Two further Sector
Skills Councils (SSCs) have been relicensed, Business, Innovation
and Skills Secretary Lord Mandelson announced today, on behalf of
the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations.
Sector Skills Councils are employer-led bodies, established to
enable employers to exert influence on the UK’s education and
skills systems to ensure they meet their needs.
Both ConstructionSkills (for the construction industry) and the
Institute of the Motor Industry (for the retail motor industry)
have been successful in their application for a further trademark
licence to operate as SSCs and have gone through a comprehensive
assessment process led by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:
“Employers can be confident that those Sector Skills Councils
relicensed today have come through a rigorous assessment, and will
offer employers the highest quality service in meeting their
skills needs.”
The relicensing process is overseen and managed by the UK
Commission for Employment and Skills through a panel chaired by
Charlie Mayfield, who is also chairman of the John Lewis
Partnership. He said:
“Sector Skills Councils are the principal mechanism by which
employers can exert influence over the UK’s education, skills and
training systems. As such, it is vitally important that they
operate effectively. The relicensing process has been designed to
ensure just this, and the announcement that a further two SSCs
have reached the required standards is an endorsement of their
effectiveness. The renewal of these licences also gives confidence
to the government that each of these SSCs is truly backed by its
industry, has the support of employers and is properly equipped to
identify the skills needs of its sector.”
The NAO reports and the recommendations of the Relicensing Panel
are available at both www.ukces.org.uk and www.nao.org.uk
Notes to Editors
All 25 Sector Skills Councils are currently undergoing a robust
and rigorous relicensing assessment, in order to ensure they are
as effective as possible. The relicensing process includes a
performance assessment carried out by the National Audit Office on
behalf of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills which
manages the relicensing process. It focuses on assessing the SSCs
against four key themes:
how well run the organisation is;
its ability to deliver
core products and services;
its ability to deliver sector
specific solutions to employer demand; and,
its ability to
progress results and impacts.
The SSC relicensing assessment comprises a detailed review and
report on each SSC by the NAO against a relicensing framework. The
Relicensing framework (Empowering SSCs – Employer driven skills
reform across the UK) was launched in July 2008 and is available
on the UK Commission’s website.
Assessments of SSCs against the framework’s requirements are
carried out by the National Audit Office. The NAO collect evidence
on each SSC, including employer testimonies and stakeholder
feedback when producing their assessment report. This report is
then considered by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills in
a process which includes site visits by a designated Commissioner
and a full Relicensing Panel in which both the Chair and CEO of
the SSC meet with Commissioners to make their case. Each
recommendation is ratified by the full Commission.
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills then makes a
recommendation to Ministers in England and the Devolved
Administrations as to whether an individual SSC should receive a
further licence. This recommendation is based upon both the NAO
report and the deliberations of Commissioners. The decision to
award or withhold a licence is made by Ministers in the UK
Government and the Devolved Administrations. Sector Skills
Councils may appeal against the recommendation made by the UK
Commission for Employment, but may not appeal against the
Ministerial decision.
Full copies of the assessment reports and relicensing panel
recommendations are available at www.ukces.org.uk
The remit of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills is to
provide vigorous and independent challenge, advising government at
the highest levels across the UK on employment and skills
strategy, targets, policies and progress towards the challenging
competitiveness goals set by Lord Leitch, including the vision of
an 80% employment rate by 2020. It has been asked by the
government to report on crucial issues, such as the employability
skills employers need for future economic success, how UK
employers can use skills to become more globally competitive, and
whether further institutional change is required to deliver better
integrated employment and skills services.
More information, including a detailed description of the
relicensing process, is available at www.ukces.org.uk – click on
Sector Skills Councils.
Further information from Alex Curling, Head of Press, UKCES,
01709 774890
Alex.curling@ukces.org.uk
and Jane Parsons, BIS press office, 020 7215 5947.
About the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills will promote
open and competitive markets, proportionate regulation, an
enterprise and innovation culture, skilled people, thriving
universities, life-long learning and world-class science,
technology and research.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Jane Parsons
Phone: 020 7215 5947
Jane.Parsons@bis.gsi.gov.uk