The skills utilisation workshop initially planned for December took place on 3 March 2011. Members engaged with the project leaders of two of the projects (those led by Glasgow School of Art and the Open University) and heard preliminary findings from the research study being undertaken by SKOPE). The Committee was very positive about what had been achieved so far with fairly little resource. The discussions and the key outputs from a number of projects are being fed into a report, which the Committee will consider at its next meeting in May. We will publish this shortly after the meeting.
Outcomes of the 2011-12 funding settlement for SDS and SFC funding budgets
In the light of the Scottish Government's funding settlement for and SFC for 2011-12, the Committee considered the issues around supporting skills activity at current levels with significantly reduced funding. In these circumstances, the Committee's advice and guidance will be increasingly important to both the SDS and SFC boards. The Committee agreed that the impact of reduced public funding on the work of sector skills councils and the wider UK skills agenda be the focus of a discussion at a future meeting. It was agreed that it would be beneficial to have a member of UKCES involved in these discussions. The Committee will be mindful of the impact of reduced public funding throughout the economy and society with likely pressure points including support for small businesses and unemployed people.
You can read more about this paper here.
Patterns of Provision
Committee members received a presentation from the SFC executive which outlined the Council's work on mapping the 'pattern of provision' and the SFC's corporate plan commitment to seek a better match between learning provision and changing skills demand. It was suggested that other sources of information could also be used to inform this work such as:
- the Office of National Statistics' Inter-departmental Business Register;
- the Edinburgh Business Leadership Forum; and
- Labour Market Intelligence from Government, Industry Advisory Boards and unions.
- This work was welcomed by the Committee. Further details on this presentation can be found here.
Regional coherence
The SFC has begun a process to develop regional roles of some HEIs, to help ensure that local provision meets the needs of learners, businesses and the economy. The Council has begun refocusing the distribution of existing elements of HEI funding, which had been designated for widening access and retention to support part-time provision, on institutions that play a regional role. Moving forward, the Council is considering creating outcome agreements which specify regional participation and economic objectives for funding which would include defining the types of provision that learners and industry should reasonably expect to be delivered locally. The Committee will monitor the relevance of this work for the skills agenda.
Further details on Regional Coherence Projects can be found here.
Life Sciences
The SDS Sector Manager for Life Sciences reported on progress being made through the SDS and SFC work within the life sciences sector. She noted a positive response from the recent Scottish Life Science Employer Survey. At the moment there are no serious concerns with the supply of skills to the sector but employers voiced some concerns about the lack of work experience and employability skills amongst life-science graduates. SDS will continue to explore opportunities to promote careers in the life sciences through the Curriculum for Excellence programme. SDS and the SFC have worked closely with the sector in relation to employer engagement and will continue to do so.
More detailed information on the developments in this sector can be found here.
Energy progress report
The SFC board met on 25 February 2011 and had a positive discussion on progress with developing the skills agenda in the energy sector. They also welcomed the joint SFC/SDS Skills Investment Plan. The First Minister had strongly endorsed the plan at a launch event held on 2 March 2011 and announced SDS would receive £1 million in support of modern apprenticeships in low-carbon industries. The Committee welcomed the level of Government commitment to the SDS/SFC work in this area and noted that the SFC Executive will continue to work with colleges and universities to promote a collaborative response to the opportunities in this sector. It was also felt that activities should be extended beyond the energy sector to the wider low carbon economy.
To read the full Energy Progress Report click here.
Working with other high-participation sectors
On 9 March 2011, SDS and e-skills UK Ltd co-hosted a workshop for the ICT industry and the college sector with the aim of exchanging good practice and enabling key stakeholders in the ICT sector to come together and identify current and future skills challenges and opportunities. Senior college staff and other education stakeholders engaged with industry representatives to understand how the supply of skills meet the current and future demands placed on the sector. The agenda for the day included inputs from key employers, e-skills UK, Scotland's Colleges and Skills Development Scotland.
The timing of the workshop was pertinent as it contributed to the development of the sector's skills work-stream and allowed colleges and other appropriate parties to identify how they can work together to feed into the skills investment requirements of the industry for the future. A full report of this workshop can be gained by contacting: karen.murray@sds.co.uk
- 19 May 2011
- 18 August 2011
- 3 November 2011
- 1 March 2012
- 31 May 2012
As part of the new-look newsletter, we thought it would be helpful to give a face to our members. We will feature one member in each issue.
Professor Petra Wend PhD, FRSA
Professor Petra Wend took up her post as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh at the beginning of September 2009.
Prior to that, she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Deputy Chief Executive at Oxford Brookes University from 2005 - 2009.
Fluent in five languages, Petra has worked consistently throughout her career as an academic to cross borders, geographically and socially, in order to realise the full potential of the institutions with which she has been associated.
Professor Wend originally read Italian and French Language and Literature, and Education at the University of Münster in Germany and gained a PhD in Italian Language and Literature at Leeds University. She went on to teach German and Italian at Middlesex University, rising to senior management roles before being appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of North London, now London Metropolitan University, where she subsequently became Pro Vice Chancellor (Learning and Teaching). She joined Oxford Brookes University as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Deputy Chief Executive in 2005.
With a research background in institutional strategies underpinning successful leadership, improvements in student experience and university performance indicators, Professor Wend has a significant profile of academic publications and invited lectures. She holds a number of formal advisory roles on UK and international committees and boards. In 2008 she took part in Harvard Business School's Women's Leadership Forum, is a member of the Society of Renaissance Studies and recently became a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
Currently, she chairs Universities Scotland's (the umbrella body for all Scottish universities) Learning and Teaching Committee; she is a member of the Board of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (UK); the joint Government and Scottish Funding Council's Skills Committee and the Edinburgh Business Leadership Forum. As such she is also the Chair of its Sub-committee, the Productivity and Skills Group.
