Business Skills (Hansard, 26 February 2002)

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what training provision is made to meet the needs of small and medium enterprises. [37593]

§ John Healey
Much of the support for small and medium sized enterprises is provided through the Learning and Skills Council, which has an overall budget this year of 7.3 billion. Local LSCs will contract with small business service franchisees to provide advice to small and medium sized enterprises on workforce development services including support for Investors in People, access to Modern Apprenticeships and management development. In addition, the Department has provided the Learning and Skills Council with a specific workforce development budget of £48 million in the current financial year.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will take steps to incorporate entrepreneurship and business skills as an integral part of the curriculum from primary school through secondary, further and higher education. [37591]

§ John Healey
We are already taking steps to ensure that young people gain a knowledge and understanding of entrepreneurship and business skills.
Since assuming responsibility in April 2001, the Learning and Skills Council has, through education business links consortiums, formed partnerships with businesses and schools to help pupils gain key skills that prepare them for the world of work.
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Entrepreneurship and business skills are already promoted via a range of subjects in schools—including mathematics, science, design and technology, citizenship and personal, social and health education.
We recently published the Green Paper "14–19: extending opportunities and raising standards". Our proposals will deliver a range of high quality, high status academic, vocational/technical and mixed options, covering entrepreneurship and business skills among others.
The independent Review of Enterprise and the Economy in Education, chaired by Sir Howard Davies whose report was published on 14 February, made a series of recommendations about how to promote understanding of the economy and enterprise throughout the school and further education system. We are considering the recommendations within the broader outcome of the spending review process and our other priorities in the education system, not least the 14–19 Green Paper.
We announced in November 2001 that the Department would be providing £1 million over 2002–04 to put in place arrangements with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Learning and Teaching Support Network for the embedding of work-related skills more widely in HE provision. Negotiations are at an early stage but the work will include the embedding of entrepreneurial skills as well as other generic and vocational skills.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will introduce company learning accounts alongside individual learning accounts. [37589]

§ John Healey
It is too early to say exactly what form a replacement ILA-style scheme will take or what other arrangements may be introduced alongside the new scheme. Representatives of companies both large and small are being interviewed as part of the current stakeholder consultation exercise, which will report in April.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will introduce fiscal incentives to encourage small businesses to invest in training. [37595]

§ John Healey
Fiscal incentives are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Chancellor announced in his pre-Budget report in November pilot activity to test how financial incentives can support employers and individuals to tackle the problem of poor basic skills and attainment to an initial level 2 qualification.
The pilots will test out provision of free tuition, offering compensation to employers for releasing employees for training. The pilots will use a grant-based system and employers will be asked to volunteer to take part.
Local Learning and Skills Councils will run the pilots and we expect to announce the pilot areas in April 2002, with learning opportunities beginning in September.