Further concerns over Train to Gain programme Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 13:36

"Although Train to Gain has successfully provided opportunities for 1.4 million adult learners at work, including many with little or no engagement with education or training since school, the cost of this achievement has been very high".

"NIACE has argued consistently that routing public money through employers should not be at the expense of learning which adults choose for themselves. Despite good intentions and a reach into workplaces, Train to Gain doesn't trust learners to know what is good for them and has been neither as efficient nor as effective as it should have been."

The report: Train to Gain: Developing the skills of the workforce sets out nine conclusions:

1. Train to Gain has supported more than 1.4 million learners, but mistakes in its management have compromised the value for money of the programme.
2. Extensive pilots showed that rapid growth would be challenging, but the Department set unrealistically high targets for the first two years.
3. By year three the programme was starting to take off and extensions to eligibility, combined with the effects of the recession, created more demand for Train to Gain than could be afforded.
4. Sub-contracted providers have had the least attention from the LSC, though there is greater risk of fraud.
5. Too many providers have been achieving low success rates for their learners.
6. There is scope to increase further the benefits that Train to Gain has delivered for employers and learners.
7. Around half of employers whose employees received training say that they would have arranged similar training without public subsidy.
8. Skills brokers have provided useful business advice to employers but recruited fewer learners than expected.
9. At precisely the same time as the Committee's hearing on Train to Gain, the Government was announcing a new national Skills Strategy in the House of Commons.