There is an Emerging national consensus between industry government and education and training providers.

Sector Skills Agreements were first announced in the Government’s Skills Strategy  “to secure for each sector the range and level of skills in its labour force that are necessary  to achieve productivity at internationally competitive levels”.  Sector Skills Councils were tasked with facilitating each Agreement which would set out agreed, costed and sector-focused action plans. 

There are 25 Sector Skills Councils covering nearly 85% of the UK workforce, and each one will draw up an SSA  with their industry. 

Four pathfinder SSCs have completed their Agreements: e-skills UK, SEMTA ( the Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance); Construction Skills and Skillset (the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries). 

For information about their Sector Skills Agreements visit their websites:  www.e-skills.com

 www.semta.org.uk    www.constructionskills.net

  www.skillset.org 

Cogent is in the second group of SSCs to undertake  SSAs and we have refined our approach after learning from  the experiences of the pathfinders. 

Cogent’s Research and Policy Team

Liz Rooney leads Cogent’s Research and Policy Team.  She explained  how the SSA process will work.

“We have dedicated  a research and policy adviser to each of the five industries we work with.

The Chemicals SSA will be lead by Dawn Allen; Nuclear by Carol Sinclair; Oil and Gas by Angela Murison; Polymers by Lauren Sadler and I will lead on the Petroleum SSA. 

"The Cogent SSA will,  depend on robust labour market information which shows  the current skills needs of the industries, and the predicted needs in the medium and longer term. The SSA will bring together each industry to prioritise key areas for collaborative action.  

"At the same time it will fully investigate the current provision from both public and private providers. It will match this provision to current needs, and will indicate where future needs will require changes in provision. 

"Finally, Cogent will broker the development of a costed action plan, detailing the contribution expected from all parties to the agreement, in order to maintain and enhance workforce competency and productivity in the light of predicted scientific and technological changes, along with the well documented replacement demand.”

 Competence; innovation; productivity;           sustainability….

           Would you agree you could  do better with the right help?

If you would like to speak to a member of the Cogent team  about how the Sector skills Agreement affects your business contact Samantha McFadden 01925 515200, or email  [email protected]