Empowering Individual Workers Through Skills - A New Labour Project - Revisited - SKOPE Research Paper No. 129

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret

This article evaluates how effective and cost-efficient New Labour’s skills-based policies are for helping low paid workers cope with pressures linked to globalisation, using Train to Gain (T2G) as the leading example. It examines how and when education, training and skills can strengthen low paid workers’ bargaining power in the labour market, especially for those in, or moving into, lower level occupations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages44

Reading Time1 h 51 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Defining the Problem. Constructing the Policy Discourse

Visions of technology and a globalised labour market

Empowering Individual Workers Through Skills –A New Labour Project Revisited SKOPE Research Paper No. 129, October 2019 Ewart Keep SKOPE Research Centre, Department of Education, University of Oxford Editor’s Foreword SKOPE Publications This series publishes the work of the members and associates of SKOPE. A formal editorial process ensures that standards of quality and objectivity are maintained. Orders for publications should be addressed to the SKOPE Project Administrator, Department of Education, University of Oxford, 15 Norham Gardens, Oxford, OX2 6PY Research papers can be downloaded from the website: [www.skope.ox.ac.uk](www.skope.ox.ac.uk) ISSN 1466-1535 Abstract This article explores the efficacy and cost effectiveness of New Labour’s skills-based policies to help low paid workers adjust to the pressures generated by globalisation, of which the leading example was Train to Gain (T2G) . It also analyses the more general issue of how, why and under what circumstances education, training and skills can help imbue low paid workers with greater bargaining power within the labour market. “There is currently no prospect of the Government achieving its ambition of Britain becoming a high skilled high paying economy” (Alan Milburn in the foreword to Social Mobility Commission, 2017: 4) . 1. Introduction Under the New Labour governments of 1997 to 2010, education and training (E&T) assumed a central position within the policy discourse as skills were seen as able to address a broad range of both social and economic problems (Keep, 2006a; Keep and Mayhew, 2010) . More and better skills came to be depicted as,“the most important lever within our control to create wealth and to reduce social deprivation”(Leitch Review, 2006: 2), and as “the new welfare”(Nunn, 2008: 11) . This paper reviews the evidence concerning the outcomes generated by New Labour’s policy interventions to help the low paid workers via skill acquisition. It also explores the more general issue of how, why and under what circumstances education, training and skill can help create relative power within the labour market, particularly for workers in, or destined to occupy, lower level occupations. The paper draws on SKOPE’s long-standing interest in skills for low-paid workers. Given current debates about poverty reduction and a renewed interest in lifelong learning policy, the question of what better skills can and cannot deliver at the lower end of the labour market is of considerable importance. 2. Defining the Problem. Constructing the Policy Discourse Visions of technology and a globalised labour market The New Labour government’s policy expectations concerning skills were formed by their perceptions of two seemingly inter-connected trends. The first was globalisation, the second technological change. As former cabinet minister Lord Mandelson (2012) observed, the default position on globalisation, adopted by all the mainstream political parties (at least until the EU referendum result), was to regard it as unstoppable, and to accept that its impacts on the economy, employment and the labour market were largely immutable and created a wave of change that had to be surfed rather than defied. As Gordon Brown, in his (in)famous Mansion House speech, argued: So the choice to me is clear: invest in education to prevent protectionism. It is investment in education that when combined with free trade, open markets and flexibility makes for an inclusive globalisation. (Brown, 2007: 3) Under New Labour this approach was used to rule out some lines of policy development, and make others appear inevitable (Watson and Hay, 2003), with the role of government seen as being to equip individuals with the skills to response to economic change, or as Prime Minister Tony Blair put it: What this means is not that the role of Government, of the collective, of the services of the State are redundant; but changed. The rule now isno

FAQs

What does the paper study about New Labour’s skills-based policies?

It examines their efficacy and cost effectiveness in helping low paid workers adjust to pressures generated by globalisation, with Train to Gain (T2G) as a key example.

How does the paper explain the role of education, training and skills?

It analyzes how, why, and under what circumstances education, training and skills can give low paid workers greater bargaining power in the labour market.

What trends shaped New Labour’s expectations about skills?

The paper describes two inter-connected trends: globalisation and technological change, which together influenced the policy discourse around skills.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret