'I was raised in a tough inner city area. I'm very grateful for the good quality careers advice I received, which gave me aspiration and belief that I could be a barrister: unusual for a black child from my background.
 
'Careers advice in this country has not always had a high profile, but that is moving on enormously. You and I know how important good advice can be in changing the course of people's lives.'
 
David Lammy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Skills

The Vision For 2010

This is an extremely exciting and important time to be involved with careers services - we all look forward to working with you in building for the future.

The vision for 2010 is greatly informed by the work you contributed to the IAG Review - for which again, many thanks.

'Skills' and 'employment' have not always been seen as the close partners in careers advice that they are. Fundamental to our future strategy is to integrate the two much more closely and create a demand-led system: employers and customers tell us what they need and we follow with the service.

In addition, we will be able to offer:

• a 'no wrong door' approach - the new service is open to everyone;
• a more targeted approach to those groups who do need more help: those who have stuck in low-paid jobs or who are 'remote' from the labour market;
• flexible delivery methods that suit the customer (online, phone, face-to-face);
• a streamlined Skills Funding Agency that routes public money swiftly and securely to FE colleges and providers;
• better public information about the new service;
• better guiding of customers to the right training (college, workplace, apprenticeship);
• advice on barriers to learning (caring responsibilities, financial worries, housing issues)
• faster response to skills pressures and bottlenecks - that are often manifested in sectoral, regional and sub-regional patterns - i.e. rarely following local authority boundaries.

In short, our vision is for an adult advancement and careers service that responds to the needs of individuals and employers - and that helps people find sustainable work that in turn makes us more competitive and successful on the global stage.