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Preliminary findings in advance of the Learning Technologies Conference, running in January 2004, have shown an alarming gap in how well government-funded skills programmes are understood by UK companies.

At a recent online meeting of company training managers, including representatives from some of the UK's largest employers, 93% had not secured government funding for any of their training initiatives in the last four years.

Donald Taylor, chair of the Learning Technologies Conference 2004, believes this is due to a lack of knowledge about the funding available and not a lack of funding itself: "We've found that UK companies are generally unaware of the programmes available and how to attract funding from them, so at the Learning Technologies Conference in January 2004 we'll be laying out how to attract government funding for company training initiatives."

"We also found that 86% didn't know about 'Employer Training Pilots' or the new 'ITQ' initiative, 50% were unaware of 'Modern Apprenticeships' and none of the training managers we spoke to were aware of the 'Home Computing Initiative'."

A panel discussion during the conference, 'Taking Advantage of Government Initiatives' will lift the lid on government funding for skills and development. Speakers will include Keith Duckitt, Head of ICT at the Learning and Skills Council, Sarah Turpin, Head of Workforce Development and Policy, for Ufi/learndirect and Graham Walker, Director Central Strategy Unit at the Office of the e-Envoy.

Donald Taylor: "money and support for skills development are available for companies in far greater amounts than in the past, but there are many different programmes and ways to attract it. The Learning Technologies 2004 Conference will help learning and development professionals understand the UK government's skills strategy and how companies can engage with it."

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