Government must ‘make good’ pledge on skills bootcamps, executives urge
A group of executives have urged the Prime Minister to “make good” his “promise to upskill three million adults” by extending skills bootcamps funding.
The open letter to Sir Keir Starmer calls on the Labour government to help address the “burgeoning skills gap in the UK which is expected to cost the Exchequer £120bn by 2030”.
Signed by CEOs including Riaz Moola, of HyperionDev, Ben Atha, of The Developer Academy, Michael Hulihan, of Generation UK & Ireland, Crispin Read, of The Coders Guild, and Rafik Adam, of Enterprise4All, it urges Sir Keir to “protect funding” for the training.
The letter describes skills bootcamps as “an integral policy mechanism that equips students with specific, industry-aligned skills required to secure roles in high-demand sectors”.
Tens of thousands of graduates, it states, have passed through the skills bootcamps since the policy came into force, and are helping to plug the so-called ‘missing middle’ skills gap.
Additional signatures include Perri Lewis, of Mastered; Joe Mackley, of Le Wagon; James Taylor, of Corecom Technology Academy; Natalie Taylor, of Sysco Business Academy; and Sarah Martin, of Premier Fleet Solutions.
And according to the Department for Education (DfE), the writers added, in March 2023 47 per cent of digital bootcamp starts were accounted for by individuals not in employment.
“This – coupled with notable salary increases – yields significant benefits for the government through income tax receipts, with graduates often repaying course costs to the public purse within a matter of months,” the signatories added.
“We now call on your government to make good its promise to upskill three million adults by confirming that the funding for skills bootcamps will continue beyond 2025.
“We – and employers, students and universities up and down the UK – stand ready to support you if you do so.”
The DfE has been contacted for comment.