Why Sectors Matter The Experience of the UK’s Sector Skills Councils

1. Why Sectors Matter The Experience of the UK’s Sector Skills Councils Tom Bewick, Chief Executive, Creative & Cultural Skills Skills Policy Dialogue, Colombo, Sri Lanka 26th November 2009

2. Meeting the Sector Skills and Productivity Challenge

4. Old Industrial Economy Model1850s – 1950s Physical Commodities Raw Materials Transported Globally Role of Education Socialisation

5. New Knowledge Economy Model – 2000+ Tangible and intangible products Ideas and Knowledge Rounded Citizens Commercial exploitation Social Good Why we need sector skills councils

6. “Productivity is the prime determinant of a nation’s long-run standard of living, it is the root cause of national per capita income. The productivity of human resources determines employee wages, the productivity with which capital is employed determines the return it earns for its holders.” (Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1990)

7. “We must focus not on the economy as a whole [the spatial], but on specific industries and industry segments.” (Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1990)

8. Productivity and employment in OECD countries

9. 11th in the world in productivity levels 10th in employment 14th in terms of income inequality 17th on ‘low-level’ skills 18th on ‘intermediate’ level skills 12th on ‘high-level’ skills

10. “Unless we act decisively, we will not be in the top eight countries of the world at any skill level.”

12. Complexity reigns!

13. UK Education and Skills Landscape – Glossary of acronyms AACS: Adult Advancement and Careers Service; AoC: Association of Colleges; ALP: Association of Learning Providers; BCC: British Chambers of Commerce; BERR: Dept of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Now part of DBIS); CIHE: Council for Industry and HE; DBIS: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; DCLG: Dept for Communities and local Government; DCSF: Dept for Children, Schools and Families; DIUS: Dept for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Now part of DBIS); DWP: Dept for Work and Pensions; ESB: Employment and Skills Boards; FAB: Federation of Awarding Bodies; FdF: Foundation Degree Forward; FSB: Federation of Small Businesses; GO: Government Offices; HEFCE: HE Funding Council for England; IfL: Institute for Learning; JCP: Jobcentre Plus; KTP: Knowledge Transfer Partnership; LA: Local Authority; LEP: Local Employment Partnership; LLN: Lifelong learning Partnership; LSC: Learning and Skills Council; LSIS: Learning and Skills Improvement Service; LSN: Learning and Skills Network; LSP: Local Strategic Partnership; MAA: Multi Area Agreement; NAS: National Apprenticeship Service; NCEE: National Council for Educational Excellence; NES: National Employer Service; NESTA: National Endowment for Science, Technology and Arts; NIACE: National Institute for Adult Continuing Education; NSA: National Skills Academy; OFQUAL: Office of the Qualifications and Exams Regulator; OFSTED: Office for Standards in Education; OLASS: Offender Learning and Skills Service; QCDA: Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency; RDA: Regional Development Agency; RSP: Regional Skills Partnership; SSC: Sector Skills Council; SFA: Skills Funding Agency; TQS: Training Quality Standard; TSB: Technology Strategy Board; UfI: University for Industry; UKCES: UK Commission for Employment and Skills; YPLA: Young People’s Learning Agency

14. How the skills system relates to Sector Skills Councils Asset Skills Cogent Creative & Cultural Skills E-Skills UK Energy & Utility Skills Financial Services Go Skills Government Skills IMI Improve Lantra Lifelong Learning UK People 1st Proskills Semta Skillfast-UK Skills Active Skills for Care & Development Skillset Skills for Health Skills for Justice Skills for Logistics Skillsmart Retail Summit Skills

16. The core remit of Sector Skills Councils • Raise employer engagement, demand and investment in skills; • Ensure authoritative labour market information for their sectors; • Develop national occupational standards and ensure qualifications meet employer needs.

17. Sector Skills Councils are unique • Uniquely independent and employer-led • Uniquely UK-wide, covering 90% of the workforce • Uniquely able to respond to real industry needs • Uniquely supported by all major political parties • SSCs are unique in the world, increasingly emulated by other countries moving to a more demand-led system of workforce training and skills

18. Sector Skills Councils – examples of impact • For every £1 of public investment, SSCs deliver a return of £12, on average, in terms of additional investment in skills • Over 1.7 million enterprises and 28 million workers have benefited from having SSCs since 2001. • People 1st have improved apprenticeship retention, saving £15 million in wasted public expenditure each year • Creative & Cultural Skills have pioneered an online careers and leadership portal – Creative Choices – supporting 190,000 people in the first year

19. 6 key tests for Sector Skills Councils • Is there weak sector demand for skills resulting in poor output or productivity performance? • Are education providers (e.g. colleges and universities) being responsive enough to the skills demanded by industrial sectors, particularly in the technical and vocational sphere? • Are there entrenched inequalities driven by employers’ discriminatory attitudes or sector recruitment practices? • Is a separate sectoral intervention needed or is there an existing organisation (either sector or geographically based) that could undertake the same role? • Is the nature of the sector organisation to be industry-led (independent), social partnership or state-directed? • How will sector bodies be financed? (Collective/ industry levies or through general taxation?)

21. “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting to get different results.” Albert Einstein

22. Tom Bewick Chief Executive Creative & Cultural Skills www.ccskills.org.uk www.creative-choices.co.uk tom.bewick@ccskills.org.uk www.twitter.com/tombewick