BECTU SUPPORTS SKILLSET AS INDEPENDENT NTO

BECTU wants Skillset to retain their independent remit as the audio-visual industry's lead training body.
The union's comment came after a government consultation paper on National Training Organisations (NTO’s) suggested that organisations covering smaller workforces could be forced to merge.
In a paper called ‘Building A Stronger Network’ about the future of the UK's 73 NTO’s, the Department for Education and Employment called for comments on the viability of organisations representing sectors with less than 500,000 employees, including Skillset.
According to the DfEE, NTO’s of this size were “unlikely to have the resource and influence to deal effectively with major bodies,” and would be likely candidates to merger. In the case of Skillset, this might mean a takeover by an umbrella NTO which would encompass the entire media, culture, and hospitality sector - a prospect that BECTU condemned.
Skillset, a training body that are widely supported by unions and employers in the industry, was commended by BECTU as ‘extremely effective’, with a sound record of securing investment for workers in the sector.
A key factor in the success of Skillset, according to BECTU, is the involvement at senior level of representatives from all sides of the industry - union appointees sit alongside media executives from board level downwards, creating a climate of trust and co-operation. The union believes that weaker NTO's in other sectors should look at their structures rather than their size.
BECTU are currently involved in several Skillset projects, including the FT2 training scheme for new entrants; Skillsbase, a joint programme for training needs assessment, and SkillsforMedia.com, a ground-breaking online training service due to launch later this month.
BECTU said that their performance in researching and forecasting skills needs, viewed as a key function of NTO's, had won praise throughout the sector. However, if a super-NTO were created, it is feared that Skillset could be subsumed in a body that included other organisations ranging from the media through to hotel management.
The union approved the three key roles defined by the ministry for NTO's. These are: assessing skills needs; leading on the development of skills within a sector; and reviewing progress and identifying good practice.
The union highlighted the census of the audiovisual industry conducted last year by Skillset as a training activity that had been valued across the sector. (AMcE)