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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 Clothing, Textiles, Footwear and Leather, and Furniture, Furnishings and Interiors Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in these industries. These industries have faced a difficult transformation over the past three decades as a result of overseas competition and technological change. The report provides overviews of these industries, examines issues related to the demand for, and supply of, skills, including employment change, occupational change, skill requirements, skills gaps and shortages, and summarises common skills issues. The report suggests that to maintain competitiveness, the industries will need to further enhance skills, particularly in management, marketing and technical expertise. Major skills issues common to these industries are: (1) changes to the skills mix resulting from the transition to a combination of UK and overseas production; (2) overall skills deficiencies exacerbated by lack of experience and of basic skills; (3) skills gaps particularly at management levels and for clerical, craft and plant and machine operatives; (4) the equal demand for soft skills and technical and information technology (IT) related skills; and (5) that recruitment and skills problems are responsible for business problems and delays in developing new products. 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 Tourism and Cultural Industries Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in these industries. The ability of these industries to compete successfully on a global stage relies on raising service standards to meet rising customer expectations and choice. In the UK, competitive weakness is mainly a result of growing skills gaps and shortages. The report covers a number of sectors: hotels and catering; arts and entertainment; cultural, natural and built heritage; travel, tourism services and events; and sports and recreation, leisure parks and attractions. It examines in detail changing social patterns, employment patterns and economic drivers, employment trends, skills needs, and skills supply and skills gaps. Common skills needs for the sectors are identified. Skills gaps apply across the sectors in management skills, the need for multi-skilling whilst being a specialist, work readiness of graduates, adequate information and communications technology (ICT) skills, and customer care skills and positive service attitudes in front-of-house staff. The low level of training provision across the sectors is one of the most important reasons for the skills gaps. The report demonstrates the need for more investment in skills and training across the sectors to ensure the quality of products and services provided. Recommendations for future action are provided in the areas of: education and training, particularly in management skills, information technology (IT) skills and customer care skills; the development of the whole workforce including part-time, seasonal, transient, and freelance/casual workers; and support for small and medium-sized businesses in developing staff management skills, providing appropriate training to meet changing market needs, and improving the retention of their existing staff. 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 Process Industries Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in this sector. This group of industries covers ceramics, chemicals, downstream petroleum, extractives and minerals processing, glass, metals, offshore petroleum, paper, pharmaceuticals, polymers, refractories and building products, and surface coatings. These industries are essential elements of the supply chain for British industry and over recent years have undergone significant changes. Managing change is the main driver for investment in skills and the industry now has fewer, more highly skilled, employees. The key issues identified by the skills dialogue are: (1) recruitment; (2) management and leadership skills; (3) supporting process improvement and supply chain development; (4) safety, health and the environment; (5) using workplace qualifications; (6) basic and key skills; (7) new technology skills; and (8) choosing high quality learning provision. Show less

The objectives of the Workforce Training in England 2006 survey were to collect information from employers about: the volume, type and pattern of employer-provided training; the motivations for training and the impact it has had; the barriers to undertaking any or more training; the use of external training providers and levels of satisfaction with them; awareness of government programmes and initiatives connected with training, and levels of involvement with them. The survey consists of 4,002 interviews undertaken with employers in England. All sizes and sectors were included. A multi-stage sampling strategy was used taking into account establishment size, industry sector and region. Findings include: overall, three fifths of employers (61 per cent) reported that they had provided some employees at the location with training over the previous 12 months; size is a key determinant of the likelihood of training being provided; three fifths (61 per cent) of all employees have received training in the last 12 months; managers, professionals and associate professionals were more likely to have been provided with training by their employer than other occupational groups; health and safety and job specific skills training were the most likely types of training to be provided by employers that train (79 per cent and 76 per cent respectively); two thirds of employers that train had also provided induction training (67 per cent); half had funded or arranged training to develop management and leadership skills (49 per cent) and a similar proportion had sought to develop interpersonal skills through training (47 per cent); basic skills training had been arranged by one in eight employers that train (12 per cent, equivalent to 7 per cent of all employers), and this was most commonly training in numeracy (5 per cent of all employers), literacy (5 per cent) or English language (3 per cent); the most common method used to deliver training is via in-house staff at the trainee’s usual workstation (71 per cent of employers that train use this method); training delivered off-site by external providers (59 per cent) and using external providers or in-house staff to deliver a taught course on-site (68 per cent) were also common methods among establishments funding or arranging training; and almost two thirds of employers that train (65 per cent) relied on staff to participate in some form of self-learning (including e-learning).

Excerpts from published introduction and summary of findings. 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 Financial Services Sector Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in this sector. The main industries covered by this dialogue are banking and finance, insurance, professional services (financial intermediation) and professional services (accountancy). The first two chapters provide an executive summary and information about the dialogue process and the approach used for this sectoral dialogue. Chapter three discusses the context for the financial services sector and the key drivers of skill requirements and their potential labour market implications. Chapter four examines the demand for financial services skills and chapter five explores the supply of such skills. Chapter six considers the extent and nature of skill shortages within the sector based on the available evidence on recruitment difficulties and hard-to-fill vacancies and employer views about the proficiency of their workforce. The final chapter draws together the findings of the dialogue and proposes recommended actions to address areas of skill needs highlighted in the report. The key messages to emerge are: (a) the need for partnership to bring organisations together to address skills shortages in the sectors; (b) the need for comprehensive and accurate information on which to base future employment and skills projections; and (c) the need for clear and open dialogue and communication if a role is to be found for the public sector in supporting employers. 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 Media and Creative Industries Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in this sector. This dialogue covers the audio-visual industry (including broadcast, film, video and interactive media), design, photo-imaging, print and graphic communication, and publishing (covering books, journals, newspapers, magazines and electronic information services). The industries in this sector share several common interests related to new technological developments but differ widely in size, scope and characteristics. Each of the industries reported the existence of hard-to-fill vacancies. Key drivers influencing future skill needs are economic forces, changing patterns of demand, and changing patterns of doing business. A number of common concerns that exist to differing extents across each of the sectors were identified. These are: (1) attracting the workforce needed; (2) influencing education provision; (3) attracting the best talent: (4) workforce development; (5) emerging skill issues; (6) managing a small firm, freelance and casualised workforce; and (7) involvement in government initiatives. These concerns are discussed in the report and initial suggestions are made as to further action. Show less

The 'Science and innovation investment framework 2004-2014' sets out a long-term strategy to develop and maintain a supply of scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians (STEM) to support the science base in the UK. As part of this framework, the STEM cross-cutting program, jointly managed by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was established to examine the range of initiatives that currently support this agenda and to identify ways to enhance the effectiveness of government funding in two areas: the flow of qualified people into the STEM workforce; and STEM literacy in the population. The program identified the need to improve the delivery of STEM initiatives so that the STEM system could be made more coherent. The work of the program has concentrated on where the most significant impact can be made through enhanced delivery for learners and learning providers, and the coordination of STEM through a simple core delivery network. This report documents actions to achieve these aims. The actions are underpinned by three principles: (1) STEM support should be available to all learners and learning providers so it will be necessary to build on and coordinate existing delivery networks to enable them to support the variety of needs; (2) there is a need for greater coordination of the many providers of professional development and enhancement activities to achieve more coherent delivery, but without losing diversity of choice; and (3) there are clear economies of scale in providing many of these resources at a level above that of local authority and local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) so some provision will be needed at national, regional and local levels. Show less

This document reports on a review of employer investment and co-funding in publicly-funded training. The review was commissioned in 2005 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to explore current employer activity and to help inform public policy. It focuses mainly on qualitative assessment, examining the experiences of 32 targeted employers known to have been innovative in developing co-funding relationships within the post-16 sector. The report examines the following areas: (1) current employer activity in investment and co-funding of publicly-funded training, including patterns of employer investment and trends, and the role of brokers; (2) employer implementation and, in particular, rationales for co-funding, resourcing arrangements, and direction; (3) progress and impact within organisations with a focus on achievements and outcomes against expectations, success factors and constraints; and (4) issues and implications, drawn from the experiences of these employers, and implications for public policy. The review provides useful evidence of processes, benefits, and what enables, and frustrates, successful co-funding. The findings suggest a wide range of experience among employers on effectiveness of co-funding, but with employers generally perceiving the relationships as valuable and cost-effective. The evidence suggests that employer co-funding in the post-16 sector needs help to extend what appears to be a ‘currently narrow basis of employer experience’. Supporting annexes contain: the methodology and selection of employers; literature sources; a list of in-depth employer case studies; and summary matrices indicating employer investment and co-funding activity for all interviewed employers. 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 summarises the current information about skills issues in the post-16 education and training sector. Its particular purpose is to draw together common themes that affect employers and employees working in further and higher education, community and adult education, and training and workforce development. The report examines drivers of change in the sector, current employment in the post-16 education and training sector, employment trends and projections, workforce demographics, workforce development and qualifications, skills issues and recruitment, and sector responses to the skills challenge. Show less

This report maps vocational routes into education and training upon completion of compulsory education in the UK. It is based on recent cohorts of the England and Wales Youth Cohort Study (YCS). Cohort members are surveyed for the first time when they finish compulsory education at age 16 or 17 and again at yearly intervals up to the age of 18 or 19. This report mostly relates to 16-17 year olds surveyed at the beginning of 2002 and analyses that track young people over time relate to the two-year period between the beginning of 2000 and 2002. The report provides information on many aspects of vocational pathways after completing compulsory education including: (1) the proportion of young people who work for vocational qualifications after age 16; (2) the balance between vocational qualifications and full-time education and work-based training; (3) recent trends in the take-up of vocational qualifications; (4) the kinds of young people who choose vocational qualifications; (5) vocational qualifications achieved in full-time education and government support training (GST); (6) differences within GST in qualifications aimed for and training received; (7) length of stay in GST and the factors that affect this; and (8) dropout rates from vocational qualifications during the first postcompulsory year and the factors linked to dropout. Some key findings at the beginning of 2002 were that: a third of 16-17 year olds had a vocational qualification as their main study aim; three quarters of those taking vocational qualifications were in full-time education and just under a fifth were in GST with very few in ordinary jobs; the proportion of 16-17 year olds taking vocational qualifications was smaller in 2002 than in 1989, partially due to a decreasing proportion of the age group in work-based training but also affected by curriculum policy reforms; in the cohort as a whole, one in seven 16-17 year olds who started working for a vocational qualification after the end of Year 11 had dropped out by the beginning of the following year and most of these gave up studying for qualifications altogether. Show less