The Alliance of Sector Skills Councils has identified six key areas where Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) can contribute to ensuring a more productive and competitive workforce in the UK, in a manifesto launched today.

The manifesto calls on all parties to support SSCs in the following areas:


1.    place employers at the heart of the skills system

2.    support employers to drive a simplified, flexible, responsive and collaborative skills system

3.    support SSCs to meet the needs of all UK employers

4.    ensure skills policy and strategy are based on sector analysis and understanding of the jobs market  

5.     ensure UK qualification strategies are shaped to reflect employers’ needs 

6.    ensure all development and delivery of skills, training and learning is demand-led 

John McNamara, chief executive of the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils, says: “The six areas identified in the manifesto are vital in the context of global competitiveness and ensuring the skills needs of employers across the UK are met. It is increasingly important that SSCs are supported in putting employers at the heart of the skills system. This manifesto sets out the underlying principles governments and policy makers should take note of. The manifesto establishes a mature and proactive approach from SSCs – one that is collaborative, flexible and based on the sector analysis and understanding of the labour market.”