Devolution of skills policy and budgets - some practical issues

England is one of the most centralised nations in the developed world. There is widespread interest in how to devolve power from the Government in London and there are many strong arguments for doing so. Almost all of the proposals for devolution suggest that skills policy and funding should be devolved to local control but nobody has looked at the practical implications. This note explains what skills devolution would involve and why it might be complicated. AoC briefing on skills devolution 7 nov 2014.pdf AoC briefing on skills devolution 7 nov 2014.pdf (PDF,651.57 KB) The report suggests three things need to be discussed and decided before anything else is done: Whether skills devolution is compatible with existing skills reforms (and if not, which ones need to be dropped)? Which organisation (council, local enterprise partnership (LEP) or combined authority) should pick up functions and what happens if there is asymmetric devolution to only a few areas? Whether there are alternative, less disruptive, approaches which tackle the problems of centralised decision-making and uneven economic development, for example by giving local organisations and people influence over the skills system This paper is designed to be the start of a discussion. If you have any comments, please get in touch Julian Gravatt, Assistant Chief Executive (julian_gravatt@aoc.co.uk)