This year marks 50 years since Harold Wilson’s landmark White Heat of Technology speech. In it he argued how our country would be transformed by new industries and new ideas, warning: ‘The Britain that is going to be forged in the white heat of this revolution will be no place for restrictive practices or outdated methods’.
The Open University is the most powerful legacy of that speech – indeed the achievement Wilson said he was most proud of – and we can all celebrate the fact that this remarkable institution has transformed the lives of almost two million students since 1969. Nonetheless, the challenges and opportunities Britain faces today compel us to consider Wilson’s ultimatum with fresh urgency and vigour.
The forces of globalisation continue to accelerate; technology is revolutionising the nature of work; and firms are increasingly relying on flexible labour. In the workplace, all of us engage in conversations on a daily basis to support those around us to reach their potential. The advice we offer is instinctively focused on transferable skills and modern working methods. However, over successive parliaments, our policy responses have lacked ambition and, as the CBI and Federation of Small Businesses both argue, have failed to connect with the needs of employers.
Since Wilson’s premiership, we have seen a plethora of skills reviews and white papers. In those decades we have expanded vocational education, denigrated it and more recently, encouragingly, seen apprenticeship starts rise to over half a million in 2011-12. We have created mechanisms for individuals to understand the opportunities available to them, closed schemes such as Aimhigher and are now rolling-out the National Careers Service. It is time to take a more consistent approach and we should start with first principles:
1. Higher skills do not only benefit individuals – they benefit employers, investors and the exchequer;
2. This is not a quick win – the primary benefits of a highly skilled workforce often take many years to materialise;
3. Demographics are not on our side – by 2030 60 per cent of Indonesia’s population will be under 30 compared to just 35 per cent in the UK; and
4. When countries invest in the skills of its people, good jobs and strong businesses follow – when President Clinton applied this logic he created 23 million new jobs, turning deficits into the biggest surplus in US history.
Given the current fiscal constraints, it has been suggested that the skills agenda may have to wait until austerity has passed. Nonsense. Now is precisely the time for us to prioritise skills in order to nurture the growth which currently evades us. Why has Germany seen the expansion and growth in exports it has enjoyed over recent years? Its renowned efficiency, of course. But the genius of its economic model has been a sustained cultural and political commitment to the Mittelstand. And the benefits are not just economic. A conscientious effort to expand skills and capacity throughout small- and medium-sized enterprises (the lifeblood of European economies) would assist regions still struggling with the loss of heavy industry; help move away from the dependence on the public sector in the north-east and Wales; and offer greater opportunities to foster social mobility. This is not simply a call for our politicians. It is a shift in national mindset, a responsibility we all share.
It’s time to end the parochial debates between further education and higher education; part-time and full-time learning; academic versus vocational; focusing on the young or adults; and whether it is for the public, private or voluntary sector to deliver. The stakes are too high. The government’s skills strategy to be published in the coming weeks must be ambitious, consistent and focused on the needs of our economy.
Next time you are in conversation about how we deliver growth, pause. And remember – our challenges are global, not national. Our skills have pioneered the telephone, invented the Dyson and gifted the world wide web. Our greatest asset is our people. And with them our best days lie ahead.
—————————————————————————————
This article is part of a series we are running on Labour’s relationship with business and how we create growth, to coincide with our event on Tuesday: ‘Going for growth: How can Britain pay its way in the coming decade?’ with Chuka Umunna MP, Paul Drayson and Joe Greenwell. Follow the series here.
If you would like to attend the event, please email [email protected]
—————————————————————————————