After six long weeks of campaigning and fourteen years of Conservative Government, last week’s election results saw a change in Government for only the ninth time since 1945. Less than five years after the Tories won a majority of 80 seats in Parliament, we now welcome Keir Starmer’s Labour government, which won 412 Members of Parliament.

This time is now crucial for setting the agenda and proving to stakeholders in every sector that this Government is ready to tackle the issues facing the country, from stagnant economic growth and poorly performing public services to the continued impact of inflation and high interest rates.

Hitting the ground running

As the new Prime Minister appoints junior ministers in each department, his new Government is keen to hit the ground running and take advantage of the current momentum and political capital. In the days following the election, the new Government has scrapped the previous Government’s Rwanda scheme, lifted the ban on onshore wind and launched a £7.3 billion national wealth fund, aiming to attract billions of pounds of private investment into the UK for infrastructure projects.

In his appointments, the Prime Minister has been keen to promote individuals who have key experience in the areas they will be presiding over, including Patrick Vallance as the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation; and Jacqui Smith, the presumed new Minister for Skills, Further Education and Higher Education.

What will this mean for skills and apprenticeships?

The former Home Secretary’s return to frontline politics, especially in the Skills, Higher and Further Education brief, signals the Government’s intention to connect skills policy with immigration policy. During the election campaign, the now-Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said that Labour would cut net migration by improving the training of British workers to plug current skills gaps. The plan is to reduce immigration but still achieve economic growth by investing in skills that will bring economically inactive people back into the workforce whilst plugging skills gaps, thus helping businesses thrive and the economy grow.

Moreover, in a recent episode of her podcast with Iain Dale, Smith said that skills policy is seen as “central” to Labour’s growth strategy. In the days since the election, there has not yet been any policy announcements on skills, further education or apprenticeships. However, Labour’s manifesto committed to launching Skills England, a cross-government taskforce that will coordinate a national skills policy. Additionally, reforming the apprenticeship levy was another manifesto pledge, stating that it will create a “flexible” growth and skills levy to replace it.

In her speech at the Department for Education the day after the election, the new Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson, said a Labour Government will focus on “ensuring that all of our people, in all of our communities, our businesses and our country, have the skills that they need to drive the growth that we can and must see”.

Connecting with the regions

Another important signal of his priorities from the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister was inviting the Metro Mayors to Downing Street on their fifth day in office. The meeting with all 12 regional mayors was an opportunity to discuss “a major programme of devolution”.

Whilst plans are yet to be finalised and enacted, there is clearly a move towards giving the Combined Authorities greater responsibilities, with powers moving out of Whitehall into the regions. It is expected that skills policy, which is already somewhat devolved Combined Authorities have their Adult Education Budgets to use on skills training and apprenticeships.

Labour has begun governing with conviction, keen to signal to the public that it is ready to take on the challenges the country faces. The next few months will be an opportunity for the Government to set the agenda, make new appointments and set the direction of political travel.

At the St Martin’s Group, we are looking forward to working with the new government to create a new apprenticeship system that works for businesses, especially SMEs, training providers and apprentices. This system also needs to be able to deliver the economic growth this country needs to be able to respond to the many challenges it faces across different sectors.