BOLTON and Bury Chamber has welcomed the Government's initial spending plans for Education, but stressed the need for a greater emphasis on basic skills in order to better equip the future UK workforce.

Andrew Ratcliff, Chief Executive of the Chamber, said: "Businesses are pleased by the increase of one per cent in real terms for the Further Education sector and also the increased spend on raising research to "world class" levels. It is, however, very important that in a hurry to specialise schools, the Government does not lose sight of ensuring that every pupil must leave the educational system with employable levels of numeracy and literacy, which are the building blocks of competitive industry."