Further Education Research Association Seminar 6 May 2005

2. Further Education Research Association Seminar 6 May 2005

3. Automotive Skills – Strategic Objectives • Reducing skills gaps and shortages • Improving productivity, business and public service performance • Increasing opportunities for the development of the whole sector's workforce • Influencing action which improves the quality and quantity of learning supply

4. Sector profile • 32 million vehicles on the UK's roads • cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles • light and heavy trucks and specialist vehicles • Sales, maintenance, repair, rental & leasing • 70,000 businesses • 584,000 employees • Sector worth £130 billion

5. Sector Challenges • Creating vision for next decade • Taking on board structural and technological change • Meeting the challenge of increased competition • Developing a skilled workforce • Changing perception of consumers

6. Background • Poor image of industry • Historically low skills equilibrium • Narrow range of technical qualifications • Few progression routes • Major skills gaps in following areas: technical, management, basic skills especially communication skills

7. Issues • Large number of apprentices in the sector • Average in learning 21,753 (ILR 04/05 P6) • Poor retention and achievement rates: • Apprenticeships – 27% • Advanced Apprenticeships – 48% • Funding - £9K/£14K

8. What do we want to achieve? • Improved retention and achievement rates for all learners • Higher quality programmes to a more consistent standard • Funding aligned both to training input and successful outcomes • Coherent framework of achievement across all abilities

9. Future vision • New technical standards and qualifications • Apprenticeship family including YA • Diploma Framework with new lines of learning • Management standards and qualifications • Foundation Degrees • Graduate Programmes

10. Research Programme • Sector Attitude Survey • Survey of graduate & extra-sector recruitment • Young Apprenticeship/Apprentice pay • Employer Productivity • National Employer Skills Survey (NESS 2003) • Futureskills Scotland • Survey of employers in Wales • Sector Skills Agreement

11. Sector Skills Agreement • Agreement between employers, providers, stakeholders and Government • To determine the skills to be recognised, developed and delivered in the retail motor industry sector to: • Help ensure employers’ training needs are met • Increase employers prepared to train • Make individuals more employable. • Automotive Skills will develop and broker the SSA through a five-stage process over about 18 months

12. Project objectives • Identify the drivers of productivity and competitiveness • Support measurable improvements in business performance • Identify skills required to achieve ambitions and targets • Find agreement on how those skills are best secured • Set a framework of occupational standards • Find agreement on funding deployment to support goals • Identify training/skills policy impairment to meet skills needs • Review potential voluntary employer action in pursuing skills and productivity needs • Broker agreement on implementing those mechanisms • Co-ordinate training and skills policies to maximise impact

13. Main SSA’s Five Stages Skills Needs Assessment (SNA) – Current and Future 1 Assessment Of Current Provision – Learning and Training 2 Gap Analysis And Prioritisation 3 Agreeing Scope Of Collaborative Action 4 Developing Costed Action Plan 5 Sign Off Sign Off 18 Months?

14. Issues to Cover • Qualifications and Skills Development • Progression Routes • Provider Network • Delivery Models • Information, Advice and Guidance • Recruitment and Routes to Entry • Business Support Services

15. Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 – Skills Needs Assessments

16. Stage 1 SNA – Four Components 1. Drivers of Skills Demand 2. Current Skills Needs 3. Future Trends 4. Regional/ Home-Country Assessment

17. SSA Stage 2Assessment of Current Provision • Effectiveness of current workforce development activity • Review of current expenditure on all workforce development activities • Examination of relevance of current range and nature of public and private provision to employer requirements

18. SSA Stage 3Gap Analysis and Prioritisation • SWOT analyses • Workforce Development • Sector Industry/Business Environment • Gap analyses • Work with employers, providers and stakeholders to agree • Priorities • Objectives • Agreed requirements • Proposed solutions

19. SSA Stage 4Agreeing Scope of Collaborative Action • Foster consensus on how to tackle priorities identified with; • Employers • Providers • Stakeholders • Determine and agree action(s) to be taken • Identify potential employer contribution/input to achieve solutions; • Employer financial/other commitment • Provider action • Stakeholder action

20. SSA Stage 5Developing Costed Action Plan • With employers, providers and stakeholders • Identify actions to be taken • Agree proposed contribution by each partner • Quantify output/measures thereof • Estimate/forecast impact on business performance • Determine evaluation methodology to measure success

21. Sector Qualifications Strategy • Identify key drivers for sector development for qualifications & other learning provision • Evaluate how far existing qualifications and other learning meets sector needs (current and future) • Bring coherence and shared direction to ongoing development work • Provide a sound basis for future development and decision making

22. Sector Qualifications Strategy • Joint Qualifications Forum • Ownership by QCA and SSC • Independent employer chair • Inclusive membership • Strategic focus • Automotive Skills will link SQS with the Sector Skills Agreement

23. Summary • We know where we’ve come from • We know where we want to get to • We need to do the research • We need to produce the evidence base • We need to make decisions on funding based on that evidence • Employers need to use their SSC to influence the way forward