Lifelong Learning UK - Edinburgh Launch - 16/11/2005
Scotland's enterprise economy is banking on Lifelong Learning UK to help ensure employees gain new skills and increase job opportunities for young people who are not in training or work, Scottish deputy minister for enterprise and lifelong learning, Allan Wilson told employers at the recent Edinburgh launch of LLUK.
Addressing more than one hundred guests at the Scottish Parliament, he described LLUK as "arguably the most important" of all 25 sector skills councils.
"We recognise the importance of skills to our growing economy," said the deputy minister. "Those that train the trainers and teach the teachers have a vital role to play."
Allan Wilson argued that Scotland had set the agenda for the rest of the UK by introducing an integrated credit and qualifications framework and merging its funding councils for further and higher education.
"The work that SSCs do to raise skill levels is vital to us," he added. "Scotland has a wealth of talent but it must be harnessed to the best effect. It's essential that LLUK understands everybody's needs so that new solutions can be found to meet changing demands and flexible work patterns."
An estimated 84,000 people work in lifelong learning in Scotland - 4 per cent of the entire workforce. LLUK's priorities in the country include helping employers reduce the number of 16-19 year olds who are not in work or receiving training, and helping to retrain older workers who were employed in more traditional industries and are seeking new jobs.
Speaking at the launch, David Hunter, LLUK's chief executive said the new sector skills council would recognise the specific needs of learning professionals in Scotland while taking advantage of best practice from throughout the UK.
"We are committed to helping all staff, whether they work full or part-time, to participate in initial training and continuing professional development," he said. "This is not just as an end in itself, but a recognition of the knock-on effect that it will have on the wider workforce."
John Hedger, chair of LLUK, said the sector skills council would encourage greater mobility within the sector so that more people can switch jobs and build careers within lifelong learning.
Strategic partnership agreements signed by LLUK with the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Funding Councils for Further and Higher Education demonstrated the importance attached to raising skill levels and making the economy more competitive.
"Employers are looking to the lifelong learning sector to help them tackle skill needs and skills gaps and shortages," he added.
Christine Fitton, LLUK's national performance manager in Scotland, said employers in the lifelong learning sector were keen to receive more robust workforce data that would enable them to develop their own staff in ways that would meet the needs of the wider economy.
Another priority was to develop the collaboration between different parts of the lifelong learning sector and increase the take-up of its training services by employers.
"We have to look and see how we can improve the quality of what we offer so that lifelong learning becomes embedded in Scotland," she added.
Sector Skills Development Agency