Cogent’s relationship with stakeholders in regional and national government is lead by Jaine Chisholm-Caunt, Stakeholder and Policy Director.

Jaine’s team works directly with the Devolved Administrations and with  English Regions including the  Regional Development Agencies. We also  through the network of regional managers and regional boards operated by the National Skills Academies.

Cogent continues to manage a team of UK-wide industry leads who articulate the strategic priorities of each industry and coordinate high-level consultations via the Cogent Industry Advisory Councils.

England
Train to Gain funding: In 2009/10 Cogent rolled out our Sector Compact, which accessed £50m of LSC Train to Gain funding for employers in our industries.  In the first year, 468 companies and 9366 learners benefited from Train to Gain provision.  In addition, 17,965 learners enrolled on Cogent related qualifications (levels 1- 4) an increase of 8% over the previous year.

SSC clusters: In response to the Government ‘s Industrial Strategy set out in the New Industry, New Jobs White Paper UKCES invited SSCs to form clusters to develop skills strategies for the emerging technologies/growth areas set out in the White Paper. Cogent led on Life Sciences and Pharmaceuticals and made a major input into Advanced Manufacturing, Low Carbon and Engineering Construction. 

BIT: The Business Improvement/Productivity and Competitiveness initiative is an LSC funded project run by the Manufacturing Alliance of Sector Skills Councils, (MSA), As well as upskilling Productivity and Competitiveness (PAC) analysts and BIT providers, the project is aimed at encouraging companies in the alliance footprint to take up BIT NVQs.
PAC is now a National Skills Academy Process Industries product, with a network of PAC analysts and BIT providers to support it.

Please contact Chas Hubbard, our England Manager, for further information.

Scotland
Cogent works with the National Skills Academies and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to explore the impact of nuclear decommissioning on the workforce, and to match the skills audits of the SCQF (Scottish Credit & Qualifications Framework) to identify transferable skills to other industries. 

The high level technical skills within the nuclear industry are key to many of the priority industries in Scotland and the workforce is well placed to capitalise on the growth of the renewables industry.

As lead in the Manufacturing Skills Alliance  in Scotland, Cogent has developed its first report on improving cross-sectoral skills for the benefit of employers and the Scottish economy.

As an integral part of the wider Chemical Sciences Scotland (CSS) initiative, which is supported by Scottish Enterprise, Cogent is working with industry, providers and stakeholders to review the relevance of qualifications and how to improve workforce development now and in the future. 


Wales
Cogent has successfully bid to WAG’s (Welsh Assembly Government’s) European funding strategy, the Sector Priorities Fund. We will develop a collaborative plan to roll out the Gold Standard across industry in Wales

Our Wales Manager Andrew Evans has worked with the Department for  Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) to put together a Wales Action Plan that meets the needs of Cogent and WAG.

Cogent has continued negotiations with Murco and Chevron in Pembrokeshire together with Pembroke College and the University of Glamorgan to develop a Foundation Degree for Downstream Petroleum.

Northern Ireland
Cogent chairs the Manufacturing Skills Alliance in Northern Ireland. The initiative is supported by Department for Employment & Learning (DEL),  and aims to help employers improve in areas such as efficiency, output and supply chain management.

Working in partnership with industry bodies such as the Northern Ireland Polymers Association DEL, Cogent is developing new qualifications to help the workforce improve their skills for the benefit of both individuals and business.

Cogent, supported by DEL, is investigating industry needs and working with the FE sector and Universities to identify qualifications to support the future success of  polymer composite materials and sign making. These are either areas where qualifications don’t exist or are not suitable for today’s industry

In addition to developing the skills needed by industry for the future, Cogent also works with employers and agencies to promote careers in science-based industries.  Recently DEL funded a project to create video profiles of Northern Ireland-based employees, which are available on its Careers Pathways web site.

Please contact Hugh McGurk, our Northern Ireland Manager, for further information