§ Dr. FrancisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the growth and development of the Union Learning Fund. [R] [31466]
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§ John HealeyTrade unions play a key role in promoting the development of learning and skills in the workplace. To help them do this my Department has provided financial support through the Union Learning Fund since 1998. This year (2001–02) funding will total £7 million, rising to £9 million next year and £11 million in 2003–04.
When it was launched, the Union Learning Fund was a new and innovative experiment, but it has now become an established part of the lifelong learning agenda. It is helping trade unions use their influence with employers, employees and others to encourage greater take up of learning at work and boost their capacity as learning organisations. It has so far benefited over 25,000 people in the workplace through a wide variety of projects ranging from tackling basic skills needs to advanced professional development. It has also led to the development of a new breed of activist, the union learning representative, and helped to establish a network of over 3,000 learning representatives nationwide.
Union learning representatives are ideally placed to help and encourage workers to improve their skills, particularly among the very lowest skilled workers and those with literacy and numeracy problems. That is why we have included a clause in the new Employment Bill that will give statutory backing to union learning representatives. It will reinforce the invaluable role that union learning representatives are currently playing in the workplace to promote work force development and open up new training opportunities for their colleagues.