Better Basic Skills is the Government's response to A Fresh Start, the report of the working group on post-school basic skills chaired by Sir Claus Moser. Details of the response can be found in the Better Basic Skills Leaflet available on this site. A Better Basic Skills Conference was held on the 5th November 1999. Here you can find the transcripts of the Secretary of State's video address and Baroness Blackstone's speech to the conference. "Sir Claus's report revealed the scale of the problem we face. 7 million adults without basic literacy skills. Probably double that number in terms of those struggling with numeracy... My Government's committed to doing something dramatic about this." Video Address by David Blunkett "Let's make no mistake. This cannot and will not be a quick fix on the part of the Government. Decades of neglect cannot be put right overnight. But I want you to be in no doubt about the Government's resolve to tackle this problem." Speech by Baroness Blackstone

Click here to go to the UKLL Homepage or the DfEE World Wide Web site. This page was last updated on the 5th November 1999.