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Skills Dialogues constitute a series of consultations with all major industrial and business sectors in the UK, generating high quality authoritative skills assessments for each of these broad sectors. Their purpose is to improve the quality of information available on skills at sector level and to provide an effective means for national training organisations (NTOs) and employers to contribute to the planning and implementation of education and training provision in their sector. This report is the result of the Land-based Industries Sector Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in this sector. The industry coverage includes agricultural crops, livestock and machinery (including garden machinery), animal care, environmental conservation, equine activities, fencing, fish farming, floristry, forestry, game conservation, landscaping, production horticulture, and professions allied to veterinary science (animal technologists, farriery, veterinary nurses). Section one presents key findings; section two provides the executive summary; section three presents introductory and background information; section four identifies common elements across land-based industries and highlights generic issues relating to skill needs; section five examines changing skill demands; section six investigates skills supply; section seven discusses skills demand/supply balance; and section eight contains individual industry analyses. The key messages to emerge present a challenge to the sector in the future. A major development program is needed to correct the imbalance between supply and demand for workers at higher skill levels. In agriculture, a third of the workforce is aged 55 and over and better management and business skills are required, particularly for the high number of owner/managers in the sector. Finally, better information and communications technology (ICT), key skills, initiative and problem solving skills are needed by all who work in land-based industries. Show less

In January 2006, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) launched a pilot project, entitled the Human Capital Benchmarking Consortium, as an initial step towards identifying the key people-related or 'human capital', drivers behind learner success rates. This report provides a summary of the findings that have emerged to date from the Consortium. Five further education (FE) colleges took part in the project by using McBassi and Company's Human Capital Capability Scorecard (HCCS), a rigorous, research-based benchmarking measurement methodology. Statistical analysis was carried out in order to identify the specific items that determine employee commitment/engagement within the FE colleges. This analysis, combined with information about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the participating colleges on these factors (i.e., their human capital management or HCM scores), was used to develop prioritised recommendations for improving learner outcomes. These involved taking action to improve the level of commitment among FE college staff. A summary of these recommendations is provided in the report. Show less

Workplace literacy is a new and highly contested site of activity. The field has evolved so rapidly in response to social, economic and political imperatives, that the term workplace literacy, and its various meanings, have largely gone unchallenged. This paper argues that, as a new and fast-growing field, workplace literacy is being under-researched and under-theorised, examining the nature and effects of current common understandings or formulations of the relationship between work and literacy, particularly as these relate to workers in the Australian workforce. The author then evaluates what workplace literacy programs have typically been designed to do, before discussing possible ways for future workplace literacy programs to be conducted that allow real opportunities for all workplace participants to be actively involved in the process of workplace reform. Show less

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) report (OECD 2001) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 64.241] highlighted two separate but related issues for adult literacy policy in an era of rapid global and technological change: the needs of people who are at risk of becoming increasingly marginalised as the result of low literacy skills, and the need to create 'literacy-rich environments' that will facilitate the development of literacy skills at work and in the community in an integrated way. 2001 marked the tenth anniversary of the Australian Language and Literacy Policy (ALLP) (Dawkins 1991) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/ERD 87.64], a policy developed at the behest of the Labor Government of the day. The main thrust of the ALLP was about literacy as a tool in micro-economic re-structuring and macro-economic policy, and the policy had a pivotal role in placing language and literacy policy at the centre of Australia's education, employment and training profile (Brock, 2001:73).

There is now a clear and overdue need for a new socio-economically responsive national policy framework for adult literacy and numeracy in Australia. In this paper, the authors argue that Australia needs to take up anew the challenge of planning for the ongoing education of the adult population in the longer term and to form new policy around contemporary literacy needs. Further, it is argued that Australian governments need to adopt an inclusive, collaborative, evidence-based approach to literacy policies that takes account of the impacts of global, and especially, technological change. Other OECD nations are taking up that challenge and it is time that Australia, until recently at the forefront in progressive adult literacy policy, should be doing the same.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) commissioned BMRB Social Research to carry out a research project to seek information about the pay received by waged trainees while they are on an apprenticeship. The main objective of the research was to determine the average level of pay received by apprentices and to provide evidence on the differences between different sector frameworks. Secondary aims included analysis of pay by age and sex. Trainees undertaking apprenticeships in the 11 largest sectors were interviewed for the Trainee Wages survey. Trainees aged 16-18 are currently exempt from the National Minimum Wage requirements but the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has provided guidance to encourage employers to pay trainees a minimum of 70-80 pounds per week. The LSC also plans to introduce a contractual requirement for a minimum weekly income for employed trainees later this year. This survey will provide a baseline against which the DfES can judge the impact of the LSC guidance and any future requirements for a minimum weekly pay for trainees.

