Command Paper Ser.

This White Paper details the Government's national skills strategy to ensure the sustainable employment and personal fulfillment of individuals in their working life, and the availability of the required skills for businesses to promote a competitive, productive economy. It focuses on managing the supply of training, skills and qualifications by colleges and training providers to be more responsive to the needs of employers, promoting learning opportunities for all ages, and by promoting greater partnership working across government and the public sector, employers and unions. Proposals include: guaranteed free tuition for any adult lacking a 'level 2' qualification (the equivalent of five GCSEs); pilots of a new adult learning grant for adults studying full-time for their first level 2 qualification or for young adults studying for their first full level 3 (the equivalent of two A levels) qualification; promotion of ICT skills for adults as part of the Skills for Life programme; the formation of a national Skills Alliance bringing together the key Government departments with employer and trade union representatives; the creation of 23 Sector Skills Councils by Summer 2004 to co-ordinate skills development in different economic sectors and at regional levels; better information provision on courses and training through one-stop shops; and reform of the qualifications framework, such as lifting the current age cap for modern apprenticeships, focusing vocational routes on employability and enterprise skills, and speeding up accreditation of new qualifications.