HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : “Improvements in productivity require a skills revolution” Alan Milburn takes the productivity debate to Leeds [January 1999]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 27 January 1999.

The Government’s approach to tackling the productivity challenge was outlined today in Leeds by the Chief Secretary Alan Milburn.

Speaking at the eighth in a series of joint national Productivity Roadshows, held at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Leeds University, he said:

“The Government is committed to seeing all the regions and nations of the UK sharing in sustainable economic prosperity. My presence here today is part of the Government’s commitment to consultation with businesses and local communities about how best we can achieve that. We have made a start, as shown by the fact that there are now 76,000 more jobs and nearly 15,000 people on the New Deal in the Yorkshire and Humberside area since the election. However, the productivity challenge we face as a country is serious. Our productivity is way behind that of our competitors. Success requires a long-term approach, a range of initiatives and policies to address the problems holding us back. I want today to look particularly at education and skills. The values of innovation and scientific expertise are well established here at the School of Mechanical Engineering but if we are to improve our productivity overall we require a skills revolution throughout the country. The successful modern economy is one based on information and knowledge.

That is why the Government has made investment in education our number one priority. Over the next three years we will be investing an additional 19 billion Pounds in education to deliver major improvements in literacy, numeracy, teaching standards and qualifications. And we are expanding the number of students in higher and further education by more than 500,000 by 2002. We are also looking in the Budget to offer tax relief to finance staff secondments from private sector companies to educational establishments, since as we signalled in the Pre-Budget Report, we are looking to see what more can be done to move the worlds of business and education closer together.”