Skills Utilisation Leadership Group
An informal dinner with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, some business leaders, the STUC and stakeholder representatives took place on 27 May 2008. The dinner participants now constitute the Skills Utilisation Leadership Group, which is chaired by Ms Hyslop.
The remit of the Leadership Group is to :
- help raise awareness of how the best use of skills in the workplace can have wide ranging benefits for employers (private, public and voluntary), employees and the Scottish economy;
- contribute to the development of a programme of research, including where appropriate member organisations commissioning and co-ordinating research; and
- make recommendations to government, public bodies, employers and unions for further action, including where appropriate member organisations pursuing identified actions.
In addition, the role of individual members is to champion the skills utilisation agenda in their own organisations and beyond.
The members of the Leadership Group are:
| Fiona Hyslop MSP (Chair) | Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning |
|---|
| Stephen Boyd | Scottish Trades Union Congress |
| Brendan Dick | BT Scotland |
| Mary Grant | First Scotrail |
| Dr Janet Lowe | Scottish Funding Council |
| Martin Sime | Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations |
| Colin McAllister | Scottish Government |
| Raymond O'Hare | Microsoft Scotland |
| Willy Roe | Skills Development Scotland |
| Grahame Smith | Scottish Trades Union Congress |
| Graeme Waddell | Formerly of Rolls Royce |
| Rosemary Winter-Scott | Scottish Government |
| Col Baird (Secretariat) | Scottish Government |
| Euan Dick (Secretariat) | Scottish Government |
| Michael Davis (Facilitator) | Centre for Enterprise |
The Leadership Group has also approved this statement on its approach to effective skills utilisation in Scotland.
Leadership Group Meeting - 1 September 2008
The first formal meeting of the Leadership Group took place on 1 September 2008. Papers for the meeting are as follows:
Leadership Group Meeting - 19 November 2008
The second meeting of the Leadership Group was held on 19 November 2008. The papers are as follows:
Research
Making Skills Work for Scotland Conference
On 22 April 2008, the Scottish Government hosted the 'Making Skills Work for Scotland' conference. This conference aimed to communicate the significant changes affecting the Scottish skills system, including the creation of Skills Development Scotland, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils. Delegates were also invited to help the Scottish Government develop its thinking on skills utilisation and skills intervention, by participating in workshops dedicated to these issues.
The conference was well attended with 190 senior figures from the employment and skills system in Scotland in attendance on the day. The keynote speeches from Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning; Chris Humphries, Chief Executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills; and Dr Janet Lowe, Chair of the Scottish Funding Council's Skills Committee were all well received, as were the other speakers. We have received excellent feedback from delegates who felt this was an informative day. The conference report should be available by the end of May and will be distributed to all delegates, and anyone else with an interest in skills development in Scotland. Presentations and the Collaborative Agreement are available by clicking on the links below.
During the event Sue Pinder, Convenor of Scotland's Colleges Principals' Forum and Jack Matthews, Chair of the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils signed a Collaboration Agreement, which sets out how colleges and Sector Skills Council's will work together.
- Collaboration Agreement Between the Alliance of SSCs and Scotland's Colleges
- Chris Humphries, Speech - Chief Executive, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
- Dr Janet Lowe, Speech - Chair, Scottish Funding Council's Skills Committee
- Michael Davis, Introduction to Workshop 1 - Managing Director of Centre for Enterprise
- Marie Burns, Introduction to Workshop 2 - Director of Skills Interventions, SDS
- Geoff Fieldsend, Presentation - Director of Qualifications, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
- Dr Janet Brown, Speech - Chief Executive, Scottish Qualifications Authority
- Aileen Ponton, Speech - Chief Executive, SCQF Partnership
Ewart Keep Article
Read Professor Ewart Keep's article on the Skills Strategy published in the Sunday Herald on 16 March 2008;
The Big Skills Fix
And read Professor Keep's Expert Briefing for Futureskills Scotland, Key Labour Market and Skills Issues in Scotland (and beyond),here.
Futureskills Scotland Conference
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, launched Futureskills Scotland's conference on 4th March. Sir Michael Rake, the Chair of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills also provided a keynote speech.
Conference workshops included presentations by acknowledged labour market experts on a range of issues, followed by a discussion and debate:
- Professor Ewart Keep (SKOPE) - Employers' use of recruitment and selection as a method of skills acquisition
- Michael Davis (CfE) - Fishing in the footnotes
- Professor Alan Felstead (University of Cardiff) - Up-skilling Scottish Jobs: what do the 1997-2006 skills surveys tell us?
- Professor Chris Warhurst (SCER) - Low wage work: here to stay?
- Professor David Bell (University of Stirling) - Labour market flows in Scotland
More information on the conference, including copies of the speakers' presentation slides, expert briefings and research series reports can be found here.