David Lammy
Pre-recorded message for OfQual launch, 16 May 2008

Hello, I'm David Lammy, and I'm pleased to have this opportunity to send a short message to all of you attending the launch of OfQual in Solihull today.

Alongside my colleagues at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, I welcome the creation of OfQual - the new independent guardian of standards across the system for qualifications, tests and examinations in England.

From my perspective as skills minister, OfQual has a vital role to play as we set about transforming the skills landscape in this country.

We're creating a demand-led system that responds more quickly and more effectively to the needs of learners and employers.

Where individuals can improve their prospects thanks to a massive increase in apprenticeship places and flexible, unit-based vocational qualifications.

Where employers' skills needs are addressed by available vocational qualifications with Sector Skills Councils playing a key role in this process.

And where companies of all sizes can have their own training programmes nationally accredited - whether as awarding bodies in their own right, like Network Rail and McDonald's, or through other options which suit SMEs.

These reforms are the most ambitious for a generation. And in a time of significant change, OfQual - as regulator - can be a stabilising force.

To assure companies that new qualifications meet the highest standards, whether developed by awarding bodies or employers.

To enable learners to trust the quality of the training they undertake.

And to help reduce bureaucracy within a strong nationally-regulated system.

Above all, by working across government to create a flexible, responsive system, our goal is to build a society where no-one if left behind and where everyone gets to contribute to economic prosperity and social cohesion.

OfQual is very much part of this story, and I welcome the appointment of Kathleen Tattersall as its first chair. Under her able leadership, I fully expect OfQual to play a significant role in building public confidence in our national skills and qualifications landscape - its accountability, its accessibility, its consistency.

It only remains for me to offer my best wishes for a successful launch event, and to thank everyone in Coventry who has worked hard to get OfQual up and running.