Alliance to improve access to training
Proskills (the Sector Skills Council for the Process & Manufacturing sector, which includes the Glass industry and related companies) has joined forces with four other related Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) – Cogent, Improve, Semta and Skillsfast-UK – to form the Manufacturing Skills Alliance (MSA).
The objective of the Alliance is to find common ground across the five manufacturing-related SSCs to simplify the processes in which manufacturing employers can address skills shortages, access the right training support, and create opportunities for employers to improve productivity and profitability through skills.
The intention of the Alliance is to draw on the collaborative efforts of the five SSCs to develop a common, coherent approach that concentrates on the needs of manufacturing through the following distinct strands of activity:
skills brokerage
qualifications
labour market intelligence for providers and employers
and support through the recession
Implementation of the MSA plan is being spearheaded by Proskills UK.
For employers in the glass industry and related companies, this will mean a better understanding of what support is available to them with a coherent set of programmes that meet the needs of the employers and will improve transferabilty for individuals across the industry.
Terry Watts, chief executive of Proskills UK said: “Having access to the right provision and, where appropriate, funding, has been the number one demand from our employers to drive competitiveness and productivity in the process and manufacturing sector. The MSA gives manufacturing a greater voice and will enable employers to exercise increased leverage to benefit the whole of the manufacturing sector.
“We at Proskills UK see the work of the MSA as critical to influencing government at all levels, who tend to see manufacturing as a homogeneous sector, and through this work we plan to get results for the range of employers across the whole of UK manufacturing. As the collective voice of manufacturers we see the MSA as a great opportunity now there is a renewed focus on manufacturing.”
