Hayes wants greater status for skills

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The skills minister has outlined the government's plans for "driving the status of skills" through the expansion of professional standards schemes.

Addressing the implications of a proposed extension in the Licence to Practise scheme, John Hayes told the associate parliamentary skills group that "a greater coherence" was needed in the promotion of high standards within individual occupations.

Hayes said:

"This is critically about driving the status of skills. It is about understanding that we can't recalibrate worth if we don't take seriously the accreditation of standards required in practical, technical and vocational skills."

Using the example of London taxi drivers and the internationally renowned 'Knowledge', Hayes argued that the existence of official accreditation schemes across the workforce led to a greater sense of career fulfilment.

"Gaining a licence to practise in a certain field can have a big effect on people's purpose and pride – an important component of any society," Hayes said.

He added: "Many people take a pleasure and a pride from having a purpose they enjoy which is measured, tested and accredited."

However, Hayes noted that there were a number of objections to schemes such as Licence to Practise, notably the intrinsic exclusivity of requiring a licence to successfully progress in a chosen profession.

Hayes, MP for Lincolnshire's South Holland and the Deepings, said:

"The difficulty is that once you license something, or create professional standards, you do by nature make it more exclusive."

He added: "Whilst this is in many ways a virtue, the government is having to wrestle with creating greater exclusivity in a way that doesn't build barriers to entry."

And he emphasised the importance of employers playing an integral part in promoting, and in some cases regulating, professional standards schemes.

"We know that when these things are bottom-up-driven they are more effective, leaner, less bureaucratic and less costly," Hayes said.

Reiterating Hayes' comments on industry involvement was Adrian Bailey, chair of the select committee on business, innovation and skills.

The West Bromwich West MP said:

"If you are going to expand the number of areas where a licence is necessary, it is actually crucial that the industries and professions as a whole are involved in shaping that regulatory framework, to ensure that it is proportionate and that it does deliver what it is intended to do."

Bailey agreed with the premise that there is a pressing need for an expansion of Licence to Practise.

He said: "The UK, by all assessments, is going to need a higher-skilled workforce in the future."

"The need for some degree of licence to practise is going to get greater and greater as technology and consumer expectations change," Bailey added.

Also speaking at the session, chaired by Nic Dakin MP, were Jack Ward, the chief executive of City and Guilds Land Based Services, and John Forth of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research.