Ms Inez Bailey:

We are one of the few economies in Europe that does not have paid educational leave or some sort of statutory basis upon which people could be entitled to support for learning while they are in the workforce. In particular, where we are talking about those who are the furthest behind, there is a strong case for a statutory entitlement for people who have less than a particular attainment level, if we were going to be restrictive in an intervention. We are one of the few countries that does not have anything at all. That has become a problem. Regarding the lifelong learning ratio, we have the highest percentage of young people with higher education. They comprise the bulk of those engaging in lifelong learning. Those aged over 35 and with the lowest level of educational attainment are not in evidence at all in our lifelong learning statistics. There seems to be a perfect storm with this group, which is why we have not been making the inroads that we would like. From our perspective, this requires new thinking, a new approach and a co-ordinated effort to lift them, ideally once and for all, as opposed to leaving them as a cohort.