Skills and Productivity Board
The Skills and Productivity Board is an expert committee providing independent, evidence-based advice to ministers at the Department for Education on matters relating to skills and their contribution to productivity.
The Board was dissolved in May 2022 at the same time as the Unit for Future Skills (UFS) was launched. The UFS was set up to improve the quality, availability and accessibility of data on skills and jobs, and to become a centre of expertise on future skills. The priorities and approach of the UFS have been developed building on the work of the SPB.
More information is available at Unit for Future Skills.
Remit
The Secretary of State for Education (SoS) outlined the Skills and Productivity Board’s remit on 11 November 2020.
It focussed on the prioritisation of three questions:
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Which areas of the economy face the most significant skills mismatches or present growing areas of skills need?
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Can the board identify the changing skills needs of several priority areas within the economy over the next 5-10 years?
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How can skills and the skills system promote productivity growth in areas of the country that are poorer performing economically?
Publications
The Skills and Productivity Board has published a suite of reports summarising its research and findings in response to the three questions set by the Secretary of State. The reports cover technical quantitative analysis, commissioned qualitative research, an external research report reviewing existing taxonomies and policy discussion papers.
The board outlined the focus of their publications in a .
See the Unit for Future Skills contact details for any enquiries relating to these publications or wider research into skills matching.
Methodological and data reports
These include a report from the board on the data and evidential gaps that currently limit understanding of skills mismatches, and an externally commissioned research review looking at the relevance, benefits and applicability of existing skills taxonomies.
- Opportunities and Challenges of Improving Labour Market Information
- Review of skills taxonomies: May 2022
Skills matching (Questions 1 and 2)
These reports contain the board’s response to questions considering current and future skills mismatches, including an overarching policy report with key findings and a more detailed technical report explaining the board’s methodology.
- Understanding current and future skills needs
- Skills needs in selected occupations over the next 5 to 10 years
Skills, productivity, and place (Question 3)
These contain the board’s response to question 3 and include three research papers, alongside an providing key messages spanning the board’s research as a whole.
- Left Behind Localities and Levelling Up: Skills and Productivity
- How can skills promote productivity in poorer performing areas
- Analysis of longitudinal education outcomes
Board members
Members of the board:
- Angela Noon (Chair) - CFO and Executive Director of Siemens UK
- Arun Advani - Assistant Professor University of Warwick, Fellow at the Institute of Fiscal Studies
- Claire Crawford - Associate Professor, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities
- Andrew Dickerson - Professor of Economics University of Sheffield and Director of Sheffield Methods Institute
- Ewart Keep - Emeritus Professor in Education, Training and Skills Department of Education Oxford University
- Grace Lordan - Associate Professor at London School of Economics (LSE) and Founding Director of the Inclusion Initiative
- Ken Mayhew - Emeritus Professor of Education and Economic Performance at Oxford University
The board is supported by a secretariat of Department for Education officials.
Register of interests
Minutes of meetings