Sector Skills Councils

1
Sector Skills Councils

• A Roundtable Discussion in Partnership with the
  Ministry of Labour EmploymentImprove/UKCES
  Joint Session
• 22 August 2009

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innovation close heslington york YO10
5ZFtel 0845 6440448 fax [phone]email
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2
An Overview of Skills and SSCs in the UK- the
deliverables

• Identification of Skills Development Needs
• Development of a Sector Skills Development Plan
• Development of a Skills Inventory
• Determining Skills Competency Standards and
  Qualifications
• Accreditation Process
• Development of National Skills Academies

3
Identifying Skills Development Needs

• Know your sector hard irrefutable evidence is
  the basis of your credibility influence
• Do you know what is happening
• Do you know what is being supplied
• Labour market intelligence (LMI), research and
  analysis, by occupation, industry spatially
• Involve engage with employers to supply LMI
• Improve contacted over 2000 employers to arrive
  at our Sector Skills Agreement
• Process must become iterative
• Improve uses generic specialist approaches to
  engaging with employers
  

4
Development of a Sector Skills Development Plan

• Employer consultation on skills needs (2000
  surveyed)
• Setting up Employer Panels, by industry, by
  nation, by region review findings recommend
  direction/priorities
• Use information to identify generic and
  specialist skills needs and prioritise them
• Identified a bakers dozen of skills solutions,
  reduced first to 8, then to 5
• A Flexible Future in Food
• Identifying Solutions to Skills Needs
• Promoting Productive Training Solutions
• Structuring Employer Involvement in Training
• Learning Together

5
Sector Skills Development Plan Sector Skills
Agreement

• This is the document that informs our Business
  Plan
• It informs our Sector Qualifications Reform
  programme
• It informs our research and evaluation strategy
• It informs the Activity Plan and delivery
  priorities of our National Skills Academy
• It informs our Employer Engagement process and
  activity
• It informs and sets the criteria for measuring
  the effectiveness and impact of our activities
  (internally externally)
• All SSCs have an SSA

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Employer Engagement

• Key to SSC credibility (particularly with Govt)
• Must be inherent in all SSC activity
• Provides the evidence base
• Is continuous and iterative
• Takes various forms consultative
• -
  participative
• - active
• -
  informative
• Board level employer representation is vital
• Trade Association business body involvement is
  critical e.g. in reaching SMEs
• Individual employer involvement Champions
• develop a model to meet sector needs and
  constraints e.g. predominance of small businesses

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Employer/Stakeholder Engagement
Proficiency Awards
Engagement
Consultation
Outputs and Outcomes
Food Science
Policies
Employers
NSA
Employer Groups

Improve
Delivery
SSA
Stakeholders
Strategy
Stakeholder Groups
SSA
SQS
8
Developing a Skills Inventory

• Our Sector Skills Development Plan (SSA) informed
  us that employers were not receiving the skills
  they needed - existing qualifications were
  designed by Colleges not employers and did not
  meet needs (supply determined)
• There was no common currency of recognised
  skills awards or accreditation recognised across
  the sector
• The accessibility of supply and quality of supply
  was erratic and varied
• We needed to reform qualifications across our
  sector
• We needed centres of excellence in skills
  provision delivery, Skills Champions to
  emerge

9
Developing a Skills Inventory

• We surveyed all skills provision available and
  utilised by employers both public and private
• Formed part of our SSA information gathering
  exercise (Sector Skills Map)
• Based on information from mapping exercise a
  Sector Qualifications Reform Programme was set in
  motion
• Primary target to change provision from Supply
  Led to Demand Driven developed with employer
  input
• First stage to reform National Occupational
  Standards update and replace were needed

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Sector Qualifications Reform

• Reviewed, revised and renewed all sector based
  National Occupational Standards - owned by SSCs
  on behalf of employers
• Extended their use beyond just basis for design
  of training standards and frameworks now used
  as Sector Performance Standards by employers
• Used these to develop new sector National
  Vocational Qualification in Food Manufacturing
  one qualification (Levels 2,3,4,5) replacing many
  Reaction of providers!
• Developed system of unit based, accumulative
  competence and proficiency awards leading to
  formal NVQ
• These form the new Common Currency for our
  Sector
• They are flexible, transferrable, accessible
  accredited as is their delivery (via National
  Skills Academy)

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Sector Qualifications Reform

