NEWS FOCUS in this edition

Looking forwards not back
The REAL Alternative, and
Are you thinking what we're thinking?

Let's start with the details. Joining Ruth Kelly are:

Minister of State
(Schools and 14-19 Learners) - Jacqui Smith

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
(Schools) - Andrew Adonis

Minister of State
(Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education) - Bill Rammell

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
(Skills) - Phil Hope

Minister of State
(Children, Young People and Families) - Beverley Hughes

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
(Children, Young People and Families) - Maria Eagle

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been given a new brief, a new minister and a new name. Former Work and Pensions minister, Alan Johnson, will head up the new Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry (DPEI), with a brief that includes reducing red tape for businesses and boosting innovation.

Having named the guilty/lucky/talented* (*delete as applicable) people involved, let's take a stroll through what we already know from the manifesto and what we can reasonably assume from other pledges and past experiences.

Full employment

"Our goal is employment opportunity for all – the modern definition of full employment."

Though I rather suspect "sufficient jobs for everyone in the labour market" is a little closer to the strict dictionary definition.

Still, it is worth remembering that it wasn't that long ago that most political pundits seemed to think that Labour should abandon any thoughts of, or indeed reference to, "full employment", as it was so clearly unachievable.

"Our long-term aim is to raise the employment rate to 80 per cent. And, as we move more people from welfare to work, the savings on unemployment benefits will go towards investing more in education."

"With Labour's tax credits a family with two children pays no net tax until earnings reach £21,000."

With so many people working - we have the highest employment rate of the G7 - and a slowly ageing population, we should expect the emphasis on encouraging older workers to stay in some form of employment to continue, as will the moves to support those with children returning to the labour force (so those thirty-something so called friends of mine with no kids who holiday three times a year will continue to get hard-stares as I contemplate having to work until I'm seventy and have to holiday in a caravan in Ireland… bah!).

"We will help people who can work into rehabilitation and eventually into employment, recognising the practical assistance to disabled people of the Access to Work scheme. We will build on the successful Pathways to Work programme and reform Incapacity Benefit, with the main elements of the new benefit regime in place from 2008. The majority of claimants with more manageable conditions will be required to engage in both work-focused interviews and in activity to help them prepare for a return to work."

"Those with the most severe conditions will also be encouraged to engage in activity and should receive more money than now. We will continue to welcome new independent and voluntary sector partners to provide job-seeking services."

The New Deals and the creation of Jobcentre Plus both get positive mentions in the manifesto and can be expected to continue and, in the case of the New Deals, expand their remit.

Minimum wage

"We will implement the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission to raise the minimum wage to £5.05 from October 2005 and £5.35 from October 2006."

With the mass unemployment predicted by some as a result of the introduction, and seemingly each successive raise, of the minimum wage not having materialised, we should expect reasonably positive increases, though what happens if the economy slows down a little will be intriguing to watch.

Enterprise and the Labour Market

"…our priorities are the national infrastructure of skills, science, regulation and planning, and transport. The economy of the future will be based on knowledge, innovation and creativity."

Encouraging entrepreneurship has always been a headache for central Government and, in a nod to this, the manifesto very much concentrates upon ensuring individuals have the skills and knowledge to compete, rather than any commitments to new bodies and major schemes. I expect the role of the RDAs to continue to shift towards supporting enterprise and taking more of a lead in the planning for future regional skills needs.

"We are determined to spread the benefits of enterprise to every community in the country. Every regional economy has different strengths, and Regional Development Agencies now play an essential role in regional economic development."

It is however worthy of note that the new Skills Alliance doesn’t get a mention… and the requirements put upon Sector Skills Councils came as something of a shock to them.

"The modern role for government – the case for a modern employment and skills policy – is to equip people to succeed, to be on their side, helping them become more skilled, adaptable and flexible for the job ahead."

We can also expect to see some form of encouragement for the Public Sector to continue to use UK private sector organisations for procurement.

