The call is one of a number of recommendations from Labour’s council of skills advisers, led by Lord Blunkett, and could inform a slate of policies if Sir Keir Starmer’s party gains power after the next general election.

The idea of a national skills taskforce, inspired by a former New Labour policy, comes alongside calls for a shake-up of the careers service as well as a new apprenticeship and learning levy.

The taskforce would include large and small employers, trade union representatives, government officials and higher education staff, according to the new report.

Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with Labour's shadow Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, (2nd from right) and Former Education Secretary and Chair of the Council of Skills, Lord Blunkett (2nd from left) and other Council of Skills advisors, in the Houses of Parliament, London, as their 'Learning and skills for economic recovery, social cohesion and a more equal Britain' report is launched. The report, commissioned by the Labour leader last November, will make recommendations on driving up skills across England. Picture date: Wednesday October 26, 2022.

Lord Blunkett said that the document, which includes 24 separate recommendations, sets out “nothing short of a revolution in meeting the skills needs of the nation”.

Elsewhere, the report also calls for a new National Curriculum Authority to reshape the curriculum “free from party political interference” as well as a reform of the exam and assessment system.

Lord Blunkett said the report “addresses the immediate pressures of the moment, but it also offers a social democratic solution to the challenges of the future, including the rapidly increasing impact of artificial intelligence and robotics, re-equipping the nation for the economy of tomorrow”.

He added: “This comprehensive analysis of what is currently wrong with the approach to learning and skills for economic recovery, along with detailed consultation, has led to a whole series of proposals laid out in the report, which, if adopted by an incoming Labour government, could transform Britain’s competitiveness, productivity, and therefore the chance of sustainable growth.”

The report, the culmination of a process that began at the end of 2021, is also critical of the record of the Conservatives after over a decade in power in the area of skills and learning, accusing the Government of “neglect” and having left the UK economy in “dire straits”.

Welcoming the report after meeting with Lord Blunkett yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer said: “One of the biggest problems we’ve had over the last 12 years is low growth and that’s because this Government has not modernised our skills and training across the whole country. It’s been holding us back.

“So I’m really pleased to receive this report. It’s a comprehensive report. It sets out how we will ensure under a Labour government that everybody has the skills that they need for life, for the jobs that they are going into.”

Education "revolution" needed, Labour says