A new phase of a Government campaign will encourage employers to work with their staff to improve basic literacy and numeracy skills.

Poor literacy and numeracy costs the UK £10 billion each year.

Of the 1.5 million people who live in Sussex, 13 per cent (190,000) have serious problems with literacy and 11 per cent (170,000) struggle with numeracy.

A new phase of the Skills for Life agency's Get On campaign will encourage employers to work with their staff and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to improve these skills.

Ivan Lewis, minister for young people and adult skills, said: "More than 1.5 million adults have started basic skills programmes in the past two years and more than 300,000 people have won national awards for their progress.

"We are well on our way to increasing this to 750,000 by the end of next year and to 1.5 million adults by 2007."

Improving basic skills could improve businesses' productivity, increase efficiency and deliver better customer service.

He said: "For many employees, it's a matter of brushing up their skills. For employers, introducing this training can be the first step towards improving skills and productivity."

Sussex Down College is one of many schools offering free literacy and numeracy courses as part of the campaign.

Katherine Colcombe, the college's basic skills co-ordinator for Lewes and Newhaven, said: "For many years the number of people who've enrolled at colleges to learn these skills has been limited, partly because they're far too like schools. We've had to set-up schemes in community centres instead.

"Many people have similar problems - either they didn't get on at school or they had an undiagnosed learning problem. The majority are in the middle of the spectrum and they're just trying to improve their confidence.

"Many of them get motivated through their children. Their eight-year-old might have some homework and the parent realises it's not as easy as it should be. Others realise their lack of basic skills is holding them back at work."

Once people had started to build their confidence they moved on to other things, such as gaining formal qualifications or job-related training.

Employers were getting better at supporting staff but most people enrolled on the courses off their own backs.

Katherine said: "Once they've boosted their confidence there's no stopping them."

Adrian Bishop, 35, from Newhaven, has been studying since September after an ankle injury gave him time to do a part-time course at Sussex Downs.

He said: "I didn't do very well at school. I just thought I was a bit thick but I later learned I had a form of dyslexia.

"I've always managed to get on in life but the courses were free and it seemed like a good opportunity to improve my skills. Before, when I found myself in certain situations, I would panic because I knew I couldn't do certain things.

"Composing a letter at work might take someone 15 minutes but it would take me a few hours.

"I'm a whizz with letters now and a good number cruncher. I've also learned how to use computers. It's all good. There's no pressure on anyone and now I'm not afraid of getting up in front of people to do a talk."

Get On will point out "simple mistakes" can cost businesses money and offer employers advice and support in improving the basic skills of their employees.

These include a freephone advice line for employers - call 0800 100900 - workplace basic skills advisers in LSCs, who will visit employers free of charge to give tailor-made advice on training, and free resources and materials for use in the workplace.

Tuesday March 11 2003