Opportunity For All

Across the country, people are being held back not by a lack of potential, but by a lack of access to the training they need to succeed.

From care homes to construction sites, clean energy to HGV driving, employers are facing critical skills shortages. And while the world changes faster than ever, with AI transforming how we work, investment in training has fallen drastically.

If the Government are serious about driving growth, they would put skills at the heart of their agenda. Instead, their approach leaves key decisions tied to short-term politics rather than long-term needs.

Liberal Democrats believe in real opportunity for everyone, at every stage of life. That’s why today, our members have backed new policy with a bold, long-term plan to close skills gaps, boost growth, and help people turn their potential into success:

• A £10,000 Lifelong Training Grant for every adult, available in instalments at ages 25, 40, and 55, to support re-skilling and career transitions.
   
• Reforming Skills England into a truly independent body, accountable to Parliament and driven by regional and sectoral expertise.
   
• Guaranteeing apprentices are paid at least the National Minimum Wage, and scrapping the lower apprentice rate.
   
• Extending the Pupil Premium to post-16 further education learners and equalising per-student funding with school sixth forms.
   
• Creating Skills Cooperatives for small businesses to pool training resources and transforming the Growth and Skills Levy into a Skills and Training Account model to empower both employers and individuals to fund training.
   
• Boosting vocational qualifications, micro-credentials, and modular learning to give people more flexible routes to success.
   
• Speeding up recognition of people’s existing qualifications when they move to the UK, so they can use their skills here.

We also know that opportunity is about removing barriers. That’s why our plan tackles the childcare gap for full-time students, gives extra support to young carers, improves prison training, and makes care experience a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.

These reforms will help fix the skills shortages holding back our economy, while giving people the freedom and confidence to take on new challenges at any stage of life.