• Careers and Attraction: Cogent Careers Pathway
• Technician Recruitment: Cogent Apprenticeship Scheme
• Health and Safety: Cogent  Competence Framework
• Mobile Contractor Workforce: Cogent Industry Passports
• Skills Shortfalls: Cogent Upskilling Programme

We are now consulting with our stakeholders in the regions on these items and developing a costed action plan. We will then quickly move secure industry sign-up and stakeholder commitment to the plans.

Cogent attended the Skills for Business Summer Receptions which marked the progress and outcome of the Sector Skills Agreement for the Tranche 2 Sector Skills Council.

The first reception was held on 10th July at  Westminster Abbey’s College Gardens and was attend by Skills Minister, Phil Hope MP and other Ministers and MPS.  Mr. Hope met Sector Skills Councils Employer Board members, supporters and staff, to see at first hand the progress they had made with Sector Skills Agreements. Following this a reception was held at the Grand Hall, National Museum in Cardiff on 11th July and was attended by Jane Davidson, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning and other Ministers and MPs.

The final reception was held on Monday 18th September in Glasgow and was attended by Allan Wilson, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and SMPs.  The event provided an opportunity for employers, partners, stakeholders and SSC representatives to come together to hear how SSAs are going to change skills development in their sector

The final national SSA and the SSAs for the Devolved Administrations are due to be completed by the year end. 

photo: Skills Minister Phil Hope (l) with the periodic table, tests his chemistry knowledge accompanied by Cogent Chairman John Beacham

When Cogent commenced its SSA process for its sector industries, the Pinch Points project was well underway, and it was therefore appropriate that the Oil & Gas industry continued to progress this work as a priority.  As Cogent focussed the SSA work on its other four industries we captured evidence relevant to the Oil & Gas industry which  complemented the research data from the Pinch Points project.

Over the same period, Cogent’s subsidiary organisation, OPITO, and the Oil & Gas Industry Leadership Team (ILT) have been involved in a programme of informing and negotiating with stakeholders for many months. Many stakeholders will already have discussed how  best to meet the needs of the Upstream Oil & Gas industry in meetings with OPITO and ILT personnel such as David Doig, Pete Crowther, Annette Thomas and Celia Mackie.

Following a meeting of the ILT, on July 26th, the decision was taken to formally bring the Oil & Gas SSA work back within the main Cogent SSA now that the process has reached a more mature stage. By combining and developing this “pinch points” data with existing SSA data Cogent will be able to ensure that the skills needs of the upstream industry are comprehensively presented within our SSA stage 1-5 documents.

All  five of Cogent’s industries will now be reflected within our Sector Skill Agreement reports which will be completed as planned by the end of 2006. We look forward to discussing this positive development with stakeholders.

The vision for the academies is to provide a focus for excellence in workforce skills development. Cogent research has shown that employers envisage a Skills Academy that will provide national leadership and, as a driver of change, will move employers and employees from their current level of skills to those which will be needed to take the sector forward into a secure and sustainable future in the UK.

Employers will take the lead in the management of the Academies and are taking on a share of the funding during start-up. Both PINSA and the NNSA have received significant pledges of funding from employers for the first 3 years; long term the academies will be self funding, delivering the training that employers need. This employer commitment is a clear sign to the DfES panel that employers want and are prepared to support industry sector Academies.

John Holton added: “The Academies would be a vehicle to drive up the qualityof training with nationally recognised and accepted standards approved by employers.”

Jim Knight, Minister of State, Department for Education and Skills said "I am particularly pleased by the growing popularity of maths and further maths with entries overall up by 7.5% - the biggest increase in a decade. Five years ago maths was thought to be in terminal decline. This year's figures show that we have bucked that trend. The improvements are evidence that the policies we have implemented have worked.

"Although still popular at 'A' level, the sciences have followed a similar path to maths in recent years and the decline in physics entries is concerning. As with maths we need to reverse this trend and I am confident that the changes we are already putting in place as part of our £30 million science strategy will turn this around.”

Cogent CEO Joanna Woolf said: “The UK has a strong record in the sciences - but we need to see continued efforts to ensure young people study science and subjects that meet business needs. The long term decline in young people taking these subjects, particularly physics and chemistry ‘A’ levels is of serious concern.

“Cogent is working with industry to encourage uptake and to highlight science-based careers on offer. The Cogent industries face stiff competition from companies in China and India, and we must promote the opportunities that will attract young talent into our businesses to ensure a sustainable future.”

