Williamson has his work cut out if he’s to get Britain’s skills system up to scratch

The new education secretary has his work cut out. Additional funding for skills and apprenticeships must also be met with reform. The skills funding system is the place to start, says Lawrence Barton

Assigning direct responsibility for skills and apprenticeships to the education secretary was certainly unexpected. If it does lead to a genuine prioritising of the brief in Government then the move should be welcomed. The fear, however, is that Williamson’s portfolio, even with the support of Kemi Badenoch, becomes so unwieldy that skills ends up being neglected.

And be under no illusion – the challenges the education secretary faces are significant. The pledge to invest more in further education is encouraging, but money alone is not enough if we are to see the genuine transformation of skills and apprenticeships the UK workforce needs.