News and features

Tue, 10 Mar 2009

Local authority in Slough pledges commitment to skills

Skills Pledge signed by leader of Slough Borough Council Rob Anderson.

Slough Borough Council has become the latest organisation to make the Skills Pledge.

The local authority, which had been working on its pledge with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) since 2007, confirmed its commitment to improving the skills of its employees on February 24th.

Council leader Rob Anderson signed the Skills Pledge at the Berkshire town's Copthorne Hotel and said that he would like to see other employers in Slough "follow in our footsteps".

He commented: "Slough has become known as a boom town and we'd like to keep it that way by ensuring all employees in the borough get the continuous training and skills they need."

Employers signing the Skills Pledge commit to a training plan to boost their business with better skills for their employees.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has said that skills will be "the only route to prosperity and jobs" in the future.

"Of 3.4 million unskilled jobs today, by 2020, we will need only 600,000," he explained.

"So, if the UK is to continue to succeed in the new global economy, we will need to be more ambitious with more people training."

Making the skills pledge represents the first stage of a four-step plan for skills improvement drawn up by the LSC.

After receiving a Skills Pledge certificate by post, employers carry out an assessment of the skills and training priorities of all their workers (stage two), with a skills broker providing help if needed.

Stage three involves drawing up an action plan for delivering on the Skills Pledge commitment, with the fourth and final stage requiring organisations to implement their action plan and work towards achieving milestones.

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