UK advances process Skills Academy plans

London – The UK government has approved the formation of a National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing, which will open in April. This will be followed by a similar initiative for the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and polymer industries with the launch of the National Skills Academy Process Industries later this year.

The Food and Drink Academy is a joint venture between Improve (the Sector Skills Council for the food and drink sector) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Its remit is to provide vocational education and training for at least 28,000 employees in its first four years.

Training will be delivered through a network of approved Academy Training Centres, each contributing by its particular specialist area of expertise. The first five training centres have been announced and more will be added as the Academy expands, according to Phil Hope, the UK Skills Minister.

Announcing the new Academy on 2 Feb, Hope said: “I am delighted that the Food and Drink Manufacturing sector is now represented in the growing network of National Skills Academies. It is vital that we continue to improve our capacity for learning by driving up standards and specialisation if we are to compete successfully in the global market.”

Meanwhile, Craig Crowther has been appointed as Project Director for the National

Skills Academy Process Industries, which is made up of the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and polymer industries.

Crowther will join the Academy on secondment from TTE Technical Training Group, where he is currently organisational development manager. TTE is an independent employer-led technical training and consultancy company serving the process industries.

The Academy will focus on employer-endorsed vocational learning with links into Higher Education and will consider the skills needs of both the existing and the future workforce. It will serve companies in chemicals, pharmaceuticals and polymers sectors, which have a combined turnover of £67 billion.

Crowther’s remit is to develop the Academy Business Plan, which will be put to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and DfES for ministerial approval, in May. The Academy is scheduled to be formally launched in September.

The business planning stage will define the funding required by the Academy, which is expected to become self-funding in the long-term. The Government wants employer sponsorship to fund about 50% of the capital costs with about 35% coming from the Government and the remainder from the other sources such as European funding.

“It is absolutely vital for our industries to be able to recruit, develop and retain people with the right competencies and skills to enable the sector to grow. The Academy is an essential project for the process industry in the UK,” said Crowther in a 26 Jan statement.

“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 the Academy will bring a tremendous boost to this,” added Paul Londesborough, vice president of GSK Pharmaceuticals.

An employer-led Shadow Board will oversee and steer the business planning process. Members of Shadow Board currently include: David Berridge, Degussa Ltd; Tony Birch, BASF; Paul Booth, SABIC UK Petrochemicals; Jaine Clarke, Learning & Skills Council; Gillian Collinson, One NorthEast; Stuart Fry, Linecross Ltd; Ian Fyfe, Ineos Olefins; Mike Holding, Chemicals Contract Ltd; John Holton, Cogent SSC; Chris Horton, Linpac Plastics Ltd; Glyn Hughes, Humber Chemical Focus; Peter Jackson, Reaxa Ltd; and Derek Willison-Parry, GlaxoSmithKline.