Train To No-Gain
The Learning and Skills Council has been roundly criticised by opposition parties for its Train To Gain scheme. The scheme was accused of being unrealistically ambitious, of setting wild targets and failing to meet predicted success rates. Government has of course defended the scheme- what else could they do- but in fact the criticism did not go far enough.
Like previous schemes in which private companies are encouraged to offer government subsidies to help them sell their services, Train To Gain is a bandwagon waiting to be jumped on. Every training company, and many others whose training agenda is hard to spot, seems to pushing the service. Businesses are inundated with approaches from training companies offering courses subsidised by government to the tune of £1,000. If there is any quality control of what is being offered it is hard to spot. There is certainly no strategic assessment of what training, if any, a business needs; simply a discussion with a Business Link adviser whose appraisal of the applicant’s business and needs is virtually nil.
There is another, far better way of accessing Train To Gain. We took advantage of it at Career Energy. We knew what training we needed and who we wanted to deliver it, and we applied for Train To Gain funding. But most companies are unaware that this option exists.
But the real issue with Train To Gain is that it is a solution to a problem that does not exist. Someone in government decided that training needs to be subsidised and dreamed up a scheme for doing so. But there seems to be no attempt to define what training should be provided, or how the funds available in the scheme can be put to best use to maximise benefit to companies and the economy. Just a scheme that allows almost any company in the B2B service sector to sell courses at £1,000 discount, paid for by the taxpayer. A half baked scheme. No wonder it has come in for criticism.
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Tags: Business Link, Learning & Skills Council, Train To Gain
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