Too many of Britain's workforce lack the skills needed for a knowledge-based economy. To remedy this will require the commitment, in time and resources, of individuals, employers, the education and training infrastructure and the state. Adults with the lowest qualifications have the least access to employer-funded training, especially in small businesses, although there is some evidence that the wage return from training for these workers is greater. Employers' concerns about the loss of their training investment when employees leave for a higher level job can be addressed through training loans linked to the time the employee stays with the firm after training. The costs of adult learning should generally be bourne in these ways by the parties that benefit: the societal benefits of foundational skills to be bourne by government; industry and job-specific skills to be bourne by employers; and general and transferable skills to be bourne by individuals. Building on these principles, the third Skills Task Force report recommends the following: increase the proportion of adults with at least a level 2 qualification to 85% over ten years; provide access to income-contingent loans with preferential terms of repayment for study towards a qualification; provide access to career guidance; promote informal and formal learning; encourage employer involvement through tax credits, and other incentives; encourage more employer-union cooperation; and monitor progress with an annual workplace training audit. (CG)