The UK’s skills agenda has moved centre stage – linking training with employment support and health to hit growth and participation goals. To translate reform into results, policy must be delivered locally, with clear employer pull and sustained funding.
Navigating the UK’s changing skills ecosystem
Over the past 18 months, UK skills policy has been redesigned to do one thing, connect people to good work faster by joining up training, employment support and health. That integration, delivered locally and shaped by employers, will determine whether the government’s growth mission and an 80% employment rate are within reach. As Co‑Chair of the Business Services Association’s Apprenticeships, Skills and Training Group, I’ve seen how recent White Papers and delivery changes are reshaping practice and through our constructive discussions with government representatives, we’re building a shared understanding of how these reforms will work in practice.
What is clear is that the skills agenda is not just prominent, but central to the government’s priorities. Over the past year, senior Ministers – including the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, and the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves – have repeatedly emphasised that skills are a critical lever for driving economic growth, which remains the government’s primary mission. A strong, responsive skills system underpins this ambition by boosting productivity, reducing economic inactivity among young people, and preparing the workforce for a future increasingly shaped by automation and technological change.
Developing an integrated system
This new wave of reform has been shaped by a succession of White Papers, beginning with the Get Britain Working Plan and followed by the Post 16 Education & Skills White Paper. Together, they mark a decisive shift. Skills are no longer viewed as a standalone policy area, but as an integral part of a more holistic approach to supporting people into work. This shift is reflected in initiatives such as linking the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) with local Jobcentre support, expanding SWAPs, the upcoming Jobs and Careers Service, delivering the Pathways to Work Guarantee, and directing investment to ensure skills provision is better aligned with local labour market needs.
This direction has been reinforced by major structural changes, including moving Skills England into the Department for Work and Pensions. Now under DWP, its 2025-26 priorities focus increasingly on positive labour market outcomes, including meeting employer needs, reducing NEET rates, and cutting reliance on migration to address skills shortages – all in support of the Government’s target of an 80% employment rate. As the UK tackles economic inactivity and rising youth unemployment, effective skills training will be essential to equip people with the capabilities employers need and to support sustainable employment and economic growth.
These reforms -and the wider commitment to creating a more streamlined skills system – reflect a welcome recognition of the close links between skills policy, employment support and health, and the need for these systems to work together. At Maximus, we see every day how interconnected these issues are. Working at the intersection of health and employment gives us practical insight into why a holistic approach is essential. Many of the people we support face overlapping barriers such as long‑term health conditions, low confidence, or the need to develop job‑ready skills. Without integrated provision, these challenges can compound, ultimately blocking individuals from moving into good‑quality, higher paid, long‑term work.
Recommitment to devolution
The government’s reforms have strengthened its commitment to ensuring that local regions play a leading role in shaping skills provision and planning. Skills England is expected to coordinate national priorities while working closely with local and regional partners to meet employer demand. In its first report, published in September 2024, Skills England acknowledged a clear “evidence gap” between the skills UK employers need and the skills currently held across the workforce. A locally led, employer‑driven model is important in tackling this challenge, ensuring that local voices and expertise helped to tailor provision to the specific needs of employers and sectors of the economy.
We have already seen the impact of this approach in the regions where we deliver. In the West Midlands, our employer‑led ASF programmes have produced higher‑than‑expected job outcomes, with provision focused on anchor industries such as customer service, hospitality, and warehousing and logistics. Similar principles underpin our activity in other areas, including West Yorkshire.
Central government’s expectation is that having devolved powers over skills to the regions, locally led initiatives like Skills Improvement Plans, Local Growth Plans, and Get Britain Working Plans are closely aligned. The aim is to ensure a coherent and locally led approach to local economic development and workforce planning that delivers positive outcomes.
For the delivery of these services the benefits of locally embedded services are clear. At Maximus, thanks to our Community Partnership Network and teams made up of local people – many of whom have lived experience of the challenges our service users face – we can provide support that is genuine, relatable, and grounded in real insight.
It should however, be noted that if regions are to deliver on this front it is vital that they are effectively funded in order to do so. There is great potential in the introduction of single settlements to the regions to support with skills provision, but it remains to be seen how this will materialise across different regions.
The recent reforms offer a positive outline for a more interconnected system of skills provision and there is much to welcome. However, the true test will lie in the outcomes and continued focus and effort which needs to be expended to ensure that the system joins up.
