2 April 2008

In the recent Budget an additional £60m of resources was announced for DIUS over the next three years to provide new opportunities for adults to acquire the skills they need to unlock their talents.

Skills Secretary John Denham said: "This is great news for adult skills, allowing more people to get the advanced skills they need to get work, and to get on in work. This investment moves us a step closer to realising our ambitious vision for skills accounts, equipping adults who need to develop their skills with the resources to do so. Employers tell us we need to increase the level of advanced skills, equivalent to A-levels, in the economy. We'll prioritise this funding to meet this need, to tackle bottlenecks in the supply of skills and to support more employers to access the training they need to improve their productivity.".

The Government is developing universal Skills Accounts as a mechanism that empowers more adults to take up, invest and progress in training, so that they realise their talents and achieve their ambitions in learning, work and life. Today's announcement will expand this investment, enabling more adults to get the skills they need to progress, within a training system that is responsive to their needs.

Skills Accounts, to be trialled from autumn 2008, will improve individuals' life chances by offering them better access to the support they need to take control of their own learning and careers. Skills Accounts will last a lifetime and will be offered to all adults - in or out of work. They will contain virtual money, putting purchasing power into an individual's hands, for those entitled to purchase relevant learning at an accredited, quality assured provider of their choice.

This announcement reiterates the Government's commitment to increase the number of advanced Level 3 skills in the economy, a key priority identified by the Leitch review and in Dius's response, World Class Skills, published in July 2007.