COGENT SKILLS RECOMMENDATIONSFOR THE GOVERNMENT Harnessing the power of the sector

www.cogentskills.com

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This manifesto puts forward recommendations from Cogent Skills, on four key areas of skills and business policy that will ensure a thriving science-based sector including the nuclear sector, as well as life sciences, biotechnology, chemicals and advanced materials. Cogent Skills, one of the founding Sector Skills Councils, works on behalf of sector employers to provide a structured way to engage on skills policy, recognising that employer attitudes and engagement towards skills are central to achieving Government’s ambitions on Industrial Strategy and on the skills dimension within it.

In particular, Cogent Skills has deep expertise in the design and delivery of high-quality apprenticeships and occupational standards, in producing forward-looking sector skills strategies based on robust labour market information and in providing high quality employer-derived careers outreach activity.

With funding from employer members, it provides a vital collective mechanism for the government and sector employers to engage in a meaningful and evidence-based way on skills.

Industries face a series of challenges on the skills agenda from apprenticeships and T Levels, through to upskilling and the considerable impact of new technologies on the way work is done, all alongside the UK leaving the EU.

Employers are at the heart of ensuring we face these challenges head on.

Cogent Skills seeks to hold a positive conversation about what is needed to ensure success, and on how the country funds and delivers on skills.

We look forward to working with Ministers on progressing these recommendations in order to ensure this strategic sector of the economy remains productive and competitive as we enter 2020 and beyond.

INTRODUCTION

To ensure delivery of the UK’s Industrial Strategy Cogent Skills strongly recommends that Government re-instates skills policy into the business agenda, a connection which has loosened since skills moved to the Department for Education (DfE). Placing the skills agenda and funding back into the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) would ensure a joint Industry and Government commitment to home-growing our critical science-industry skills base in a post-Brexit Britain.

Putting Skills at the Heart of Business

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Continue to harness sector leadership in the production, implementation and monitoring of evidence-based, sectorally driven Skills Action Plans.

INVEST IN SECTOR LEADERSHIP THROUGH THE INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Ensure the People Pillar of the Industrial Strategy is expedited across all major sectors of the economy, underpinned by joint industry and Government investment in programmes which address the key industrial and societal challenges we face.

While employer Skills Membership Bodies (two of which we facilitate – the Science Industry Partnership, SIP and the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group, NSSG) and Groups such as Trailblazers are very important, the UK also needs a robust skills sector infrastructure to support a deep dialogue with employers in key strategic sectors.

Build capacity and institutional infrastructure to drive the skills agenda, using tried and tested Sector bodies such as Cogent Skills. In many instances it is more effective to channel policy concerns in areas such as apprenticeships through sector bodies that represent employers – an important central mechanism that still formally exists in many counties around the world.

Align activity with the ambition of the Industrial Strategy: this would see the development of key strategic programmes supporting the People Pillar of the Industrial Strategy and the Sector Deals within it. Provide skills with the same Government owned status as, for example, Innovation, which is underpinned by a clear and long term policy approach, targeted national budget and holds a strategic role in the economy.

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Apprenticeships provide an alternative pathway into the sector using the pioneering standards developed by employers. However there are still a number of barriers constraining the take-up and these recommendations are designed to overcome these ongoing hurdles.

INCREASE APPRENTICESHIP NUMBERS TO PROVIDE DIVERSITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND PEOPLE

Ensure a single, simple to use Digital Apprenticeship System for all sizes of employer that works in the same way for every company – Cogent Skills welcomes the Government’s commitment to bringing in a single system and ending of the requirement of a 5% SME contribution to funding apprenticeships. Complexity in the system has constrained apprenticeship numbers across the economy.

Ensure majority of levy raised in a sector is spent in a sector - there should be the ability for employers to use the levy more flexibly in order to increase apprenticeship numbers, a particular issue where levy spend is low such as in the science-based industries.

Invest in support to enable greater SME uptake of Apprenticeships over and above the cost of training. This could be through an approved Apprenticeship Training Agency (ATA) arrangement where vital, smaller science companies are supported with the challenging administration, mentoring and management requirements of taking on new Apprentices for the first time.

Ensure sufficient funding for all Apprenticeship Standards– it remains important that all Apprenticeship Standards are funded appropriately. In this sector, delivering technically complex standards to smaller cohort sizes can be more costly; however they lead to high value-adding jobs that drive productivity, which is the overarching strategic intent of employers using this route.

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Cogent Skills is supportive of the Government’s strong focus on vocational education, including giving such pathways the standing they require. However some employers have said that T level design does not always reflect the current nature of occupations in the science-based industries

ENSURE T LEVELS ARE FIT FOR PURPOSE

Recognise the need for much more multi-disciplinary content in T Levels - the Engineering and Manufacturing Route content does not always meet the current and future requirements of science-based manufacturing.

Ensure T level students are able to progress onto a funded level 3 Apprenticeship – this is a critical requirement for the science-based industries.

Address employer concerns regarding their ability to satisfy the requirements of the work placement element of T levels in science-using environments, such as laboratories and manufacturing sites.

Continue to support providers to help them build capacity to deliver high quality T Levels with an appropriate 21st Century curriculum and industry placements.

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The science-using sector is supporting this objective by demonstrating the attractiveness of sector careers, inspiring the next generation and supporting social mobility through a range of outreach activities.

INVEST IN CAREERS HUBS AND INFLUENCER ACTIVITY

Ensure ‘career influencers’ (i.e. teachers and parents) understand the various careers and routes into the science using industries, so they can effectively promote the interesting array of career opportunities available to young people in order to attract a future talent pipeline. Ensure the “Baker Clause” is adhered to (where schools must allow vocational skills providers to showcase their courses to pupils aged 13-18).

Develop a clear and funded strategy for science teaching that ensures students are fully aware of the role of practical science and the opportunities available to them. This includes ensuring teacher CPD programmes keep pace with scientific developments and technological change.

Provide support to increase engagement between employers and schools – Continue to fund the Careers and Enterprise company in its work to linking schools and colleges with employers, including Careers Hubs and providing training for Careers Leaders in schools. Support the implementation of a best practice standard for careers support via the “Gatsby Benchmarks” with continued targeted funding.

www.cogentskills.com