Don't cut training say top businessmen

This comes on the day the Government is expected to announce its commitment to reduce the complexity of the skills system in England to make it easier for employers to train the workforces they need.

Leading figures, including Sir Mike Rake, chairman of the BT Group, Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks & Spencer, Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI, and Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said in the letter: "Now is the time to keep investing in the skills and talents of our people. It is the people we employ who will get us through.

"It is their commitment, productivity and ability to add value that will keep us competitive. Investing now and building new skills will put us in the strongest position as the economy recovers."

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills will today formally launch a scheme to make publicly-funded training more flexible and responsive to business needs by providing employers with a single team of brokers who will advise businesses how best to train and support staff.

BT's Rake is also chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. He added: "This is no time to have a skills system that is extremely complex and difficult for employers to get round. We want to say to employers: ‘You cannot afford to miss the opportunity to develop the skills of your workforce when the offer from public providers is being made even simpler, more flexible and more responsive'."