Where there's a skill there's a way

[richard]

Trade and Industry Minister Alun Michael has launched a project to plug Yorkshire's skills' gaps. He talks to reporter Peter Lazenby

IN its 2005 election manifesto Labour promised to establish new skill academies to help industry find the workers it needs.

The academies will not be educational institutions in the traditional sense, but a bringing together of private firms, colleges and educational bodies in a project which will be led by employers to ensure that the needs of industry are met.
In Yorkshire the academies will be overseen by Yorkshire Forward, the Government-backed regional development agency.

Four key industries have been chosen after being identified as being in need of more skilled workers to meet future demands – construction, financial services, food and drink, and manufacturing.

Yorkshire is one of the regions chosen for the first introduction of the academies. Responsibility for launching the academies has fallen to Trade and Industry Minister Alun Michael.

"There are something like 48,000 vacancies in manufacturing, of which 13,000 represent gaps in terms of specific skills," he said. "There are jobs and a future there for people who have got the right skills.

"The Yorkshire area has always had a high level of skills in terms of manufacturing but of course times change and the requirements change."

To meet those requirements, says Mr Michael, the Government is to invest £40m in skills academies.

"It is not Government telling industry how to do things. It is a partnership between us and industrial leaders.

"We hope to see all employers' organisations involved."

Manufacturing, which is still shedding jobs, is a key to the future, he said.

"Manufacturing is going through difficult times but some manufacturers in the UK are showing great strength. Yes, manufacturing is going to feel continually challenged on the world stage so can we in the UK be cleverer, can we be ahead in skills?"

Mr Michael said Yorkshire's construction industry stands to benefit from the choice of London for the Olympic gsames in 2012.

"There is a Yorkshire dimension to the Olympics. There are going to be an enormous amount of opportunities in construction," he said. "We have been talking to the construction industry and we have set up a group to help the industry use the Olympics as an opportunity to show just what the industry can do. The construction industry can do it but it is going to need people coming in with the right skills to do the jobs."

It will be the job of the skill academies to make sure that colleges are training people in the right skills to meet industry's needs. The employers' role will include identifying the skills it needs.

Two skills academies are already running successfully. One in Birmingham covers the automotive industry, the second, in London, serves the retail fashion industry.


Source
leedstoday.net
Image
alun-michael.com/