Skills at work

Reforms of 14-19 education have so far focused upon raising the quality and quantity of apprenticeships and vocational education. The manifesto makes a number of new (and repeats the continuing) pledges:

"All adults to get free access to basic skills in literacy, language and numeracy
A new national programme, working with employers, to ensure that employees who did not reach GCSE standard (level 2) at school will get time off for free training up to level 2
A new partnership between government and employers to fund workplace training at level 3 (technician level)
A genuinely employer-driven training system - in every sector there will be a Sector Skills Council determining the training strategy and a leading edge Skills Academy
A nationwide system of advice - bringing together support on skills, jobs and careers - helping people to get on at work
A strong partnership with trade unions to boost workplace training including a new TUC Academy and continued support for Union Learning Reps."

The continuing support of the excellent work done by the TUC in providing training to those typically excluded from such provision has to welcomed. There will no doubt be many headaches in getting the TUC Academy off the ground, but the existence of many thousands of Union Learning Reps already within our society suggests that the will is there.

The pledge for each SSC to have an Academy seems to date from an encounter Ruth Kelly had with the Philip Green Fashion Retail Academy. There the initial funding costs of £20 million to set up the Academy have been provided on a 50/50 basis by (Philip Green's) Arcadia and the DfES/Learning and Skills Council. Unfortunately, Philip Green seems to have a rather more, ahem, positive view of the role of industry in training than most and the prevailing view amongst the SSCs is that this will be a tall order. But with the way funding seems to work these days they had best get in early.

Local authorities will also be expected to support skills through work with disadvantaged communities. The Local Enterprise Growth Initiative will work through local authorities to remove barriers to enterprise in the most deprived areas of England. Labour have already given local authorities a direct incentive to promote local business creation, allowing them to keep up to £1 billion over three years of increased rate revenues to spend on their own priorities.

"In 1997, many parts of our towns and cities were suffering from deeply entrenched and multiple disadvantage. To tackle this we established a ten-year programme, the New Deal for Communities, empowering local communities – and this is already delivering improvements in education outcomes and crime reduction."

I expect this to increase as the Government gets dangerously close to joined-up thinking.

Fairness and Equality at work

"Since 1997, the Labour Government has introduced new rights for people at work and new opportunities for trade unions to represent their members. We see modern, growing trade unions as an important part of our society and economy."

The Labour Party has agreed a set of policies for the workplace (the so called Warwick Agreement) and have pledged to deliver them in full. The manifesto says that 'they will be good for employees and for the economy'; as for precisely what 'they' are we will have to wait, but expect changes to holiday entitlement, paid leave and the rights of temporary workers.

"We will take further action to narrow the pay and promotion gap between men and women. We will implement the National Employment Panel's report on measures to promote employment and small business growth for ethnic and faith minorities."

"We will take forward the Strategy for Race Equality to ensure that we combat discrimination on the grounds of race and ethnicity across a range of services."

The Equalities Review won't be reporting to the Prime Minister until 2006 and will make practical recommendations on the priorities for tackling disadvantage and promoting equality of opportunity for all groups. So don't expect any big moves until mid- to late 2006.

Post 16 Education and Training

"2010: Every 16-year-old offered school, college, training or apprenticeship."

The Government remains committed to raising the status and quality of vocational education, though they may soon rue the missed opportunities of the Tomlinson Report. Expect GCSEs and A'levels to remain the foundation of the system in which new 'high-quality' vocational programmes will be available to every pupil. Designed in collaboration with employers, specialised diplomas will be established in key areas of the economy, leading to apprenticeships, to further and higher education and to jobs with training.

There is a commitment to expanding sixth-form, college and apprenticeship places, and ensuring that all 16-to 19-year-olds in employment get access to training (our new Learning Theme should be of interest if this is your bag). Expect moves to transform FE and ensure each College has specialist 16-19 and vocational centres.

Higher Education

"As school standards rise we maintain our aim for 50 per cent of young people to go on to higher education by 2010."

Lots of commitments here, and the 50% target still seems to attract opposition – though typically not from those aware of what our competitor countries are planning and often doing.

Bursaries will help the poorer students and the maximum annual fee will be frozen at £3,000 (subject to inflation).

