§ Mr. ColmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that the United Kingdom has a highly skilled workforce. [24487]
570W
§ Dr. HowellsOur programme of work for this Parliament is aimed at ensuring that all young people enter employment with the highest possible skills and qualifications and at encouraging people to continue throughout their lives to develop new skills to improve their employability. The School Standards and Framework Bill and the Teaching and Higher Education Bill and our soon to be published White Paper on Lifelong Learning set out some of the key ways in which we plan to raise standards and obtain a highly skilled workforce.
We are also developing the National Skills Agenda and the Skills Task Force and a Skills Unit to identify where skills gaps exist and how they should be addressed.