It’s almost a year since the publication of the Industrial Strategy in June 2025 and six months since the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. Throughout this period, Skills Federation, as the collective voice of employer-led sector skills bodies, has helped shape how reforms are implemented, ensuring the sector-focussed expertise and insights of employers are central to future skills development.
Skills Federation represents the interests of 19 sector skills bodies, collectively advocating for more than 150,000 employers covering sectors as diverse as construction, food and drink, energy and utilities and financial services. Working closely with our members, policymakers and partners across the UK, we have continued to champion the value of sector expertise in shaping practical, employer-led solutions to workforce challenges.
This year our Agenda for Change, seven key policy messages co-created with our members, has provided a sharper focus for our policy work and provided a consistent foundation for our influencing work across the UK.
Connecting sector expertise to policy influence
A key part of our work this year has been demonstrating the value of sector skills bodies within the UK skills system. Our members bring deep sector intelligence, trusted relationships with employers and an understanding of the key challenges facing businesses across industry.
Over the past year, Skills Federation has promoted this value with government, strengthening relationships with policy makers across the UK. We have been actively involved in discussions with Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, Skills England and the devolved administrations as well as growing influence with Mayoral Strategic Authorities and national stakeholders.
Our members representing priority Industrial Strategy sectors have contributed directly to the development of sector plans and Jobs Plans, ensuring sector expertise is at the heart of discussions. We have also been working closely with Skills England and are actively involved in key policy issues such as skills passports.
Together with our members we are shifting the conversation and emphasising the importance of a sector-led approach to skills policy development.
Shaping changes to apprenticeships
We have seen a rapid pace of change in apprenticeship policy over the past year. Whilst many of these changes have been welcomed by our members, others, particularly those in safety-critical industries have raised concerns about reforms to apprenticeship assessment. Skills Federation has played a key role in ensuring employer concerns are heard. We have acted as a trusted employer voice, taking concerns directly to ministers and senior officials, placing member voices in the media and co-hosting webinars for employers with the Federation of Awarding Bodies.
Our focus has been on proposing practical solutions which has helped build trust with policy makers. For example, we proposed a more differentiated approach to assessment, identifying those occupations linked to safety-critical industries where maintaining rigorous assessment is essential.
We welcomed the flexibilities on Growth and Skills Levy and have been working with our members to set out what these flexibilities could look like within specific sectors. Through direct engagement with senior officials, and proposing constructive, sector-led solutions, we have demonstrated the value of input from sector-skills bodies.
Building influence across the UK
We know from talking to employers operating across borders that the devolution of skills policy across the UK can create complexity. This year we have continued to build relationships with policy makers beyond Westminster. We have deepened relationships with officials in Scotland, engaged with Skills England on development of the Standard Skills Classification to provide greater consistency across the UK, and are leading a project with Workforce Development Trust on pan-sector National Occupational Standards (NOS).
Securing consistent engagement across all four nations remains a priority, and we are continuing to push for greater coordination as devolution evolves.
We have also built strong relationships with several key Mayoral Strategic Authorities, helping them understand how sector intelligence can strengthen local growth plans.
Member insight and expertise
Our impact is only possible because of the insight and expertise of our members. As trusted sector organisations with deep sector understanding, they provide the practical insight that shape our policy positions and drives forward our work.
Throughout the year, we have continued to profile the expertise of our members. We have created opportunities for sector skills bodies to engage directly with policymakers and share their insight and expertise through conferences and collaborations with stakeholders as well as research organisations and think tanks.
Members have contributed directly to consultation responses, parliamentary discussions and we have seen an increased media presence this year with our members invited to speak on topics as wide ranging as meeting the clean energy challenge to supporting neurodivergent learners.
As we enter a likely period of turbulence in Westminster, Skills Federation will continue to ensure that sector expertise is at the heart of the skills agenda. Over the coming year, we will strengthen our public affairs activity, progress our work on defining effective sector infrastructure and use the results of our member survey to shape stronger cross-party engagement in advance of the next general election. We will continue to provide a collective voice for sector skills bodies and champion a coherent, employer-led skills system that drives productivity and supports long-term economic growth.
