1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164 
SKILLS FOR LOGISTICS (SfL) is calling on the industry to
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
bid for E280m from the government if it is to match the uptake of funding for NVQs and Skills for Life in comparable sectors such as construction.
NVQs and Skills for Life, a literacy and numeracy course, are publicly funded qualifications which have been proven to improve company productivity as well as increase staff retention.
Mick Jackson, operations director at SfL, says: "We calculate that there are 330,000 logistics employees lacking basic literacy skills and 450,000 lacking basic numeracy skills. More than 47% of the logistics work force is qualified below Level 2 (equivalent to GCSE grades A to C), which simply does not make good business sense."
The figure of £280m has been issued as part of a campaign by SfL launched in January this year called Skills Pay.
Jackson continues: "Why is it that the construction industry, which employs a similar number of people to logistics, receives 13% of publicly funded training, while logistics receives less than 2%?
"The government is keen to address the issue of low skills across all sectors of the economy and is increasing the funding available in England — so let's go for it," he urges.