Abstract:
The development of human capital in the UK (like in many other developed nations)
has evolved rapidly in recent years. Unfortunately however, the changing nature,
range and variety of systems, initiatives and agencies relating particularly to the fields
of education, training and employment has invariably rendered this area (i.e., the
development of human resource base) almost impenetrable to professionals and ordinary
persons interested in making sense of the profound operations and relationships
between its component parts. This problem is caused, more than anything else, by the
lack of recognition of the overlapping nature of these three distinctive fields (i.e.,
education, training and employment) and the need to coordinate and join up activities
in these areas. Through a thorough examination of materials from wide-ranging UK
sources (i.e., publications from the Department of Work and Pensions; papers from
the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, and their predecessors; and every
annual report produced by the numerous education departments across the UK from
1839), this book has attempted and succeeded in capturing detailed information about
the various bodies, agencies and initiatives that have developed in the UK over time
in the area of development of human capital. Truly, the book has lived up to every
word of its title. With relevant entries exceeding 1500, it has indeed crossed knowledge
boundaries, providing for the first time in the history of the UK, and in the
author’s own words, ‘an integrated map of national human capital development, and
of the history, development and relationships between education, training and employment’
(xxxix).
