In a speech over the weekend, the Prime Minister declared his plans to “put the power of AI into the hands of the next generation”.
Labour’s new National Skills Drive aims to deliver well-paid jobs and a bright future to those in education.
The new policy pushes forwards a £187 million-pound investment into the national ‘TechFirst’ initiative, with three key programmes receiving government funds.
TechYouth, which offers over one million secondary school students’ exposure to AI/tech training over three years, will receive £24 million.
TechGrad, which provides over 1,000 BSc and a further 100 MSc AI scholarships a year will be supported by an investment of over £94 million from Number 10.
More regional support will be included as part of TechLocal, with £18 million being invested into small tech innovators and companies, supported and guided by a government-backed panel.
The aim of this skill drive is to ensure that by 2030, 7.5 million of the UK workforce are trained with AI skills and can tackle AI related issues within the workplace and is backed by major players in the technology industry, including Amazon, Microsoft and Google.
The AI sector in the UK is currently valued at £72.3 billion, projected to exceed £800 billion by 2035, it’s the quickest growing sector in the UK economy by over thirty times.
However, despite this rapid expansion of the sector, one in three UK tech founders have cited lack of skilled talent in the workplace as the biggest barrier to company growth.
With Google’s AI work report suggesting up to £400 billion depends on the upskilling of the UK workforce and those in education on AI topics, this new Labour policy certainly has a lot of results to provide.
This initiative forms a key foundation for the upcoming economic development plan and fulfils a government pledge to improve access to quality training and career routes. It focuses on enabling local areas to shape the skills agenda and ensures businesses play a central role in guiding workforce development.
Sir Keir Starmer has called the scheme the “foundation of a new era of growth”.
His enthusiasm was backed by Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, who said: “Ensuring tech talent flourishes in every corner of the nation” and that this investment will support “skills that will power our economy and deliver prosperity for the working class people across the country”.
But critics are sceptical at the long-term stability of policy. The National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee raised concerns that the implementation of such a scheme may be too “confusing, complicated and overwhelming” with no clear employer-led plan laid out or metrics given to ensure regional business and schools can deliver.
The Guardian warned of a “stark” regional divide being ignored by government in the scheme. With the programme aiming to ensure over 70 per cent of young Londoners in education receive AI training and a degree-level qualification by 2035, in other areas of the country such as Hull or Norfolk, the percentage is significantly lower at just 40 per cent.
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