Ever since the much-criticised Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was introduced in the early 1980s, there has been a tendency on the part of UK policymakers to believe that they have solved the problem of youth training, only for their hopes to end in disappointment. With the current Labour Party
On 10 March 2001, the Unions 21 [1] network held its annual conference, which this year focused on the theme of "Unions and Labour's second term". Unions 21 is linked with the "modernising left" and exists to provide an "open space for discussion about how trade unions can modernise and win public
A report published on 20 October 2000 by the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) has finally broken the three-month deadlock between the Labour government and the UK's largest teaching trade union, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) over the introduction of performance-related pay (PRP) in schools
In June 2000, the UK National Skills Task Force produced its final report, entitled Skills for all: proposals for a national skills agenda [1]. The Task Force was originally set up by the secretary of state for education and employment, David Blunkett, in March 1997, with a remit to assist in
On 4 March 2000, a conference on the theme of /Tomorrow's unions: new century, new agenda/, organised by Unions 21, afforded trade unionists, policy-makers, academics and other participants an opportunity to debate key issues facing the UK labour movement. Launched in 1993, Unions 21 [1] is
Since the late 1980s, UK policy-makers, the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Unions Congress have stressed that national economic competitiveness and prosperity depend crucially on a highly skilled, adaptable and motivated workforce. Since coming to power in May 1997, the Labour