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The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector. This sector has a broad coverage, but for the purposes of this report only three broad clusters are focused upon: environmental industries, animal health and welfare, and land management and production. The overwhelming majority of establishments in this field are micro-businesses, with 94% employing fewer than five people. Due to survey restrictions, self-employed sole-proprietors were not included in the data, though many exist in the Lantra field, and 445 interviews were conducted in total. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. The two main occupations in this sector are identified as managers or proprieters in agriculture, and skilled agricultural tradespeople. For the former, communication, customer handling, numeracy, literacy and teamworking skills were all identified as important, while in the case of skilled trades, technical and practical skills are needed at an advanced level. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: 56 per cent of establishments in the lifelong learning sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 27 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; vacancies and skill gaps are most common amongst skilled trades and elementary occupations, reflecting the importance of technical skills to this sector; the main causes of skill gaps are primarily perceived to be due to staff having a lack of experience; the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills; and the most common skills lacking in applicants are technical and practical skills, communication skills, management skills and problem solving skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the Lantra sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less

'Skills in England 2004', the fourth annual national skills assessment produced by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), provides a synthesis of the latest evidence that is available on the demand for, and supply of, skills in England. Its main aims and objectives are to identify current and future skills problems and deficiencies. It is presented in four volumes: volume one contains the key messages and provides an overview of the research findings in the other three volumes; volume two, the main research report, contains information on the demand for, and supply of, skills as well as mismatches between demand and supply; and volumes three and four provide evidence related to industrial sector, and regional and local trends respectively. This document is the index to the four volumes.

The four volumes are indexed from TD/TNC 82.395 to TD/TNC 82.398. Show less

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for funding and planning post-16 education and training in England. This workforce development strategy describes how the LSC will achieve its responsibility to raise skill levels and the demand for learning, and engage employers in improving skills for employability and national competitiveness. The strategy has been developed in consultation with government and key partners at national, regional and local levels. The strategy comprises the following approach: (1) to raise informed demand for employment-related skills among individuals and employers; (2) to support improvements to the responsiveness and flexibility of the supply side of skills; and (3) to contribute to the development of an underpinning framework of better skills and labour market information, responsive vocational qualifications, and improved links to the wider educational agenda. Show less

In May 2004, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) launched ‘Working together: strategy for the voluntary and community sector’ (indexed at TD/TNC 76.540) with the intention of building upon existing good practice and maximising the contribution of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) to post-16 education and training for individuals, employers and the wider community. This document is a summary progress report on the implementation of this strategy. Key achievements are: publication of a toolkit to promote best practice; staff contact for the VCS in the 47 local LSC offices; establishment of regional and local compacts setting out shared principles; local LSCs collaborating with regional VCS workforce development advisers; support for regional and local VCS consortia; and a capacity-building fund of two million pounds. Show less

Train to Gain is a national skills service to support employers of all sizes and in all sectors to improve the skills of their employees as a route to improving their business performance. It is a commitment to jointly invest in training, by employers and Government. This plan for growth sets out the actions that will be taken to provide more employers and individuals with the skills that they need. The plan includes details of the actions and investments that are required as well as the impact on the numbers of employers and individuals we will help to up-skill.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for the Automotive Skills Sector Skills Council. This sector comprises 70,000 businesses involved in the sales, maintenance and repair of vehicles on the UK's roads. In total, 2,809 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. Technical and practical skills are identified as being most important amongst skilled trade occupations, while communication, customer handling and teamworking skills are more likely to be required at high levels in sales and customer service positions. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: nine per cent of establishments in the automotive skills sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 23 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; the highest densities of vacancies lie within smaller firms; vacancies and skill gaps in the Automotive Skills sector are predominently for Skilled trades; and the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the automotive sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less

This booklet, which is aimed at recruiters and employers, provides an overview of Modern Apprenticeships that explains what they are, how they work, the business benefits and how to get involved. It features a number of case studies of young people involved in the Modern Apprenticeships scheme that help to illustrate the experiences of other public sector employers and their young employees. It also provides a list of publications and contact details in order to help interested parties to find out more information. Show less

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) National Office commissioned [the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education] NIACE to identify the possible impact of the new qualification, registration and [continuing professional development] CPD requirements for teachers, trainers and tutors in the learning and skills sector (referred to here as the ‘QTLS reforms’) on Third Sector (TS) providers and practitioners. TS organisations are: non-governmental; ‘value driven’ (primarily motivated by the desire to further social, environmental or cultural objectives rather than to make a profit per se); and principally reinvest their surpluses to further social, environmental or cultural objectives. The LSC also sought an indication of the possible costs of compliance for TS organisations, and how these providers might be supported most effectively. Third Sector organisations in scope included those delivering LSC-funded programmes under direct contract to the LSC and those in partnership arrangements with lead providers, such as colleges, local authorities, and TS consortia, along with some prospective TS providers. The project addressed four key areas. These were: current teacher qualification levels amongst TS organisations; the TS teacher role, its distinguishing features (if any) and how these intersect with the QTLS reforms; the likely cost implications for TS providers of implementing the QTLS reforms, both in terms of meeting the new requirements and establishing/sustaining a supporting infrastructure; and issues or barriers that could affect TS engagement with the reforms, and any examples of practice to show how these could be addressed.

Excerpts from published introduction. 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

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for the Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. This sector covers the property, housing, cleaning and facilities management sub-sectors. NESS data was limited to two of these sub-sectors (real estate and industrial cleaning), and in total 3,268 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. Communication and customer handling skills are identified as being most important in administrative occupations, with only a minority indicating a need for IT skills, while in the case of elementary staff, employers highlighted very few skill requirements. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: four per cent of establishments in the asset skills sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 17 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; the highest densities of vacancies lie within smaller firms; vacancies and skill gaps are spread fairly evenly across the sector, but the largest proportion of all vacancies are found amongst the sales and customer service staff and elementary staff; elementary staff account for 39 per cent of all jobs with a skills gap; the main causes of skill gaps are primarily perceived to be due to staff being recently recruited or having a lack of experience; and the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the asset skills sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less