Skills Minister John Hayes yesterday opened a consultation process looking to involved employers, individuals, colleges and training other organisations to share their ideas on what form they think skills policy should take in the future.

The consultation document Skills for Sustainable Growth invites comment on issues such as private investment, the focus of public investment, how support for employers and individuals can be improved, and holding under-performing institutions to account.

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Speaking at the 'Show us the money' conference, supported by the Cambridge Wireless network and the East of England Development Agency, Dr Herman Hauser, partner and co-founder of Amadeus Partners, has called on the government to nurture a new generation of hi-tech start-ups with sustained funding to help the UK stave off recession.

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The Independent has today published an article discussing the merits of short-courses for businesses who can not afford to send staff on lengthy and costly training courses that would involve too much time out of the office.

The greater flexibility, affordability and practicality of bespoke short-courses, it concludes, offers businesses a much better return on investment than traditional qualifications.

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Minister for Further Education and Lifelong Learning, John Hayes’ speech at the Queen’s Speech Forum on June 10th set out the government's view of the importance of further education and skills and sought to stimulate a wider debate on its future direction.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has outlined the responsibilities of the Ministerial team at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.