Wales Action on Skills progress report 3 October 2001 - The Welsh Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning released a progress report which outlines measures taken to help provide Wales with the skills it needs for future growth. The report describes the actions taken on the key recommendations proposed by the Wales Skills Task Force in their report to the Assembly last year. The Minister said: "The report of the Wales Skills Task Force made 50 challenging recommendations, which put skills firmly at the centre of our economic and learning agendas. This has given us a head start in highlighting what needs to be done to upgrade skills in Wales and has helped to inform our comprehensive Education and Lifelong Learning Programme - "The Learning Country". "Since we received the Task Force report the Assembly has not been standing still or playing for time; where there is a clear need then we have acted; We have done that in respect of the all-age skills programme called for by the Task Force. "Until recently Assembly-funded training support has only been available for the under 25s and for the unemployed, yet it is clear that many over-25s in work need to acquire new or higher-level skills and that employers cannot always meet this alone. In April we introduced a new pilot programme called the Modern Skills Diploma for Adults. This is a unique "made in Wales" solution and will help older workers to have Modern Apprentice-type training that will help them and their employers compete effectively and deliver the good quality jobs that we so badly need: "We have also removed the upper age limit for the Modern Apprenticeship programme so that apprentices in Wales can complete their training beyond age 25. And we have launched our basic skills strategy backed up by an investment of £27.3m over the next 3 years. "Today’s report summarises progress on the action that has been set in hand by the National Assembly and its partners to ensure that we meet the Task Force’s vision for Wales to be a place of learning and skills acquisition for all. "It shows that a good start has been made to tackle the skill needs identified in the Task Force report but we recognise that continuous action is needed to ensure that we keep apace with emerging technology, changing working patterns and ever higher demands for skills. We therefore propose to publish an Employment and Skills Action Plan for Wales alongside the National Economic Development Strategy at the end of the year. This strategy will build upon the recommendations of the Wales Skills Task Force and develop further the action outlined in the progress report I am publishing today." The report (English-language) is available at: http://www.wales.gov.uk/subieducationtraining/content/life/wales-skills-e.htm

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