The 2006 'A' level and AS results show:

Overall entries for 'A' level maths have increased by 7.5% with the biggest percentage increase in entries in 'A' level further maths (22.5%)

The science subjects remain popular. Chemistry, physics and maths still made up a greater proportion of 'A' level entries.

The disturbing figures are contained in a CBI report commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills as part of its promise to raise basic skills levels through new functional skills modules for GCSEs.

It defines in detail what it means to be literate and numerate in the modern world of work - and also reveals what abilities in recruits employers would most like to see improved.

Simple mental arithmetic without a calculator, the ability to interpret data, competence in percentages, and calculating proportions top the numeracy wish list. Written communication including legible handwriting, communicating information orally, understanding written instructions, and correct grammar and spelling are the areas of literacy most in need of improvement.

Delivering these skills must be an integral part of our education system but, business says, it is not happening under the current GCSE curriculum.

Last year barely half of GCSE students achieved a Grade C or above in maths (54%) and just six out of ten (60%) in English. Only 45 per cent achieved both - the benchmark for competence in the three Rs. But the opportunities for unskilled workers will shrivel from 3.4 million today to 600,000 by 2020, according to Lord Leitch’s interim report on skills in the UK.

CBI Director-General Richard Lambert said: "We must raise our game on basic skills in this country. The UK simply can’t match the low labour costs of China and India. We have to compete on the basis of quality, and that means improving our skills base, starting with the very basics.

"Employers' views on numeracy and literacy are crystal clear: people need to be able to read and write fluently and to carry out basic mental arithmetic. Far too many school-leavers struggle with these essential life skills.”

Employers in the manufacturing and construction sector reported greater problems with innumeracy than in service industries. Both sectors reported a similar spread of literacy problems.

A copy of the report 'Working On The Three Rs' is available from the CBI.

Titles selected were The Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent, Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express and the Evening Standard.

To see a copy of the ad, click here.

Speaking in advance of the Offshore Northern Seas Conference Malcolm Wicks said that the UK, like Norway, needed to work hard to extend the life of North Sea reserves, "Like much of the industrialised world we face huge challenges in terms of the security of our energy supplies. We know the global demand for energy will continue to increase, driven by the growing economies of China and India. Recent events in the Middle East and in Prudhoe Bay serve to remind us of how an environment of uncertainty in the global oil market creates further upward pressure on price.

"It is increasingly important that we do as much as possible to maintain production and extend the potential and life of our own reserves. Our recent Energy Review recognises this and through the 'stewardship initiative' we are identifying whether field owners are fully recognising and maximising opportunities for production. Research has already indicated that an additional 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent could be recovered if all mature fields received the investment that would allow them to reach their full potential.

"We are also building on things that have already worked well and I am pleased today to announce that we are expanding the existing mentoring scheme where both small and large UK and Norwegian oil and gas companies learn from each other about different experiences and business cultures. To date 16 different companies have taken part and the extension of the scheme recognises that as the global oil and gas market place changes, partnerships and alliances will become increasingly important."

At the same time as the UK is entering a new era for energy supplies - becoming increasingly dependent on imports to meet demand - our partnership with Norway is critical to getting the energy we need to keep us warm this winter and going forward in the future.

Malcolm Wicks continued, "With between 21 and 27 billion barrels of oil equivalent remaining, the North Sea continues to offer great opportunities. But we also have to look to the future and having the right infrastructure in place will be key to ensuring secure supplies. Our partnership with Norway is helping with this and the development of the new Langeled pipeline, one of 4 major gas import projects, will help keep us warm this winter.

"We have also been working with the Norwegians to look at ways to store carbon emissions in depleted oil fields. This technology could cut the level of CO2 emissions from power stations by up to 90% and has the potential to provide a solution to help mitigate the harmful effects of carbon emissions."

The Humber chemicals industry which encompasses the chemical and oil refining industries and their associated supply chains on both banks of the Humber, directly employs 3, 000 people in over 100 companies with a combined turnover of more than £6 billion pounds per year.  It’s an industry that generates more than 25 per cent of the Humber manufacturing output, providing highly skilled and well paid employment and supporting many more jobs in the engineering contractor and other support industries.

The region is blessed with the natural geography of the Humber estuary and easy access to the North Sea and Continental Europe. Given these natural advantages and the region’s track record of performance it will undoubtedly flourish as the natural home for much of the UK’s chemical and oil refining industrial base and continue to attract major new investment like that of Nippon Gohsei, whose new facility is the biggest single-line plant in the world, producing 15,000 tonnes a year of its environmentally-friendly ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer.

