The Levelling Up agenda is critical to strengthening the economy and improving people’s prospects. The current economic situation only intensifies the demand for it. While we appreciate that the growing list of other ministerial priorities makes executing levelling up more challenging, it could be greatly helped firstly by reviewing how funding is accessed.
The system through which this is done is currently blighted by ignorance or a simple lack of awareness, which boils down to the information that is filtering through to ground level. The businesses and individuals intended to profit from levelling up are not always aware of the opportunities available. The apprenticeship levy is one example: there is often a lack of clarity as to who it applies to and how to access it, which leads to people missing opportunities that they are eligible for and which could make a real difference to them.
Right now, businesses are not cashing in on levelling up opportunities unless they are fortunate enough to know somebody with the requisite know-how and experience to point them in the right direction. Business leaders should not need to go and source this information for themselves, since their focus and priority is on day-to-day operations. If funding opportunities and how to access them aren’t made as clear and straightforward as possible, it will only deter people from taking advantage of them.
As far as skills are concerned, the Levelling Up agenda is about improving access to lifelong learning for people across the UK, so there must be as few barriers to this as possible. There also needs to be some oversight on the part of government bodies to ensure that support is properly catering to the real needs of business and people, and that any funding is being channelled to where it will make the biggest difference. Even businesses sometimes don’t know where their own skills shortages lie, which makes dialogue in this area even more crucial.
Elsewhere, there is a lack of clarity around how we measure the success of levelling up. If we are investing in opportunities to upskill across the country by improving access to high quality training, there needs to be some understanding as to what criteria we’re measuring the standards of that training against, as well as who is going to be carrying out the requisite assessments.
If executed properly, levelling up has the potential to make a significant difference to the payroll industry, which we believe is undervalued. Viewed at times as a mere ‘back office’ role, our profession is unregulated and doesn’t require qualifications, although university accredited qualifications, apprenticeships and certified qualifications in payroll are readily available. An unqualified individual working in payroll who isn’t up to date with the latest industry knowledge could easily make an error in calculating somebody’s pay, which can have a detrimental effect on employee and employer.
To raise the status of the payroll industry, there needs to be a greater understanding of the profession among young people. Furthermore, employers and employees need to recognise it as a fundamental skill that is present within every business. Right now, it is being reduced to simply a passing glance at one’s payslip and consequently, school age youngsters and even some adults aren’t fully aware of tax, National Insurance and pensions contributions and how all this impacts their salary.
By raising the standing of the profession, we can then start to raise awareness of the opportunities and career pathway available to upskill and work in payroll and bring more people into the industry. With the payroll workforce a predominantly ageing one, this could make a significant difference to our sector.
Key Points:
• There needs to be better awareness around levelling up funding opportunities and how to access them.
• High-level government thinking is too detached from what is happening on the ground.
• The government needs to better understand the needs of business for levelling up to work.
• If properly executed, levelling up could significantly benefit the payroll industry.
This article originally appeared in The Leaders Council’s special report on ‘The Levelling Up agenda’, published on November 30, 2022. Read the full special report here.
Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash
