David Lammy Speech - Regional Skills and Employment Conference

Good morning everyone. It's a real pleasure to be here and it's great to see so many of you here too.

Because in the end we are all here because we hold something in common. We're all here because we want to see a society with full employment, with successful enterprises and with full fulfilling jobs. A Britain where everyone has the opportunity and support to make something of their lives. For themselves and for their family.

But we also have something else in common. We all know that while there's an enormous amount of talent and ability in this country, too much of it still goes to waste. Because:

• It's wrong that 5 million people in this country still lack the basic literacy skills to find a job and to negotiate everyday life
• It's wrong that there are still children living in poverty in this country partly because their parents lack these basic skills
• And it's wrong that businesses struggle to fill vacancies because they can't find the right people for the right jobs

So we're all here today because we want to do something about it.

In July this year the government published World Class Skills. In that document we set out how we intend to engineer a skills revolution in this country.

But we are not starting from scratch. Nationally, we've already made a great deal of progress in the last ten years.

A new generation is growing up with the advantages that the Government has worked hard to give them. Sure Start centres giving young children the best possible start in life, extended schools giving young people a broader and more well-rounded education than ever before, the new practical diplomas preparing students for success at work or in higher education, the building schools of the future programme which will rebuild half of all primary schools and all secondary schools over the next 15 years.

Millions more people have achieved their first basic skills qualifications through Skills for Life. That's millions of people now capable of reading to their children at night, never mind finding the jobs to help families stay out of poverty.

There are now three times as many apprenticeships as there were a decade ago. And, importantly, it is no longer the case that if you start an apprenticeship you are unlikely to finish it. Six years ago only one in four people completed the apprenticeship that they had set out on. Now nearly 2 in every 3 stay the course, gaining that passport for a better future.

And while there is much more to do to attract people from all backgrounds to stay on in further and higher education, FE classrooms and university campuses are more diverse places than they were ten years ago.

I found myself as one of only a handful of black people when I went to university. Many of my childhood friends never made it there. In truth, many never even considered it. But thankfully that situation is now changing: it's vital that young people from all backgrounds have the support and the encouragement to stay on in education and that's a real priority.

So the last 10 years have seen real and meaningful change. But we've still got a huge job ahead of us. The 21st century is a fundamentally different place to the world my parents grew up in. Then education was an advantage, now it is a necessity.

The pace of change in the modern world brings with it exciting opportunities: new business models, new jobs, new trading partners. There are one billion new consumers entering the global economy - think about what that means for Britain if we get it right.

But people also feel more insecure: worrying that they will get left behind in this wave of change. Because, for those without the opportunity and the confidence to update their skills, the changes in the world around us can feel worrying and destabilising as jobs require progressively higher skills.

Louis Pasteur said, 'Fortune favours the prepared mind.' As individuals and as a country, we need to be better prepared to succeed in this intensely competitive age.

In June of this year, the Prime Minister announced the creation of a new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). The Department's mission is to make Britain one of the best places for science, innovation and research in the world and to ensure poor skills no longer limit anyone's life chances.

World Class Skills is about building on the aspirations, talents and abilities of all our people. It's about giving business exactly the skills they need in a way that suits them. It's about creating a truly responsive adult education and training system.

We are giving employers the central role in the reform and development of qualifications for their sector, through the Sector Skills Councils. Employers will have the power to determine the content of qualifications, to tell us which qualifications should receive public funding, and to determine the number of qualifications for their sector.

And we know that many employers already deliver excellent training of their own. So we will make it easier for their own training programmes to be nationally recognised and accredited, where they meet the necessary standards.

We are asking companies of all sizes, in all sectors to join the likes of Ford McDonald's, Sainsburys, Tesco and BT in making the Skills Pledge. Over 400 employers - covering over 2.5 million workers - have already made the Skills Pledge. By doing so, they are publicly demonstrating their commitment to investing in their workforce.

An improved and expanded Train to Gain service will help employers of all sizes and in all sectors to fulfil that pledge. Since it was rolled out nationally last year, Train to Gain has helped over 52,000 employers and over 230,000 workers to improve their skills. We will continue to expand and improve the service, to help employers of all sizes to invest in their businesses by investing in their skills.

I mentioned the success story that is Apprenticeships. Yet if you look at the number of Apprenticeships in London the challenges that lie ahead are very clear.

London with its vast and diverse businesses has much more to do. In 2005/6 London only had around 5 thousand 16-18 year olds completing an Apprenticeship. Let me put that figure in perspective for you: that's about 2% of all 16-18 year olds who might have taken up that option.

And if we burrow down further, Kensington and Chelsea only had 48 young people complete their apprenticeships from around 4,000 16-18 year olds. That's just over 1%.

