DEPARTMENT FOR
INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS News Release (044) issued by COI
News Distribution Service on 17 April 2009
New guidance to
help Government departments encourage contractors to provide
skills training and apprenticeships in all publicly let contracts
was launched today by Skills Secretary John Denham and Exchequer
Secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle.
The guide, published by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC),
provides practical advice to those responsible for letting
publicly funded contracts on how to embed skills training and
apprenticeships in all aspects and stages of the procurement
process. It covers all types of public contracts for products and
services from facilities management and IT to construction.
Total public procurement is worth around £175 billion a year and
offers a unique opportunity to invest in the nation's skills
and build a more productive workforce better able to respond to
technological changes. Other benefits include improving public
services, getting greater value for money and helping people
progress in their careers.
The guide advises those responsible for procurement on:
* how they can work within UK and EU regulations to include
skills and apprenticeship requirements in public procurement
processes as long as the requirements are relevant, proportionate,
don't compromise value for money and don't unfairly
discriminate against prospective contractors;
* how they can promote skills and apprenticeships at each stage
of the procurement process, from the initial identification stage
right through to the contract management stage; and
* case studies and illustrations of where authorities have
successfully embedded skills and training opportunities in their procurements.
Skills Secretary John Denham said:
"In tough times like these it is vital that we continue to
invest in our nation's skills. We want to play a leading
role by making greater use of the £175 billion a year Government
spends procuring goods and services to promote skills and training opportunities.
"We have already made good progress by making sure that
public construction projects include apprenticeships and training,
going some way to ensuring that vital skills are built up.
"It is only right that the significant investment in new
schools, colleges and hospitals does more than provide new
buildings for world-class public services.
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle said:
"The publication of this pamphlet is a vital step in making
the most out of the £175 billion a year that Government spends on
public sector procurement. In helping to support and promote vital
skills, training and apprenticeships, Government is ensuring that
individuals and businesses have the tools they need to deal with
the global economic downturn."
John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General, said:
"Developing people's skills will help our economy to
emerge from the recession in the best possible shape. It's
right that the government continues to play its part by using
public procurement to enhance the UK's skills base. The
guidance and case studies in the OGC report will help ensure that
central government and the wider public sector can improve the way
they use their purchasing power to drive this critical investment
in skills."
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
"During the recession it is vital that the nation's
investment in skills, and particularly apprenticeships, is
maintained and indeed grows. Good employers will recognise that is
crucial both to survive now and prosper in the future when the
economy recovers.
"Public procurement is a key route to driving that
investment, ensuring young people and adults have access to the
skills and training opportunities they deserve. The TUC supports
this new guidance which will help public authorities lead the way
in driving investment in the skills of the workforce."
The guidance builds on last summer's commitment that all
employees working on central Government contracts should have
access to basic literacy and numeracy skills training if they
needed it.
In last November's Pre-Budget Report, Ministers committed to
consider the inclusion of relevant skills and apprenticeship
requirements in the procurement of publicly funded construction
projects. Making sure that public construction projects include
apprenticeships and training will go some way to ensuring that
vital skills are built up and maintained so that the industry is
ready to take advantage of the upturn when it comes.
In 2008 the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills
introduced a requirement that all building colleges for the future
projects have a formal training plan in place that maximises
access to apprenticeships for their workforce.
The Department for Children Schools and Families recently
announced that it expected 1000 extra apprenticeship places to be
made available as part of its Building Schools for the Future
programme. In addition the Olympic Delivery Authority is including
a condition in new contracts that three per cent of the workforce
working at the Olympic Park site are apprentices, creating an
extra 250 places.
The Homes and Communities Agency is also committing today to
maximising employment, training and apprenticeship opportunities
across its annual investment budget of more than £5 billion. The
HCA will be looking to include skills and training requirements in
the next round of bids for the National Affordable Housing
Programme and for Property and Regeneration work. It will also be
working with partners on a voluntary basis to explore the scope
for providing skills and apprenticeship opportunities on existing
housing development and regeneration projects.
Ministers are now looking at how to extend the commitment beyond
construction projects. Central Government IT contracts are worth
around £14 billion annually and in the coming weeks Ministers will
be holding a roundtable with the IT industry about how skills
training opportunities can be embedded in public IT projects.
-Ends-
Notes to editors:
1. Promoting Skills Through Public Procurement can be found at http://www.dius.gov.uk/skillsprocurement.
2. In July 2008, central government, the Trade Unions and private
and third sector organisations agreed a Joint Statement on access
to skills, unions and advice in Government procurement, aiming to
improve the quality of public service delivery by providing
service providers' employees with access to basic skills
training. For further details see: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/workforcematters/assets/CO_joint_statement.pdf
3. The 2008 Pre-Budget Report (PBR) announced that whenever
Government Departments and their agencies let new construction
contracts, they will consider making it a requirement that
successful contractors have apprentices as an identified
proportion of their workforce.
4. According to the Office of Government Commerce the public
sector including Government departments, agencies and Local
Government spend £175 billion annually on the procurement of
products and services.