Gordon Brown wants recruiters to play an important role in improving the skills of British workers, as he announced sweeping welfare reforms at the CBI conference yesterday. Brown said the recruitment industry and the private sector can play a big part in getting people off benefits and into work and he told the jobless they would lose benefits if they refused training to make them more employable.

Announcing the reforms, which includes mandatory skills tests and training, Brown said the “old system” no longer met the “aspirational society” Britain needs to be and added: “While in the old days it was seen as the duty of government to create work for the inactive, in the new world there has to be a duty on the government to help the inactive become employable and a duty on the inactive to take up those responsibilities.”

Speaking to Recruiter from the conference yesterday evening, Harvey Nash chief executive, Albert Ellis, said: “Putting the war for talent into a global context, Brown said that UK businesses needed to wake up to the battle that was emerging. Five million graduates are qualifying each year in China and India, so there is really no choice for UK firms but to compete on a high skills and value-added basis.

“It is a very good day for the people industry. The PM was talking specifically about skills, people and talent. Speaking as a headhunter I am delighted that such emphasis was placed on education, training and assessment, and that the recruitment industry can play a bigger role in achieving that.”

Following concerns about the decision to scrap taper relief on capital gains tax, the Prime Minister also said he would continue to “listen and discuss” the issue with businesses.

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