EU Project Croatia 12th May 2011

UK Sector Skills Councils,working together

Key themes of this presentation:

• Role of Employers in Sector Skills Councils• Origins of the Alliance• Alliance role & responsibility• Benefits of SSCs working together• Examples of effective collaboration• Traps to avoid!

Sector Skills Councils:• Employer organisations- run by & for employers

• Cover 90% of the UK workforce

• 1.7 million businesses across England, Wales, Scotland, & Northern Ireland

• SSC boards comprised of UK employers drawn from across UK industry, commerce and the public sector

SSCs key business aims:

• Reduce skills gaps

• Improve business performance

• Increase skills and productivity of the workforce

• Improve the learning supply through qualifications, Apprenticeships, FE & HE providers

Sector Skills Councils- Key Roles:• Develop & maintain national occupational standards

• Help to ensure qualifications are relevant & valued by employers

• Conduct sector research & publish Labour Market Intelligence (LMI)

• Represent the skills needs of their sectors in partnership with others

New priorities from UK Govt:

• Greater choice and control for the individual• Greater focus on employers and their sectors• Apprenticeships • Proper recognition & celebration of vocational

skills• Effective pathways for progression• Ability to transfer between FE and HE (From

VET school to HE)

Some UK certainties:• 70% of our 2020 workforce is already in the employment market

• UK Employers currently spend £38bn on training & development

• Small business sector provides 60% of UK jobs, and 50% of UK GDP

• 500,000 people are expected to start up their own business in next 12 months.

• Registered Charity, formed in April 2008

• All Sector Skills Councils are full members

• UK-wide remit- offices in Belfast, Edinburgh, Cardiff & London

Alliance Background:

Alliance Governance:

Alliance background:

• Coordinating & collaborative role• ‘Shared leadership’ model• Strategic objectives• Representing SSCs on common issues to government, and other stakeholders

• Improved business performance is the key driver in sustained recovery

• Skills, learning & development are the vital factors in the business mix

• New environment requires new solutions, and new ways of working!

• We have a lot to do before 2020!

Summary:

Examples of Alliance Impact: • Illustrating the power of collective working in a UK context

• Examples are drawn from recent experience

• Further detail available on the Alliance website:• www.sscalliance.org

UK QCF Readiness Programme:

• Revolution in Qualifications design and approval similar to CRO QCF

• Employer needs at heart of the system, ‘bite-sized’ chunks of learning

• Alliance appointed as the contract manager for the programme

• Responsible for preparing all the SSCs to operate the new system

• Series of professional development workshops for SSC staff

• Provision of central resource, help, guidance, support

Low Carbon ‘cluster’:

• UK drive to define future needs• 10 SSCs combine resources• Alliance coordination of report• Direct views of a wide range of employers• Accurate view of future skills needs in a vital economic and social responsibility area

LMI – Alliance Intelligence Network: • Group of LMI experts drawn from all SSCs

Aims:• To share expertise and better practice• To speed up the workflow by collaborating and sharing people and resources• To provide expert advice based on detailed employer/sectoral knowledge•

Alliance and the Federation of Small Businesses(FSB): • Small business vital for UK sustained recovery• Access to skills and training can be difficult• Two organisations agree a joint agenda for

action – aim to ensure the small business voice is reflected in all SSCs

• On-going monitoring of joint performance

• Dominant role of employers• Alliance enables collective voice of SSCs

to be heard• Sharing of expertise and mutual support• Power of collective activity in difficult

times!

UK SSC summary:

• “Coming together is the beginning

• Keeping together is progress

• Working together is success”

Henry Ford 1863-1947

Final thoughts:

“ If you think training is expensive,try ignorance!”

Thanks for listening!

Any questions?

John McNamaraTel: 07879 477448

www.