However, if we are to achieve this goal employers and stakeholders need to continue to work together to improve both the hard infrastructure - energy supply, pipeline integration and transport links- and our soft infrastructure - the availability of skilled and resourceful people.

This is an essential role for Humber Chemical Focus (HCF). HCF was established in 1999 and during the last 7 years it has become one of the UK’s leading regional chemical initiatives and a shining example of collaboration between the private and public sectors. HCF’s strategy is to continue to develop value adding, innovative, collaborative public- private sector partnerships to promote the industry’s growth and sustainability. Delivery of this strategy is focused through the 4 key themes of network development, investor support and aftercare, skills and training and innovation and competitiveness.

Skills and Training

One of those four pillars, skills and training, is the biggest long term issue facing our industry and one that HCF is working hard to address. Employers face a number of challenges: we are continuing to see a decline in the number of students interested in studying science, technology or engineering at A level and University and for the last ten years we have also seen huge reductions in traditional apprenticeship schemes The result is that our industry’s age distribution is becoming more and more skewed towards older employees. The situation in the engineering contractor industry is similar and if we do nothing it is clear that we will simply run out of skilled people.

HCF’s great achievement in the skills arena is that by working with and through others it has brought us the Centre for Assessment of Technical Competence Humber (CATCH) which opened for business at the beginning of May this year. CATCH represents an £8 million investment and is the most modern chemical industry training facility in the country. It provides the region with a unique opportunity to safely train and assess employees on large scale industrial equipment. It offers huge benefits for the practical training of apprentices and the attractiveness of apprentice schemes. Employers can also use the facilities to upskill and assess existing staff.

Cogent SSC works closely with HCF, and is working with employers across the UK to develop national skills and training projects aimed at supporting the chemicals industry in meeting the challenges of operating in the global economy. Many employers are finding the skills and recruitment challenges they face just too big to handle on their own, and this collective approach will bring both economies of scale and ensure that workforce development is based on world-class standards designed for the 21st Century.

Cogent CEO, Joanna Woolf said: “The skills needed by the contractor companies in our industries are clearly identified in our SSA and we know that other sectors are facing the same kinds of skills shortages and that they use the same contractors to meet their needs.

“The project will deliver better quantification and understanding of what is a complex pan-sector issue and show how SSCs might work together to develop skills solutions across the contractor workforce.”

The Institute for Employment Research is one of Europe's leading centres for research in the labour market field. Its work focuses upon the operation of labour markets and socio-economic processes related to employment and unemployment in the UK at national, regional and local levels.

IFF is a specialist business-to-business market research agency whose work initially was almost exclusively for clients in manufacturing sectors. Since the 1970s much of its work has been for clients in the public and business services sectors.

Successful companies invest in the skills and competence of their workforce.  

Skilled, versatile and motivated employees give companies competitive edge and the flexibility to respond to market changes and the demands of increasingly discerning customers.

Switched on employers in the East of England know the value of investing in their people.  That is why they are taking part in a Competence Management master class series specifically designed for small and medium sized companies. 

Part funded by 2010 funding, the classes will:

• solve companies’ immediate tangible problems relating to competence management.
• kick-start company action on competence.
• provide a framework within which to tackle current and future competence issues.
• help SME managers learn how to structure a straightforward competence management system.
• help SME managers learn how to present their competence arrangements externally.
• explore opportunities for joint action on competence issues (including skills and training).
• Provide opportunities for networking

Four half day master classes over a 3 month period interspersed with periods of work-based learning and activity will cover the following:

• A model framework of risk-based competence management systems based on the Humberside Model
• Tools to identify competences needed to achieve business objectives
• Strategies to apply and assess competences in the business
• Fit for purpose control and record systems
• Coaching of supervisors in assessment and monitoring of standards
• Competence policy and how to explain externally and internally.

 
This is a Skills for Energy initiative benefiting companies across the energy footprint in the East of England. It is led by Cogent in partnership with ECITB, EU Skills, OPITO, Lowestoft College and will be the first of a series offered in the East of England.   

 
Series 1 will start in early November followed by a second series in the Spring.   The classes will be led by Nicol Webster of Rowanhill Consulting.  Companies who go on to put in place competence management systems will be able to use Cogent’s newly developed benchmarking tool to benchmark their systems against industry standards.