Proskills UK, the Sector Skills Council for the timber industry says the new coalition government has great potential for increasing and simplifying industry training and encouraging employer involvement. But it has also urged the new regime to continue to invest in developing skills, particularly in the use of new technology.
The organsiation’s chief executive Terry Watts said that the government had expressed an encouraging preference for ‘sectoral leads’ in training.
“We believe that’s the best way to help companies access the training and qualifications they need to compete with foreign businesses,” he said. “It targets funds as directly as possible to meet employer needs that they can’t address for themselves.”
However, Mr Watts also warned there was an urgent need to tackle other areas, especially in improving training in “the use of technology and innovative application of manufacturing processes to new markets”.
“What’s really needed is support in transforming the skills of workers and help to provide organisations and employees with the tools they need for this transition,” he said. “This is now especially crucial with signs that some parts of production are slowly moving back to the UK, encouraged by the weakening of the pound and quality issues from overseas production. If companies are moving back to the UK to improve quality, then new technology is only half of it; quality manufacturing is down to skilled workers and companies need to ensure they invest in their staff to get the best results.”
