Campaign on for training tax-breaks

IT training company The Training Camp has launched a campaign to increase government support for corporate training.

The 'Time to Train' campaign will lobby government to give tax credits to companies which give staff time off for training.

Robert Chapman, CEO and co-founder of The Training Camp, said the campaign has just begun and his company is looking to solicit support from other training companies, businesses and individuals. Once the campaign has amassed a significant number of supporters, it will begin lobbying local MPs.

The training company has set up a website where interested parties can get involved.

Chapman told silicon.com that government, in the end, could benefit from the scheme through greater productivity - and perhaps more workers with higher salaries who would in turn pay more taxes.

Chapman added: "The UK is becoming a knowledge economy - we rely on services and skilled people to differentiate us on the world stage. Investing in skills has got to be beneficial - for individuals, for corporations, for governments and for the country as a whole."

It would be better, Chapman said, for government to invest in skills than to do the "lazy thing" which is to import skilled workers or to offshore jobs to locations where workers have the necessary skills.

Though there's no consistent policy across Europe for government support of corporate training, parts of Germany require businesses to offer additional holiday leave that employees can use on training.

In silicon.com's exclusive 2006 Skills Survey, 83 per cent of respondents said organisations need to devote more time to in-house IT training.

Luke Mellors, IT director at Expotel, said that for an IT boss, training is critical to developing a team but cautioned one must be careful which skills workers are trained in.

He said: "Tax credits will help increase training frequency and will likely be received positively in the UK especially by organisations that already invest a great deal in training employees. However, organisations must ensure training is relevant, will have tangible impact on the job and can be transferable across an organisation."

Mellors added that no matter what support the government provides, taking time out for training is a big ask for many IT teams: "Training can be very difficult to organise for very technical teams in which having an individual away for a period of time impacts the ability to service the IT operation. Tax credits can't solve this inconvenience but it is a factor often, especially in smaller departments."