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WQ.10/2024
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND EDUCATION BY DEPUTY H.L. JEUNE OF ST. JOHN, ST. LAWRENCE AND TRINITY QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 5TH FEBRUARY 2024
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2024
Question
“Will the Minister state the amount of funding currently allocated to skills development in Jersey; and advise whether there are any plans to develop a new skills and careers strategy and, if so, whether a new strategy will require additional funding to be implemented?”
Answer
In December 2022 the Further Education and Skills Actionable agenda was published. This report stated:
There have been several recent strategy documents aimed at shaping and reforming skills and further education (FE) provision in Jersey. Additionally, there have been several other strategy documents responding to economic and social developments that see skills provision as being integral to the future prosperity of Jersey.
There is an urgent need to develop an ‘actionable agenda’ to ensure that Jersey has a robust, adaptable and effective further education and skills system for the future. To a significant extent, this agenda needs only to group proposals from existing strategies for post-16 education
This actionable agenda set out 37 actions to be explored and delivered to create a robust Skills System in Jersey . One of these actions was:
(7) A Jersey Skills Fund to be established to enable a systematic approach to be taken in skilling, re- skilling and up-skilling Jersey’s workforce
This fund was included in the Government Plan 2024. The budget combines existing skills budgets to create a rolling £900,000 for skills development. This budget can be used to:
- provide training to target specific current and future skills gaps (priority given to those with Entitled/Entitled for work status)
- provide numeracy and literacy upskilling for Islanders in the workforce
- attract more people with Entitled/Entitled for work status into careers in Jersey (e.g. school students, graduate returners, retirees)
- incentivise apprenticeship pathways if evidence supports a future skill gap
- develop pilot/new projects to close potential future skills gaps, including seed funding tertiary education pathways accessible to Jersey’s workforce
Proposals for skills gaps and solutions fitting the above criteria can come from:
• GoJ future skills group
• Jersey Employer Group
• External proposals
External proposals for initiatives and training that reduce skills shortages, or improve productivity will be accepted from:
• industry bodies
• organisations who work with or represent many businesses
• individual businesses delivering training or initiatives that will benefit other businesses in their sector
• training providers with a sound, supported, evidence base of benefits to multiple businesses The actionable agenda also set out that the:
(28) Functions of Skills Jersey to be reviewed
This action is completed, and Skills Jersey are now setup to administer Jersey’s new Skills System and the related skills development budgets.
Skills Jersey will drive economic growth by facilitating effective partnership working between schools, training providers and businesses in order to develop the knowledge, aspirations and employability skills of young people and all Islanders as they learn and develop throughout their working life. This includes ensuring every Islander can access high-quality career guidance to make informed decisions about their future.
There are no current plans for a new Skills and Careers strategy and any decision on this will need to be taken by the Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning once appointed.