“We have also worked in close collaboration with all the regional agencies and employer cluster organisations to reach this stage. These important partnerships will remain in place as we move forward.”

Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education and Skills said:  “Raising skills is essential to wealth creation and creating a society of opportunity for all. The National Skills Academy programme will improve our capacity for learning by driving up standards and specialisation with the learning sector. This will be good for individuals and employers alike and give all parties a real chance to address the skills gap and close it.”

The vision for the academies is to provide a focus for excellence in workforce skills development. Employers in both industries have said that they want a Skills Academy that will provide national leadership in training provision and will move employers and employees from their current level of skills to those which will be needed to take these critical industries forward into a sustainable future in the UK.

Employers are already taking the lead in the management of the Academies and a share of the funding during start-up. Both PINSA and the NNSA have already received significant pledges of funding from employers for the first 3 years.  Long term the academies will be self funding.

In return, employers will be able to drive the skills agenda for their industries. For the first time they will be able to design skills development programmes specific to their needs on a national scale and have them delivered in a way that suits them: on site, online or through a network of Centres of Excellence as well as nationally or regionally. The training will be to consistently high standards and increasingly to national frameworks.

Paul Londesborough, Vice President of GSK Pharmaceuticals said: "By committing to this opportunity for the sector, process industry employers are making a major contribution to raising productivity and performance now and in the future. Our industries have a long tradition of investing in training and PINSA will bring a tremendous boost to this, and ensure a greater consistency of approach based on world class standards.”

David Bonser, Director, BNFL, said: "It is vital that the education and training provision we require is led by the needs of the nuclear industry. The challenges of the NDA programme and of new build and operation will add to demand for high quality training for much of the workforce. A National Skills Academy means that employers will be able to determine the programmes on offer and to shape the content, design and delivery of training and development, taking intelligence-based decisions. The industry has some unique requirements and the NNSA will ensure that these are met in a consistent way as we move forward into the future.”

The Academies will:

• deliver high quality training based on world class standards;
• build networks with a range of existing learning providers, so that new approaches and higher standards are shared across the sector and with other SSCs, and benefit both employees and employers; 
• provide leading edge teaching in a modern learning environment;
• establish centres of innovation aimed at shaping training programmes to meet the sectors’ needs;
• be flexible, working closely with employers;
• be part of the formal education system;
• deliver to SMEs through regional clusters.

 Skills Academies are a critical delivery route for the Cogent Sector Skills Agreement (SSA). Put simply, this Agreement is a compact between employers, training providers and government. Employers lay out their workforce and skills requirements for now and the future. In return, the providers and government agree to deliver and fund training tailored to this need, subject to employers’ commitment to the training.

Notes to Editors

Cogent is the Sector Skills Council for the chemicals and pharmaceuticals, nuclear, oil and gas, petroleum and polymer industries. It is the voice of employers in these sectors and is working with them to create a skills environment that businesses need to be innovative, competent, productive and sustainable.

Each of the Academies will be overseen by a Board who will steer the business planning process. Cogent, working with employers, will also appoint a Project team and a project manager to develop the business plan and to see it through. Cogent sees this as an opportunity for industry secondees, and one which represents an excellent management development prospect.

www.cogent-ssc.com

For further information contact:

Judith Cowan on 01925 515 214  [email protected]

Or Mervin Dadd on 01925 515 212  [email protected]