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Government launches ‘crucial’ new mission to plug England’s skills gaps for next decade

"Our current skills system is in a mess."

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 23rd July 2024

The new Prime Minister wants to fix the “fragmented and broken” skills system he says he inherited from the previous Government.

Keir Starmer claims England’s current skills training system is “in a mess”, and this is why he has announced this week that he is setting out, alongside new Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, to transform the country’s approach to meet skills needs over the coming decades.

The new Government believes skills are “crucial” to the country’s economic growth.

Recent statisicts show that a third of productivity improvement over the last two decades can be owed to improvements to skills levels, but despite this, between the years of 2017 and 2022, skills shortages in England doubled to more than half a million, and the Government says these unfortunately now account for 36% of job vacancies.

To address this, the Prime Minister and Education Secretary have this week announced the launch of ‘Skills England’.

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‘Skills England’ is a new body to “bring together the fractured skills landscape” and ultimately create a “shared national ambition to boost the nation’s skills”.

By joining together central and local Government, businesses, training providers, and unions, ‘Skills England’ is aiming to meet the skills needs of the next decade across all regions, and provide “strategic oversight” of the post-16 skills system aligned to the Government’s industrial strategy.

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It will also support local areas to develop the skilled workforces they need for their region – with construction and healthcare highlighted as two key areas.

Government launches ‘crucial’ new mission to plug England’s skills gaps for next decade / Credit: 10 Downing Street / Keir Starmer (via X)

This new body is said to be “fundamental” to the Government’s mission to “raise growth sustainably”.

“Our skills system is in a mess,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented, “which is why we are transforming our approach to meet skills needs over the coming decades.

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“They will help to deliver our number one mission as a Government, to kickstart economic growth, by opening up new opportunities for young people and enabling British businesses to recruit more home-grown talent.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Skills England will “jumpstart young people’s careers” and “galvanise” local economies.

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“The skills system we inherited is fragmented and broken,” she added. “Employers want to invest in their workers but for too long have been held back from accessing the training they need.”

Featured Image – 10 Downing Street (via X)

News

Huge bakery chain Gail’s confirms move to Prestwich – but spells village’s name wrong in signs

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Huge bakery chain Gail's confirms move to Prestwich - but spells village's name wrong in signage

After months of swirling rumours, bakery group Gail’s has finally confirmed it’s moving to Prestwich – but locals have spotted a glaring error at the first hurdle.

The popular artisan bakery will be moving onto Bury New Road, right in the heart of the suburb and directly opposite the new Rudy’s pizzeria.

Prestwich locals have been hearing whispers of a Gail’s arriving for a few months, and finally the London-founded cafe has stuck up signs to confirm it’s on the way.

But the sign contains one crucial mistake – it’s spelled Prestwich wrong.

The red window displays now read ‘Hello Preswich. We’ll be baking here soon’.

One local messaged Gail’s to point out the error and to say it’s ‘not a great first impression for the locals…’.

Gail’s has since confirmed it’s in the process of fixing the signs.

The arrival of both Gail’s and Rudy’s has already caused a stir in Prestwich, which has always been fiercely independent and has only a handful of chains within it (Greggs and Costa are perched by the tram stop).

In fact, one local business-owner shared a moving statement about his concerns for the future of local businesses just a few weeks ago.

Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail’s has confirmed it’s opening a bakery in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc Group

First formed in the early 1990s as a wholesale-only operation, Gail’s opened its first cafe on Hampstead High Street in 2005.

Today the brand has more than 100 sites spread across London, Oxford, Brighton and further afield, and is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery.

It’s famed for its freshly-baked loaves, cinnamon buns, ham and cheese croissants and coffees, and is likely to go down a storm in Prestwich.

But the signs have been causing a bit of a stir in the wrong way this weekend – in a local Facebook group, one person commented: “Not locals who own it then.”

Another described it as an ‘epic fail’.

And one person said: “Oh the DRAMA of it all.”

Someone else joked: “I cannot wait for Gais to come to Preswich.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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Met Office issues snow warnings for large parts of northern England from this evening

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Greater Manchester could be waking up to a winter wonderland as weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued across northern England.

Expected to arrive anywhere from 6pm this evening (18 November) and last until around 10am tomorrow morning (19 November), the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for large parts of northern England – indicating that “snow may bring disruption to a central swathe of the UK during Monday night and Tuesday morning”.

Weather forecasters say that although most snow is likely to accumulate on higher ground, with five-10 cm on ground over 200 metres, and possibly 15-20 cm over 300 metres, there is a chance that snow may settle at lower levels “within the warning area”.

The Met Office also said that this possible five-10 cm at lower levels is likely to be “more disruptive”, particularly if travelling and if the snow coincides with rush hour, but the likelihood for that is still “uncertain” at this stage.

Greater Manchester could see snow from this evening as the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning / Credit: Geograph | Pexels

As the rain, sleet, and snow begin to clear on tomorrow morning, ice may form on surfaces that are untreated.

“We have issued yellow warnings for snow and ice as cold weather moves in from the north,” explained Andy Page, who is a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office.

“This brings snow showers and some ice to parts of Scotland on Sunday night, and then the potential for a spell of snow to lead to disruption to some transport routes across a central swathe of the UK on Tuesday morning.”

He further added that “gusty winds” in the east also remain a “potential hazard”.

“Updates to the warnings for wintry hazards are likely, so it is important to stay up to date with the latest forecast,” he concluded.

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In addition to the severe weather warnings, a Cold Health Alert has also been issued by the UKHSA, and it covers the north of England and the Midlands right through until Thursday.

Featured Image – Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)

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