'Qualify with a Business' is a new term coined by the government
in the Skills Strategy White Paper which could possibly create
opportunities for small to medium enterprises.
The paper acknowledges that self-employment can be a particularly
effective route out of social exclusion and into the labour market and
goes on to say:
“Too often, those who might wish to combine the skills needed for a trade, like plumbing, with business start-up help, have to navigate the system on their own to find the support that is available. This can put off all but the most determined.”
18% of young adults have considered starting their own business and
13% of economically active adults are self-employed (with some sectors
such as artistic creation, driving schools, marine fishing and livestock
farming being characterised by more than 80% self-employment).
Only 3-4% of those leaving further education are actually self-employed
after one year. The White Paper proposes a coherent package of business
skills support to go alongside vocational training called ‘Qualify with a
Business’.
This creates an opportunity for enterprise agencies and business development companies to offer their support to the Government, to build practical and effective ‘Qualify with a Business’ packages based on our experience of what works, and to RDAs who will be testing different approaches.
The Government is also to encourage colleges to work with their RDAs to develop stronger partnerships with local ‘support agencies’.
To read the whole report follow this link http://www.bis.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/publications/Skills-Strategy.pdf