importance they place on investing in the skills of their people.

What am I committing to in making the Skills Pledge?

You are making a public commitment to enable your staff – in whichever way works best for you – to gain the basic skills and competencies that are valuable in supporting business needs and their future employability, and to achieve relevant qualifications to recognise those skills. You may want to make a commitment to go beyond the basic and foundation level skills, helping staff gain higher level skills and qualifications.

Remember, The Skills Pledge is not a contractual commitment and is not legally binding on your company or organisation. Its value is as a signal of voluntary commitment and partnership between management and employees to develop the skills of the staff and so support the success of the organisation.

What do I need to do?

When a company or organisation registers its intention to make the Skills Pledge, it will be able to access the support and advice of a skills broker. There is a national network of skills brokers across England, managed and funded by the Learning and Skills Council. They will work with you to understand your business priorities, help you identify your skills needs, and work with you to design a training package that will best meet those needs.

Some companies have done this by drawing up a separate action plan for training to deliver the Skills Pledge. Others have integrated this work into their normal business planning process. It is for each company or organisation to decide how to take the process forward. The Skills Broker will identify sources of public funding that are available from across Government, and help to identify the best suppliers of training.

What time period does the Pledge cover?

There is no deadline by which organisations must fulfill their Skills Pledge. That is up to each company or organisation. The time needed will vary, depending on how many employees need to be supported to gain the basic skills and their first full Level 2 qualifications which are the core of the Skills Pledge, and how much further beyond that commitment you want to go.

What happens when I contact the Skills Pledge helpline?

If you would like to get more information on the Skills Pledge or would like to register your interest in making the Skills Pledge, please telephone 08000 15 55 45. That is the same number for the Train to Gain service. A call handler will ask for some basic information about the company, so that your inquiry can be passed on to the most appropriate Skills Broker. At no stage will confidential or commercially sensitive information be requested. At that stage, if you just want to get some information about the Skills Pledge and Train to Gain, the call handler can help with that. Or if you would like to take the discussion a stage further and talk to a Skills Broker, you will be contacted as soon as possible to arrange an appointment.

The Skills Broker will get in touch with your nominated point of contact to have an initial discussion about your company or organisation and your training priorities. If you want to proceed from there, the Broker will arrange a convenient time to meet to discuss in more detail. This is the beginning of a process designed to build an understanding of your needs, the training priorities that will best meet those needs, and where you feel that help and support with training is best directed.

Skills Brokers will advise on the skills, competencies and qualifications that are most relevant and appropriate for the business and the individuals concerned. They will identify whether there are specific training programmes that could help the company, such as Apprenticeships or Foundation Degrees. They will work out what public funds can be drawn on, and what the company will need to pay for. For very small businesses the Government will provide funds to offset some of the costs of releasing staff to undertake the training for courses such as literacy and numeracy and first full Level 2 qualifications. Some companies or organisations may want to undertake a wider organisational needs analysis, as the best way to work out how training can support their overall objectives. Other companies or organisations may want to go straight to an analysis of training needs or may already know their skills needs and want help in working out how best to meet those needs quickly and cost effectively. It can take time to arrive at the right solution for the company and may need a number of discussions. But in all cases, the final decision on next steps will rest with the employer as to what is in any plans, which accredited providers are used to deliver the training, and where and over what period the training should be delivered.

What help can I get?

The Government will provide support, described above, through the Train to Gain service in England. Skills Brokers will start from your business needs, work with you to design a programme that will work for you, and find the right training provider to deliver the training – either in your workplace or away from the workplace.

Skills Brokers can also bring in other advisers from the Business Link service to help on business development issues unrelated to skills and training, such as import/export advice.

The Skills for Business Network comprises 25 Sector Skills Councils. Every Sector Skills Council has a role to play in promoting the Skills Pledge amongst employers in its sector. Sectors Skills Councils are promoting the Skills Pledge through regional road shows and ‘Skills Envoy days’.

Will I be pressured to sign up for something?

No. Each employer will make their own decisions about what is right for them. There is no requirement to contact or work with a Skills Broker at any stage. If an employer knows what they want to do, and are happy to organise and pay for it themselves, that’s fine. If an employer wants time to think through what they want to do before discussing with a Skills Broker, that’s also fine.

There is a range of web-based tools employers can use to assess their own training needs.

At what point does the Skills Pledge commitment get triggered?

The commitment is formally made when a senior leader on behalf of the organisation signs the Skills Pledge certificate. Prior to that, through the Skills Pledge helpline, we will also be logging initial statements of intent. And of course, to put the Pledge into reality will need an action plan, so Skills Brokers will also be logging the point at which the action plan is drawn up.

What public funding can I get, and when?

The Government will provide public funds through the Train to Gain programme to help employers deliver the Skills Pledge in England. The core commitment is that the Government will pay for the costs of training in basic literacy and numeracy skills through the Skills for Life programme, and training for unqualified employees to achieve their first full Level 2 qualification (equivalent to five good GCSEs).

Through Train to Gain, the Government will also help employers develop a wider training programme to meet their full training needs, including help with Level 3 qualifications, access to the Apprenticeships programme, additional and higher level qualifications for staff who already have some qualifications, and management and leadership development for SMEs. But employers will be expected to pay their share of that wider training programme, reflecting the benefits to them and their staff. The Skills Broker will help to sort out what costs each employer needs to pay.

Will I have to report what I am doing?

The Skills Broker will want to know whether the publicly funded support from Train to Gain is delivering the benefits for you that you wanted. That’s how we ensure that taxpayers’ money is being well used. But it is for each employer to decide how and when they will report progress in delivering the Skills Pledge to their own staff, and to wider stakeholders (including shareholders). The Government will publicly recognise and celebrate employers who commit to the Skills Pledge, through a range of printed and online media, as well as highlighting their progress in fulfilling the commitment. This will include enabling companies to publicise their own commitments voluntarily via the Train to Gain website.

What if the employees don’t want to do it?

The Skills Pledge is not a legal requirement, and does not change employment contracts. So employees cannot be forced to train as a result of the Skills Pledge if they really do not want to. Many staff who do not have qualifications lack confidence in their own ability to learn, and may fear that they will fail in any new training programme they undertake. But experience also shows that if those employees can be encouraged and supported to gain new skills and their first qualifications, that can transform their belief in themselves and their motivation at work.

How do I make the Pledge?

To register your interest in making the Skills Pledge you can call 08000 15 55 45.

Useful websites

• Train to Gain - www.traintogain.gov.uk
• Government Skills - www.government-skills.gov.uk