Skillset publish groundbreaking skills agreement

Skillset has published its Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) for the film, television and interactive media industries in England.
The agreement sets out wide-ranging collaborative solutions to skills issues facing each of the sectors and were developed by Skillset in partnership with employers, unions, trade organisations, colleges and universities, funding bodies, and qualifications authorities. Three sector agreements and nine regional strategies have been produced based on detailed research and consultation to ensure they are tailored and responsive to specific needs.
Clive Jones, Chief Executive ITV News, and Skillset Chair, said: “For too long the gap between the skills needs of the industry and the skills provision available has been too wide. The industry, Government, its public agencies and training and education providers have been in the untenable position of always having to play catch up with the fast pace of progression which characterizes our sectors.
"Skillset has worked tirelessly to facilitate this Sector Skills Agreement and enable us to stay ahead of the curve.
"The result is a comprehensive plan of action which addresses the real problems and will deliver cohesive and tailored solutions and ensures that the skills development the industry needs is the skills development it will get. This represents our very best chance to carve out a productive, successful, rewarding and beneficial future for our industry.”
Dinah Caine, Chief Executive of Skillset, said: “Through this Sector Skills Agreement the film, TV and interactive media industries have taken great steps in committing themselves to a manifesto of collaborative solutions, matched not just by rhetoric but by real commitment and resource. Our SSA is a strategic action plan which is truly demand-driven which provides us with the mechanism for film, television and interactive media to deliver tailored solutions together and in partnership with Government and strategic partners such as QCA, LSC, HEFCE, Learn Direct, the RDAs, RSPs and key providers. However, the publication of this Sector Skills Agreement is not the end of the journey. It is an important milestone, but the real work now needs to take place to actually deliver on the promise.”
The SSA proposes solutions to tackle skills development issues the industries have identified and are committed to addressing. These relate to school based provision for 14-19 year olds; teacher support; careers information, advice and guidance; entry routes into the industry including apprenticeships; vocational training; qualifications; further and higher education provision; work based learning; and continual professional development. The agreement has been presented to Government and the next stage in delivery will be progressed by action from public sectors partners.
Skillset is one of the first four ‘pathfinder’ Sector Skills Councils chosen to pilot the new Sector Skills Agreements, strongly endorsed by the Government’s Skills White Paper published in March 2005. SSAs in Scotland and Wales will be completed later this year. For more information on individual agreements for film, TV and interactive media visit
www.skillset.org/strategy.
(GB)