Putting employers in the driving seat

Declan Swan welcomes Sector Skills Councils as a new start for training.

In March 2002, National Training Organisations (NTOs) will no longer be recognised. In their place will be Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). It is great news for the hospitality sector but requires a word of explanation. SSCs are the natural successors to NTOs. They will be fewer in number and, as a result, will have more power and bigger budgets, giving them the potential to be more effective.

The hospitality industry's SSC will build on what employers and trade bodies have already achieved through the work of its NTO, the Hospitality Training Foundation (HTF).

The SSC will ensure our industry has greater resources behind it, giving us a stronger voice in government. The move will also mean employers will have the chance to work closely with employers from related industries on training and workforce development.

The progression to Sector Skills Councils can be tracked back to the Industry Training Boards (ITBs) of the 1970s and 1980s. Ours was the Hotel and Catering Industry Training Board (HCITB).

ITBs were funded mostly by government, the rest coming from a levy on employers based on the number of staff, with an exemption for smaller businesses. This funding structure led to apathy on the part of some employers - once they had paid their dues, they could forget about training.

For others, it meant resentment and frustration. They had paid the levy, but this did not give them the right to influence ITB activity - although the HCITB was more enlightened in that it aimed to work with employers.

The government gradually withdrew its funding of ITBs in the 1980s and they either folded or, as in the case of the HCITB, became companies funded by commercial activity.

However, labour issues in the 1990s prompted a change of heart. The Hospitality Training Foundation was created in 1998 with renewed government funding.

We have seen our role as engaging employers from all corners of the hospitality industry. The skills shortage has made recruitment and training a topical and relevant issue. Whereas 20 years ago, employers may have felt excluded, they are now active participants in training.

The advent of the SSCs takes this a step further by putting employers more firmly in the driving seat. SSCs will be powerful alliances of employers, with greater ability to influence schools, colleges and higher education and an extra £1m a year for each sector from the Department for Education and Skills.

We welcome the Government's commitment to a sector skills approach. We are confident that the HTF will play an important part in the future and we look forward with enthusiasm to the opportunities this development will bring.

Declan Swan is the director of the Hospitality Training Foundation, National Training Organisation