FSB urges government to create Small Business Sector Skills Council

Date: 8th June 2009

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged the government to make training schemes more accessible for micro-firms.

Micro-firms, companies with fewer than five employees, are currently excluded from government-run training schemes and find it difficult to make the most of the Train to Gain scheme, according to the FSB.

Colin Willman, FSB Education and Skills chairman, said: "The government must start to recognise the needs of the country's smallest businesses, especially during this crucial time when firms need to be investing in skills and training."

The government has assigned £350 million to training programs for the nation's hardest to reach small businesses.

According to the FSB, 88 per cent of these companies said they were unable to take up the offer of training.

Mr Willman suggests the reason is course inflexibility. He added: "Much of the government's training offer goes over the heads of the hardest to reach small firms [and] it still isn't flexible enough."

He suggested "dedicated training" for the smallest firms, in the form of a new Small Business Sector Skills Council, was the only real solution.