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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 Transport Sector Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in the transport sector. The transport sector is defined as covering aviation, passenger land transport, Merchant Navy, motor vehicle sales and repair, rail, road haulage, and distribution and ports. The introductory chapter explains how the transport sector is defined for the purposes of the Skills Dialogue, its importance to the UK economy, and key influences on the sector. Chapter two explores issues associated with labour market demand in terms of the numbers of employees required and skill requirements. Chapter three investigates issues linked to the supply of labour to the transport sector, including trends in the working population in general from where the sector will be recruiting. Chapter four draws together issues from previous chapters to identify areas of difficulty in the supply of skills to the sector. The report also includes an industry summary for each part of the transport sector highlighting industry facts, trends and issues. The four key messages to emerge from the report are: (1) the transport industry is huge and will require a large labour pool; (2) much of the industry skill needs will stay at the same level despite changes so vocational training needs equal treatment with higher education to continue to provide the labour required; (3) the entry criteria for Modern Apprenticeships needs changing to eliminate discrimination in those parts of the sector where initial recruitment is at age 25 or older; and (4) the needs of the transport industry are reasonably uniform across the UK so the government needs to take a national approach when addressing industry issues. Show less

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 Construction, Professional Services, and Extractive Mineral Processing Sector Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in this sector. The sector is broad and includes all industries that contribute to the development of buildings and infrastructure. These include extraction and processing of raw materials, construction including installation of gas, electrical and plumbing appliances, and services such as architecture, civil engineering and project management. Chapter one looks at the key features of the industries, chapter two investigates changing skill demands, chapter three explores skill supply, and chapter four examines skill mismatches. It was difficult to generalise trends due to the broad range of activities undertaken in these industries. However, in chapter five, some conclusions are drawn. The construction industry is experiencing high levels of skill shortages, professional services are experiencing skills shortages and the creation of a skilled 'technician' role, that can be performed by non-graduates, is being considered. There is a general consensus that change needs to take place in five areas: (1) recruitment; (2) reducing reliance on unqualified site workers; (3) reviewing the skills of workers at craft level; (4) adressing quality in frontline supervisory and perhaps technician posts; and (5) recruitment of managers and professionals into the industry. Show less

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 Engineering Sector Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in the engineering sector. The introductory chapter provides details of the scope and coverage of the dialogue and describes the context, main economic trends and other factors influencing engineering skill requirements. Chapter two contains a discussion of the evidence on trends in demand for engineering skills and chapter three examines the supply and availability of such skills. Chapter four investigates the main demand-supply imbalances. The key messages are: (1) there is still a strong demand for engineering skills in the UK economy despite the long-term decline in much of engineering manufacturing; (2) there is particular demand in the fast-growing electronics and telecommunications industries; (3) a number of engineering employers are experiencing difficulty in recruiting staff mainly because of a shortage of people with relevant skills and experience; (4) skill shortages are apparent at all levels but particularly at the higher end of the occupational spectrum; and (5) the main skill gaps are in specific technical and practical skill areas but personal and generic skills are also in short supply. Show less

The community mental health sector is a major player in the delivery of services to people living with mental illness and those who care for people living with mental illness in the ACT. Today, there are over 30 non-government agencies operating in this field in the ACT alone employing over 200 care workers. This number is even larger when volunteers are factored in. As the devolution of responsibility for caring for people in the community continues to shift to the community sector, our responsibility to provide the best, most professional services to our clients increases. [This] Workforce Development Strategy is the first step in building a cohesive, well qualified sector committed to continuous learning. We also want workers in the sector to have a definite career path and to enjoy job satisfaction while providing the highest standard care possible to our clients. We see the community sector as a viable employment choice in its own right, not just something to do until a 'real job' comes along.

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A National Skills Task Force was established to assist the UK government in developing a National Skills Agenda. The Task Force provided evidence on the nature, extent and pattern of skill needs and shortages in the UK and possible directions for their future development. This evidence was summarised in 'Skills for all: research report from the National Skills Task Force', published in June 2000 (indexed at TD/TNC 62.657). This report is one of a number of associated reports containing detailed information on various aspects of this research. These reports are indexed from TD/TNC 65.225 to TD/TNC 65.232. Other reports related to the National Skills Task Force are indexed from TD/TNC 62.653 to TD/TNC 62.656 and at TD/TNC 62.658.

The aim of this report is to provide a detailed assessment of skill needs and the extent and impact of skill deficiencies within the telecommunications sector which is changing rapidly under the combined impact of technological and market changes as well as the effects of deregulation. The report is based on 10 case studies from a cross-section of this sector and contains the following sections: Executive summary; Aims and context; Industry context, case studies and methodology; Products, process and markets; Human resource policies and practices; Knowledge and skill needs; Recruitment difficulties; Skill gaps. References and appendices are also included. Show less