• Developing a Food Drink Family of
  qualifications and Awards
• 14-19 Diploma in Manufacturing Product Design,
• Suite of Qualifications for Food Science
  Technology
• Foundation Degrees, HND/HNCs,
• Graduate and post-graduate Degrees (MSc),
• flexible Apprenticeships,
• Scottish/National Vocational Qualification in
  Food Manufacturing,
• Unit based accumulative awards
• Industry recognised Professional Awards
  (Fellowship)

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Sector Qualifications Reform

• Development of the Unit based competence and
  proficiency awards recognised on the SCQF/QCF
• Promote and implement Levels 2 3 Apprenticeship
  Frameworks and reduce completion time by 50-(
  Level 2 9 months, Level 3-18 months) to
  increase sector entry and progression
  opportunities for both adult workers and young
  people
• Develop and implement the Food Drink Sector
  Careers Information Service (Choices) delivery
  model covering all stages of career progression
  to enable informed key decisions on sector entry
  and career shifts
• Develop quality delivery through our Champion
  the National Skills Academy network

13
Accreditation of Qualifications Awards

• New S/NVQ and unit based awards accredited
  through a credit levelling process against the
  Qualifications and Credit Frameworks (England and
  Scotland)
• Objective is to achieve a flexible, customised
  demand driven family of qualifications that are
  validated and delivered to an assured quality
  standard
• The unit based system will deliver immediate
  payback to the individual and the employer for a
  tangible return on skills investment and open the
  door for longer term workforce development
  tailored to the job, occupation, role, company,
  industry and sector

14
Development of a National Skills Academy

• Decide whether this is a role you wish SSCs to
  have or is it external to the SSCs remit how
  will they link?
• Its clear purpose is to be the Exemplar
  provider, setting the quality standard for
  delivery for the sector .
• Determine your model appropriate to the sector
  e.g. FD model is based on a franchise model of
  65 skills centres
• Clear links with and access to SSC research and
  analysis and development of new skills products
• If external to SSC is it sustainable and not a
  drain on SSC resources or funding no cross
  subsidisation
• Branding and employer recognition employers
  likely to understand what the NSA does but not
  the SSC

15
The Political Dimension

• Working with through the Alliance of Sector
  Skills Councils
• - Importance of demonstrating a collective
  voice
• - Cluster approach gaining strength
• Improve UK Government Policies Initiatives
  (e.g. Leitch Report)
• - Depts of Business, Innovation Skills
  Environment, Food, Rural Affairs
• Improve The UK Commission for Employment
  Skills
• - Role of Regulator and Funder
• The Nations English Regions (Indian states)
• - Influencing and implications of National
  Policy and Provision divergence
• - The role and extent of RDA influence and
  control
• - The role of the local Employment Skills
  Boards
• Our Trade Associations Professional Body
  Partners
• - e.g. regional chambers

16
What we can share with you

• Define your sectors in conjunction with
  employers, that way you can decide sector
  size/coverage etc e.g. and whether the supply
  chain should be included
• Dont underfund (from the public purse)
• Dont expect the private sector to contribute
  cash before they see what they are getting
• Involve the employers natural routes and conduits
  for making their views known e.g. trade
  associations, professional bodies, chambers of
  commerce etc
• Dont forget the to involve the Trade Unions
  they can be vital partners and real allies for
  Government influence
• Commit to using the SSCs for long term change not
  just short term gain

17
What we can share with you

• Get the Performance Measures identified and
  embedded in the Licence/Contract process from the
  outset difficult to introduce later as SSCs
  will have diverged
• Tensions will emerge between employer demand
  and government policy objectives
• Employer engagement is critical but you will
  never be able to contact and engage with all
  small businesses (SMEs) pick the attitude
  formers and peer group leaders to engage and
  influence a Key Account management approach
  use your Trade Regional business bodies

18
What we can share with you

• If SSCs are going to remain strategic then who is
  going to lead the reform of the supply provision?
• Developing a National Skills Academy network or
  something similar to drive qualifications reform
  is a way of doing this. Those SSCs with an
  Academy see it as their supply reform and
  quality exemplar arm.
• Develop a strong Labour Market Intelligence
  capacity and capability this is the lifeblood
  of the SSC
• Dont develop the bad habit of dumping new
  activities and functions/roles on SSCs without
  recognising they will have to be accompanied by
  funding
• Hold true to the purpose of why you are setting
  up SSCs