§ John MannTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in testing how financial incentives can support employers and individuals in tackling poor basic skills and attainment to Level 2 qualifications. [53093]
§ Dawn PrimaroloAs part of Skills for Life, our national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills, pathfinder areas were established in September 2001 to pilot a range of approaches including financial incentives for learners and fixed rate replacement costs for employers to release low skilled staff for training. In addition, the Employment Service, now Jobcentre Plus, has recently completed piloting alternative approaches to identify and meet the literacy, language and numeracy skills needs of jobseekers. These pilots included the use of financial incentives. Evaluations of all these approaches are currently underway.
In addition to these pilots, Budget 2002 announced details of six new Employer Training Pilots which will test, among other things, how financial incentives can 733W support employers and individuals to tackle the problem of poor basic skills and attainment of an initial level 2 qualification. It is intended that the pilots will become operational by September 2002. The pilots will provide information about how different measures might impact on UK skills, and will gather evidence, which will contribute to the Government's consideration of workforce development policy. Further details can be found in 'Developing Workforce Skills: Piloting a New Approach', which was published alongside the Budget and is available in the House Library.