Proskills gets go-ahead for employer-led skills academy

05 March 2009

Business

Proskills has been given the green light to establish an employer-led National Skills Academy (NSA) after months of negotiations.

Last September, Proskills had its bid deferred following "constructive feedback" from the Learning Skills Council (LSC).

The sector skills council, which represents the print industry, among other industries, will now set up a network of regional representatives who will provide an impartial ‘one-stop-shop’ for training.

The Proskills NSA will join 11 existing schemes of its type and, although overseen by Proskills, it will be a separate entity, with 11 new staff members expected to run it.

Printers can use the academy as a route to accessing the government's £62m training fund, which will be funded through the LSC. Proskills said that the way in which the academy will function will cut bureaucracy when it comes to accessing this funding.

Richard Bloxam, head of marketing and communications at Proskills, said: "The business plan for the academy is about step change in improving the industry's skills and the government's backing shows that it is listening to the needs of print and our other sectors.

"We will be listening closely to employer's feedback to ensure that the best training possible is being provided and, if there is a gap in the market for a particular type of training, we will look seriously at how to provide it.

"Going forward, there's no point repeating existing structures. The academy will be a one-stop-shop for printers to provide all their training needs. It will take a business approach to training so a company can get impartial advice, bespoke to their business with training from quality assured providers."

The funding can be accessed by all Proskills' industries, which include building products, coatings, extractives and glass, although print is the largest of these.