Published excerpt. Show less

This report summarises the findings of the National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) 2003 for the ConstructionSkills Sector Skills Council, which covers a wide range of sectors in the development and maintenance of the built environment. The NESS was commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), in partnership with the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), to provide detailed information about the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skill gaps. It also measures employers' training activities. Key findings include: vacancies and skill gaps in the ConstructionSkills SSC area are predominantly for skilled trades occupations and, to a lesser extent, professional occupations; the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are low numbers of applicants with the required skills, attitude, a lack of people interested in doing this sort of work and a low number of applicants generally; the most common skills lacking in applicants are technical and practical skills, communication skills, and problem solving skills; the major area of skill gaps are in technical and practical skills, communication skills and problem solving skills; and skills that are in shortage reflect the nature of the job, e.g. skilled trades staff are more likely to have deficiencies in technical and practical skills whilst managers and senior officials lack management skills.

The main report and the report of the key findings of the National Employers Skills Survey 2003 are indexed at TD/TNC 79.281 and TD/TNC 79.599. Individual Sector Skills Council reports are indexed from TD/TNC 79.275 to TD/TNC 79.280. Show less

This chapter examines the evolution of workplace literacy as part of the wider adult literacy and adult education policy context in Australia. It undertakes to provide a discourse analysis of the workplace, as a key focus and locus of literacy policy and practice. It discusses how knowledge about the workplace has been constructed, and the consequence of this construction within the context of the 1991 government report 'Words at work: literacy needs in the workplace'. A critical examination of the report's construction and legitimisation of certain 'truths' is given from a post-structuralist perspective, and the conclusion reached that the report's underlying discourse needs to be challenged.

The volume of collected works is indexed at TD/TNC 75.295. Selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 75.296 to TD/TNC 75.299. Show less

This guide will inspire and enthuse people who are committed to consulting adults and communities about learning provision in their area. The text states the importance of consultation with all adults and highlights issues and challenges of working with particular groups such as young adults, members of minority ethnic communities and people with learning difficulties. Policy blends with theory to give the reader a broad context for consultation and provide examples of good practice. The guide is easily accessible with a list of ‘talking points’ at the end of each section highlighting issues and challenges for consideration. Activities and exercises can be lifted for your use and there are a number of contact details of useful organisations and projects.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright holder. Show less

The 2004 National Employers Skills Survey (NESS) was commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), in partnership with the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), to provide detailed information on skills and workforce development issues facing employers in England to serve as a common basis to develop policy and assess the impact of skills initiatives. The survey included 27,000 employers across all sectors of business activity in England. This report, which highlights key findings from the Survey, follows the same format as the main report. Following the introduction, the second section lists the key findings in a table with comparisons provided for 2001 and 2003. Section three details key findings in respect of skills shortages and other recruitment difficulties while the focus of section four is on skills gaps within the existing workforce. Section five covers training and workforce development. The findings indicate: that skills deficiencies continue to affect about a quarter of the employers; evidence of a slight easing of skills problems for employers in terms of the number of staff lacking skills and the number of vacancies where skills shortages are experienced; skills deficiencies affect different size and sector of employer, and occupational group, very differently; and there have been significant increases in the proportion of employers with training plans.

The main report is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 83.265. Show less

This report presents the findings from UK regional and sectoral analysis to estimate the impact of changes in the stock of educational qualifications on sector productivity. The analysis sought to determine whether the productivity effects of human capital, in particular academic and vocational qualifications, outstrip the wage effects of such qualifications. The existing data analysed covers a period between 1996 and 2001. The analysis reveals: (1) the substantial increase in the proportion of the workforce with academic qualifications has not been matched by similar growth in the stock of vocational qualifications; (2) positive productivity effects from higher level (level 4 and above) academic qualifications at both national and regional level; (3) some positive productivity effects from academic level 2 qualifications; (4) a productivity benefit for employers over and above the wage increase associated with qualifications at academic level 2 and academic level 4+; (5) no systematic and positive impact on productivity from vocational qualifications although it is acknowledged that other studies have identified individual wage returns for higher level vocational qualifications that are not replicated in this sectoral analysis; and (6) an inability for the research to measure the impact of poor basic skills on industry or regional productivity although it was able to demonstrate that those workers with the poorest basic skills are more likely to be unemployed rather than being associated with any particular industrial sector. Show less