'Short-sighted and self-defeating'

Plans to axe the Union Learning Fund, which has helped thousands of people to gain new skills for the workplace, has been branded as ‘short-sighted and self-defeating’ by Unite today (October 19).

Unite is strongly supporting the TUC’s Save Union Learning campaign, following the shock announcement by the Department of Education to axe the £12 million-a-year programme in March next year.

Unite said that at a time when tens of thousands of workers had lost their jobs or under threat of losing them because of the economic devastation caused by the pandemic, cutting training schemes were the last thing ministers should be contemplating.

The union also said that the decision by controversial education secretary Gavin Williamson flew in the face of the prime minister Boris Johnson’s pledge last month to boost training for all through a national skills fund.

Unite director of education Jim Mowatt said, “At a time when the job queues are lengthening by the day due to the ravaging economic impact of Covid-19, the last thing the government should be doing is ending the Union Learning Fund which supported 200,000 learners acquire new skills, such as basic English and IT skills, in the last year alone.

“The plan to axe the scheme is short-sighted and self-defeating when there is a national crisis, as businesses close and companies shed jobs,” he added.

“The announcement from the education department seems to contradict the prime minister’s own promise that funding will be available for everyone to get a qualification at level 3 – the equivalent of A-levels – through a national skills fund.

“Boris Johnson’s oft-repeated mantra to ‘level up’ the disadvantaged regions of the UK will need every training lever at his disposal, including the continuation of the Union Learning Fund. By axing the fund, the prime minister’s pledge will be seriously compromised and undermined,” Mowatt continued.

“We should be looking forward to a post-pandemic economic world; when a country’s skill base will provide the foundation for economic regeneration, the growth in employment opportunities and increased prosperity for all.

“A skilled workforce is the lifeblood that will spearhead the UK’s economic future in this new and changing global economy, when education and training will be at a premium.

“That’s why the Union Learning Fund should remain as an important pillar of the UK’s overall training programme – we call for the proposal to axe the fund to be rescinded immediately.”

Find out more about the TUC’s campaign, and how you can involved, here.

And you can read a further UniteLIVE interview with Unite’s Jim Mowatt here.

By Shaun Noble