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Government training programmes run into cash barrier
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21/05/2009
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EXCLUSIVE: Funds for government-backed training programmes marked out as being vital for the regeneration of the economy are being rationed, prompting accusations that hard-pressed UK manufacturers are being misled and kept in the dark.
Works Management has learned that funding for the government's heavily promoted Train to Gain scheme is being rationed with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), a quango which is due to be disbanded next year, clamping down on the funds it makes available in order to "manage demand".
Answering the criticism, a spokesperson from the Department of Innovation Universities and Skills (DIUS) said Train to Gain was a successful programme and its budget was being managed rather than cut. "We expect demand to remain strong and are putting measures in place to ensure that we and our delivery partners, the LSC, manage the budget so that funding is available for priority skills needs, taking into account the economic situation," she said. SMEs were a priority for funding, she added, because of the pressure they are under from the recession.
But at the Best Factory Award-winning West Midlands SME manufacturer Power Panels, executive chairman David Fox (pictured) said he had re-named the government scheme 'Train to drain'.
And a senior official from a training organisation told the magazine that despite forecasting the manufacturing sector's training requirements, programmes were now being postponed or cancelled due to funds that were being restricted without proper explanation.
There was a lack of clarity around the issue and pleas from training bodies to officials and ministers had achieved "very little impact" or thus far gone unanswered.
A boost in funding from £65 million to £100 million to help pay for training in the manufacturing sector was announced in January as part of a package of measures that Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said was "the route to securing jobs for the long term as we build a more balanced economy".
The chief executive at one training organisation who did not wish to be named for fear of prejudicing its lobbying efforts, said it had experienced a number of cases in which a company's training plans had been supported only to subsequently find that funding had been stopped. "This is not only frustrating for the business but also embarrassing and dangerously undermining for us," he said.
Another manufacturing representative suggested a lack of funding flexibility, with money earmarked for "flower arranging" failing to be transferred to satisfy greater and more important demands.
At the manufacturers' organisation EEF, head of economic policy Lee Hopley said: "More and more speculation about the availability of LSC budgets as companies are planning their future training and apprenticeship programmes is causing huge amounts of unwanted uncertainty and raising a whole host of question marks."
Power Panels has seen the £100,000 of training budget it believed it was due capped at £50,000.
"In this economic environment you just can't afford to change plans like that," Fox said. "Lots and lots of manufacturers not in such good shape as us would go bust.
"UK Manufacturing leaders have clearly been misled by a government that has failed to deliver its promises on funding to raise the skill levels in the sector."
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Author
Ken Hurst
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