A substantial proportion of the adult population of Berkshire between the age of 16 and 60 has poor literacy or numeracy skills. Over a 100,000 people are lacking basic skills in Berkshire alone says a report from the Basic Skills Agency.

If this snapshot of basic skills is recurrent across the country it is a bad sign for the future of British economy.

South East Regional Learning Services co-ordinator, Barry Francis says:

“Poor skills are a lead weight around the neck of the regional economy. There really is no future in low skill, low wage, high volume and low quality production. The future for the South East is in a highly skilled workforce that can adapt to new ways of working.”

'This means we must make a co-ordinated effort to eliminate basic skills needs and build a culture of learning in every workplaces to ensure that all workers have access to the learning and training opportunities that can make them more confident, more skilled and smarter.”

“Trade unions are working with employers, the South East of England Development Agency and Berkshire Learning and Skills Council to make the step change necessary to boost our region’s skills.”

Analysis of data from the Basic Skills Agency reveals:

• More than 100,000 workers in Berkshire (aged 16 - 60) have poor literacy (20.6%).
• More than 100,000 workers in Berkshire (aged 16 - 60) have poor numeracy skills, (19.8%).
• Slough, in Berkshire, has the highest rate of poor literacy and numeracy skills of any sub-region in the South East of England.
• Even in Wokingham, which has some of the best literacy and numeracy rates in the South East, one in six adults has problems with literacy and one in seven problems with numeracy, meaning that tens of thousands have basic skills needs that potentially impede their employment.