Expect plenty of money but little joined up thinking. Universities will still close departments based upon research-linked funding whilst the labour market need is given scant consideration. More attempts will be made to link industry and HE. A new technology strategy will be backed by more than £370 million of investment and will seek to build greater collaboration between academia and industry to develop new technologies. Don’t be too optimistic.

The linking of HE, economic need, long term research and labour market needs may remain a pipe dream.

Migration

An election issue hotter than Satan's underpants after a rather feisty beef vindaloo. At a time when we have over 600,000 vacancies in the UK job market, it is worth noting the economic imperative - skilled migrants are contributing 10-15% of our economy's overall growth.

"A new points system will be introduced for those seeking to migrate here. More skills mean more points and more chance of being allowed to come here."

There is a new pledge that only skilled workers will be allowed to settle long-term and penalties of up to £2,000 per illegal immigrant will be imposed upon employers.

Older workers – age and employability

Labour market trends already indicate the increasing involvement of older workers and the New Deal for the over 50s has helped over 150,000 back into employment. Changes to the law will ensure that companies will no longer be able to force people to retire before the age of 65 except where 'specifically justified'. I expect a number of high-profile legal challenges from older workers, something that has happened elsewhere already.

"All employees over the age of 65 will have the right to request of their employer that they be allowed to carry on working. After five years we will review whether there should be any fixed retirement ages."

Older workers will be targeted for a new programme for older people to be mentors and coaches to gifted and talented young people.

Childcare

"2010: Universal, affordable childcare for three to 14-year-olds and a Sure Start Children's Centre in every community."

Work is the best anti-poverty strategy (apart from marrying royalty/rockstars/tycoons or appearing on Big Brother). Help, especially for lone parents, is key but the labour market needs workers so expect government increasingly to target parents with schemes designed to make work pay. There is a pledge for a guaranteed income of at least £258 per week for those with children and in full-time work.

'Over 350,000 mothers and 80,000 fathers each year are using new rights to paid maternity and paternity leave.'

Unless the Equalities Review suggests major changes, I expect current policy and pledges to be: to increase paid maternity leave to nine months from 2007, with the goal of achieving a year's paid leave by the end of the Parliament while simplifying the system for employers. Government may introduce the option of sharing paid leave to encourage fathers to share responsibilities (speaking as someone who has seen what it's like looking after a newborn, particularly with other young kids in the house, it might be nice if some of those eligible for Paternity leave actually took it).

"By 2010, all parents of three- and four-year-olds will have increased rights to flexible, free, part-time nursery provision for 15 hours a week over the whole school year. Over the longer term we will increase free provision to 20 hours."

Government are also pledged to extend out-of-school care for children up to 14 years of age and maintaining the Working Tax Credit including help for those with nannies and au pairs … assuming income is less than £59,000. Parents using childcare supported by their employer will be able to get a tax break worth up to £50 a week each.

Rural areas

I suppose Labour could have been forgiven for keeping this part of the manifesto short and sweet considering the criticisms they have had over fuel, farming and 'country pursuits'. On a positive note they have, of course, made it more difficult to close rural schools, put in extra support for rural post offices, introduced a 50% rate relief on village shops and delivered over 2,200 new bus services in rural areas (via the Bus Subsidy Grant).

Expect future activities to focus upon affordable housing, responding to changes in the Common Agricultural Policy and rewarding environmental protection carried out by farmers.

One potential growth area will be the commitment for schools, hospitals and government offices to consider local sourcing of fresh produce.

Further rural division can be expected when the Animal Welfare Bill is introduced to Parliament.

There, that about does it. Clearly, I've restricted my comments to SLIM's core activities. You can see the manifesto for yourself at:

Manifesto

To download a copy of Labour's business manifesto, go to:
www.labour.org.uk/uploads/tx_netefflplatestnews/businessmanifesto2005_01.pdf

And here are some comments you may find interesting:

The guardian discuses the new DfES Team

Parent power pledges

Teaching Times comments

The Scotsman

NUT