UK employers should?spend a comparable amount of money on training their workforce as those in other countries, but the government is ¡°running out of time¡± to work out how key policy interventions will achieve this, according to a Labour MP.

Speaking at the launch of a report on universities and lifelong learning in the House of Lords, Lauren Edwards, MP for Rochester and Strood, said ministers must ¡°think more¡± about how the funding of the coming lifelong learning entitlement (LLE) will work, and what proportion employers, government and local councils will have to pay.

¡°The question of funding, it¡¯s central to everything,¡± she said. ¡°I think everybody knows that and we have to face the reality that employers are going to have to contribute to the cost of this¡­the government needs to do more work,¡± she said.

As currently envisaged, the LLE ¨C due to launch in September 2026?for courses beginning in 2027 ¨C will allow adults to apply for tuition fee loans equivalent to four years of post-18 education to use over their working lives.?

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Policymakers hope this will encourage more flexible studying and reskilling and accelerate a move away from the current focus on traditional degrees, but the details of how the new fund will work remain vague.

Critics have said that the loan puts all the costs of retraining and learning new skills on the individual and it will therefore suffer from a lack of demand.

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Edwards, who co-chairs the all-party parliamentary group for skills, careers and employment, said there are also ¡°questions¡± around the growth and skills levy, which?will replace the existing apprenticeship levy?that larger employers are required to pay.

¡°Hopefully it will be a much easier to use, simpler replacement to the apprenticeship levy, which we know hasn¡¯t really worked unfortunately but¡­the devil is in the detail,¡± she said.?

¡°We have to get to a position where UK employers and businesses are spending the amount of money that we know a lot of our international comparators are on their workforce, and these questions are really urgent.¡±

Edwards said the government ¡°doesn¡¯t have a lot of time to work this stuff out¡± and that a ¡°joint commitment from government, employers and learners¡± is needed to achieve economic growth.?

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Speaking at the same event, Frances Corner, vice-chancellor of Goldsmiths, University of London, said ¡°we keep talking about lifelong learning¡± but the ¡°government doesn't really get behind it in the way that it really needs to¡±.?

The new report from CarringtonCrisp and the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning?found that ¡°serious investment¡± is needed?in UK universities to help them adapt for lifelong learning because employers are increasingly prepared to invest more in training and upskilling their staff.

¡°This report is also a real wake-up call to universities because it makes it very clear that employers look to a range of possibilities when they¡¯re looking to upskill and reskill, and that¡¯s something that we absolutely will have to take on board,¡± said Sally Mapstone, vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews and president of Universities UK.

Mapstone said universities need to understand that ¡°they¡¯re going to have to really extend their offer¡±?beyond providing three- and four-year degrees, as well as engaging ¡°meaningfully with a workforce who¡­are going to feel the need to upskill and reskill throughout a career¡±.?

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¡°Universities have got to galvanise, they¡¯ve got to change during what are¡­really challenging times.¡±

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com