This isn't good enough for a city of this size with a global reputation. England as a whole has 4.9% of 16-18 year olds complete their Apprenticeships - and our great cities should be matching that figure at the very least.

The Government has announced its intention to offer an Apprenticeships entitlement to every qualified young person who wants one by 2013. This will expand the numbers of Apprenticeships places on offer substantially, helping more young people benefit from them. We want Apprenticeships to be a natural and equal alternative to a straight academic route into a career, open to both young people and adults.

Our ambition is for over 500,000 high quality apprenticeships across the UK by 2020 along with a nationwide service matching employers to the people who are able to take up these opportunities.

Alongside these changes, our new adult careers service will give people tailored employment and skills advice. And New Skills Accounts will do something that I consider to be very important - they will help give people a genuine sense ownership over their own learning. Because, at heart, learning is a deeply personal journey.

It is an experience that fundamentally changes who we are, who we know, what we can do - and what our futures might look like. So having a sense of ownership and control over that experience is vital if we want people to truly embrace learning...and return to it again and again in their lives.

And crucially, that experience has to be is open to all. The opportunity to take part in learning can't be left to the accident of which family you were born into, or how much you take home in wages at the end of each week or month. Through the Education Maintenance Allowance, the Adult Learning Grant and free entitlement to Skills for Life courses as well as level two and three qualifications, we are removing the financial barriers for people to improve their lives through learning.

We want all Higher Education Institutions to increase their focus on workforce development and strengthen partnerships with employers to deliver training that meets their needs. It's high level skills that will power us ahead. We want well over 40% of our adult population to be qualified to Level 4 or above by the end of next decade.

Now that's a long list of reforms and a lot of investment. But we also know something else: government can't do all his alone. We can put the necessary money, reforms and structures in place to ensure a responsive skills and employment system. And DIUS will work in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, and other Government Departments, to achieve a shared objective of sustainable employment and progression.

But we need others beyond Whitehall to help us - individuals, employers, colleges, universities and national and local partners. Only by working together can we effect the real and lasting changes required.

We need everyone - young and old, in work or unemployed - to recognise the importance of skills. They must see the link between good skills and better prospects for individuals, their families and communities.

We need employers - big and small, up and down the country - to work more closely with schools, colleges, universities and training providers and invest in the professional development of their workforce.

We need educators - FE colleges, training providers and universities - to help us build a demand-led system that will develop and deliver the education and skills training learners and employers need.

The support of the regions in all this is incredibly important. The Government's review of sub-national economic development and regeneration recognised the importance of regional partners working together to ensure there is no overlap or duplication of skills provision. It is crucial that the LSC and RDA work closely with the Sector Skills Councils to ensure a good flow of information on future skill needs and how these will boost productivity, sustainable employment and progression.

Regional Skills Partnerships have done much valuable work over recent years to ensure coherence at regional level. It is good to see some regions already reviewing their arrangements to see if they are fit to meet the challenges of the future. For example how they can support the new employment and skills boards emerging in some of our larger cities or the new strengthened strategic role for Regional Development Agencies.

The support and input of Local Authorities in all of this work is also incredibly important. As the sub-national review recognised local knowledge and expertise helps guarantee the success of Government activity at a local level.

In fact, the Government recently announced that, subject to consultation and all necessary legislation, 16 - 19 funding will transfer from management by the Learning Skills Council to Local Authorities.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families is now leading on the transfer of this funding to Local Authorities and how this move can support and strengthen the delivery of the 14 -19 reforms.

These changes present some great new opportunities. They help to fulfil the ambitions set out for Local Authorities in the sub-national review, and will increase the accountability for 16 '18 funding.

It's true we now have clear national objectives. As a country, we must improve basic skills, increase the numbers of people with level 2 qualifications and strengthen the progression of learners from level 2 to level 3 and above, whether via an apprenticeship or study in higher education.

But there is still the flexibility locally to choose what provision to fund, develop and deliver to meet these national priorities, address local needs and help learners achieve qualifications.

And while we need to ensure that as much provision as possible is geared to making World Class Skills a reality, we are still planning to invest roughly £1 billion in 2010 - 2011 alone to ensure that we are able to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable learners.

This includes safeguarded funding for personal and community development and learners with learning difficulties and/or other disabilities. It will also support ESOL provision, the roll out of the Foundation Learning Tier and learning for its own sake.

So where does all this leave us? I think it should leave us with a real sense of hope and optimism:

• that we can produce a fairer and more prosperous society
• that, in a world with more opportunities, but also more risk and uncertainty, learning can open doors for people and for businesses - and change lives.

As a government we are committed to doing all that it can to secure our nation's future. We're putting employer's needs at the heart of everything we do. We're committed to action and investment. Now we need employers and individuals to do the same. It's a huge opportunity: I hope we can grasp it together. Thank you