Response to spring statement on 23 March 2022

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23 03 2022

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Naomi Phillips, deputy chief executive and director of policy and research at Learning and Work Institute said:
We welcome the Chancellor's focus on business investment in innovation and skills. Our research shows that employer investment in skills has fallen over the last decade, and too often the Government’s support for employer training has reinforced existing inequalities in access and opportunity, rather than tackling them. The review announced today needs to address these imbalances both for people and places through major reforms, including to the apprenticeship levy. In terms of the labour market, the Government continues to ask the wrong question and has not meaningfully addressed the growth in economic inactivity in older workers, disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. More support is needed for people who have fallen out of the workforce who can return but need to retrain or reskill. Overall, today’s measures don’t do enough to help people who are out of work to weather the cost of living crisis.

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