Union opposes training shake-up
BECTU wants Skillset to remain the audio-visual industry's lead training body.
The union's comment came after a government consultation paper on National Training Organisations (NTOs) suggested that organisations covering smaller workforces could forced to merge.
In a paper called "Building a stronger network" about the future of the UK's 73 NTOs, the Department for Education and Employment called for comments on the viability of organisations representing sectors with less than 500,000 employees, including Skillset.
Read union response to consultation.
According to the DfEE, NTOs of this size were "unlikely to have the resource and influence to deal effectively with major bodies", and could be candidates for merger. In the case of Skillset, this might mean a takeover by a super-NTO covering the entire Media, Culture, and Hospitality sector - a prospect that BECTU condemned.
Skillset, supported by unions and employers in the broadcast, film, and video industry, was commended by BECTU as "extremely effective", with a sound record of securing investment for workers in the sector.
A key factor in the success of Skillset, according to BECTU, was the involvement at senior level of representatives from all sides of the industry - union appointees sit alongside media executives from board level downwards, creating a climate of trust and cooperation. The union believes that weaker NTOs in other sectors should look at their structures rather than their size.
BECTU is currently involved in several Skillset projects, including the FT2 training scheme for new entrants, Skillsbase, a joint programme for training needs assesment, and SkillsforMedia.com, a ground-breaking online training service due to launch later this month.
Its performance in researching and forecasting skills needs, a key function of NTOs, had won praise throughout the sector, said BECTU, and compared extremely well with another NTO, Metier, which covers the Arts and Entertainment sector.
If a super-NTO were created, Skillset would be subsumed in a body which included not just Metier, but other organisations ranging from the media through to hotel management.
At present many of these bodies coordinate their activities through IMPACT, a committee for training in Media, Culture, and Hospitality, but the individual NTOs remain autonomous.
On the other issues which formed part of the consultation document, BECTU was supportive of the DfEE's approach. In particular, the union approved of the three key roles defined by the ministry for NTOs. These are:
- Assessing skills needs
- Leading on the development of skills within a sector
- Reviewing progress and identifying good practice.
The union quoted the census of the audiovisual industry conducted last year by Skillset as a training activity that had been valued across the sector.