Food manufacturing Sector Skills Councils is relicensed
The Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the food and beverage manufacturing industries is among four such councils to have been relicensed. The announcement that a further licence for Improve Ltd – the SSC for food and drink manufacturing and processing – to operate as an SSC came yesterday (15 October) from Business, Innovation and Skills Secretary Lord Mandelson.
The announcement said that Improve had gone through a comprehensive assessment process led by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
The SSC's were established as employer-led bodies to enable employers to exert influence on the UK's education and skills systems to ensure they meet their needs.
Angela Coleshill, HR Director of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said the decision was a vote of confidence for Improve's past achievements and plans for the future. The industry generally was trying to strengthen its workforce's basic management skills, and IT skills.
The other SSC's to have applied successful for re-licensing are Skills for Health, SkillsActive (active leisure and learning) and Skills for Justice (policing & law enforcement, etc). The position of a fifth SSC, Skills for Care and Development, was "the subject of further work".
