Energy & Utility Skills has today submitted its consultation response to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) review of human capital, which closes on Monday 11 November 2019. The ONS review took place following a 2018 Spring Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, asking that the ONS develop a more sophisticated measure of human capital that can help target efforts to improve sustainable growth in the UK economy.
In the response, Energy & Utility Skills signpost the ONS to best practice within the UK utilities sector and specifically:
- Support the intention that this initial consultation should only be the first of several phases in what will be a wider review of measuring, understanding and building human capital.
- Support the intent of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that a more sophisticated measure of human capital is needed to better target efforts to bring sustainable growth in the UK economy.
- Support the conclusion that there is growing UK user interest in better understanding human capital measurement, and recommend the needs of sectors of strategic value to the economy should be a starting point
- Support the intent to give the UK a human capital measure that will enable it to judge its place internationally and invest with precision to be a global leading economy.
- Support the recommendation to build a dashboard of indicators, to enable all parties to easily understand the UK position with regards to human capital, and to allow tracking of how well that human capital becomes human equity.
- Support the ONS recognition that major organisations such as the World Bank and OECD are focusing on defining and valuing human capital and then considering how to increase it.
Nick Ellins, Chief Executive of Energy & Utility Skills and a leading proponent of valuing human capital advised: “The timing of the ONS work is well judged, with the subject of understanding and valuing human capital vital to ensuring the UK remains a globally competitive economy. It is also quickly gaining ground in the infrastructure sector in the UK. It should be intuitive to want to better understand how human capital measuring and reporting can help our industry to ensure its publicly declared strategies and policies are delivered with maximum productivity and will ensure workforce sustainability. We look forward to working with the ONS on this work for the Chancellor of the Exchequer.”
“The World Bank, OECD, the institutional investor community and many others also now see human capital as key, and it is an explicitly recognised macro environment factor in all leading sectors. As the ONS consultation closes for the UK, the United States has also just announced its intention for change. The Securities and Exchange Commission are currently consulting on fundamental changes to require publicly traded companies to report on directly employed and indirect human capital as a disclosure topic.”
To read the full consultation response from Energy & Utility Skills click here.
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