What are Sector Skills Councils?

The DfES provides the following information about the role and aims Sector Skills Councils and how they will operate:

Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) are high profile strategic bodies led by influential employers to drive up skills and productivity in industry and business sectors throughout the UK.

What are Sector Skills Councils for?

The four key goals of Sector Skills Councils are to:
- reduce skills gaps and shortages and increase the speed of development and transition by sectors
- develop specific actions that lead to improved productivity, business and public services performance
- take action leading to the development of everyone on the sector's workforce
- influence action that leads to improvement in learning supply

What will they do?

SSCs will:
- be licensed by government throughout the UK as the lead bodies on industry and business sectors skills and productivity
- be experts on their sectors
- understand the key drivers influencing development of the sector and implications for the demand, supply and use of skills
- identify skills and productivity priorities and the action needed to tackle them
- agree with employers, government and relevant public agencies how this action will be taken forward
- lead action and monitor progress in meeting the priorities
- ensure underpinning arrangements that meet the sector's needs, such as occupational standards, apprenticeship frameworks and quality education and training provision, are in place

Why should employers get involved?

Employers will form an SSC to:
- ensure the skills and productivity needs of their sector are properly addressed by the government, public agencies and the education and training system across the UK
- develop the competitiveness and the effectiveness of their sector by securing effective government policy and identifying best practicet in the UK and abroad for application by employers
- ensure the availability of a skilled workforce to meet the current and future needs of their sector, including support for inward investment opportunities
- secure the effective operation of the education and training system throughout the UK to meet their sector's needs

What input will the Government make?

Government and public agencies will work with SSCs to:
- develop high impact industry, employment, education and training policies and provision that deliver significant improvements in productivity, economic performance and social inclusion
- access expert and authoritative advice and support on sector-specific skills and productivity issues and solutions to tackle these
- access extensive employer networks