PGC NTO chief executive Richard Beamish said a high response rate was very important. The government is looking for a clear mandate from employers, he added.

The survey, the largest ever undertaken by the PGC NTO, has been sent to 3,000 print employers and 2,000 photo imaging sector employers, plus the GPMU, training providers and trade associations. It is being sent randomly in terms of company type and size but with an even geographic spread across the UK.

But employers that havent been targeted with the printed survey are welcome to answer the questions on the PGC NTO website, www.pgcnto.org.

Respondents must have completed and returned their surveys by 15 March, and Beamish said a reminder would be issued in a weeks time.

The PGC NTO earlier this year lost out in its joint bid to become a Trailblazer SSC with the Photo Imaging NTO because they represented too small a sector, even when combined (PrintWeek, 25 January).

The government is replacing the existing network of 71 NTOs with a smaller number of SSCs. If the printing industry is unable to gather enough support to gain its own SSC, the Sector Skills Development Agency, a new quango, will oversee training for the industry.

The PGC NTO must complete its work on the survey by the end of March before its support funding runs out.

Story by Gordon Carson