Welcome to the Campaign for Learning's new e-newsletter Learning to Live which replaces the previous hard copy version. Putting our newsletter online will enable us to send it to you more frequently so Learning to Live will come to you bi-monthly instead of quarterly from now on. We aim to keep you up to date with what's happening around the Campaign and more generally in the lifelong learning field. We are very grateful to the Anglo American Book Company for sponsoring our new e-newsletter and to the Learning and Skills Council and all our other sponsors and funders who support us to promote lifelong learning.

Looking at press and media coverage in the last few weeks you might be forgiven for thinking that the only noteworthy issue in the learning world is top-up fees in higher education. But there are some very important developments elsewhere - and lots of work for the Campaign and our partners as we focus on our three key areas of activity: learning in schools and the 14-19 phase; family and community learning; and workplace learning.

The National Employers Skills Survey 2003: Key Findings (NESS), a recent report for the LSC from the Institute for Employment Research at Warwick University shows how important it is that the Government's Skills Strategy is effectively driven forward. NESS is the largest survey of its kind ever commissioned, involving some 72,000 interviews with a representative sample of employers in England, with a focus on recruitment problems, skills gaps and training activity.

In terms of training, the survey reveals that although 75% of organisations had an annual performance review system in place for staff and 59% had provided training in the past 12 months, only 39% had a training plan and only 31% of the employers surveyed had a training budget.

Just over half (56%) of the organisations surveyed reported that they had a formal business plan specifying their objectives for the coming year. One of the Campaign's areas of interest -which will be a focus for Learning at Work Day (20 May 2004) this year and beyond - is helping employers to develop organisational learning strategies which relate directly to business needs.

We are pleased to be represented on the national Strategic Communications Group for the Skills Strategy and to be working with our partner organisations to increase the take up of Modern Apprenticeships, clarify what is on offer to adult learners and inspire people to 'Get On' with learning.

In pushing forward with our partners to boost workplace skills, we will be drawing on our experience of the Equal workplace learning action-research project which we are running in the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside. The Equal project aims to find out what works best in raising the demand for learning in public and private sector organisations whose workforces include staff with low skill levels. Various approaches to promoting and providing workplace learning are being tested over a three year period and the researchers will also be evaluating how delivering workplace learning affects organisational performance. Uniquely, the research will be evaluating the return to employers as well as individuals of widening participation in workplace learning among low skilled workforces.

Please do contact us if you would like any more information about any of these initiatives - and don't forget that we are keen to hear what you will be doing on Learning at Work Day. You can download a free Planning Guide from www.learningatworkday.com.

Susie Parsons
Chief Executive