8 February
2010
Semta and Cogent agree skills
partnership to simplify support for manufacturing, process and
nuclear employers
Sector Skills Councils Semta and Cogent today
announced a strategic Partnership Agreement to improve support to
employers in their sectors by collaborating on common areas of
research, on science and technology skills and qualification
development.
As Sector Skills Councils they are responsible
for representing employers in engineering, and process
industry manufacturing and the nuclear industry and they have
responsibility for leading on skills to make these industries
more competitive.
Semta works with employers in Aerospace,
Automotive, Bioscience, Electrical, Electronics, Maintenance,
Marine, Mathematics, Mechanical, Metals and Engineered Metal
Products and Science. Cogent works with the, Chemicals,
Pharmaceuticals, Nuclear, Oil and Gas, Polymer and Petroleum
Industries. Both have National Skills Academies who already
collaborate on the development of training programmes, assessors
and trainers.
There is natural cross-over between Semta and
Cogent employers particularly in new and emerging industries, in
the application of technology in bio-science and advanced materials
which will demand the very highest skills.
Collaboration on research
:
- To make support for employers more efficient
in shared areas of interest, Semta and Cogent will work together on
researching employers’ skills needs and ensuring the right
qualifications and training provision is in place to meet those
needs.
- They will produce joint strategies on driving
up science technology engineering and maths (STEM) subject take-up
and influencing Higher Education on behalf of employers.
Joint standards and qualification
development:
- Both Sector Skills Councils will jointly
develop standards and qualifications that underpin workforce
development, and will collaborate where common skills are required
within a workforce such as lab technicians.
Philip Whiteman, Chief Executive of Semta,
said: “We are committed to creating a simplified skills
landscape to make the entire process of identifying and tackling
skills shortages easier for employers, stakeholders and government.
As leading sector skills councils, who represent employers across
the engineering and process industry manufacturing sectors, Semta
and Cogent are ideally placed to deliver collaborative solutions
for employers.”
Cogent Chief Executive Joanna Woolf described
the working relationship: “A joint forum will be established to
efficiently manage the areas of interdependency between Semta and
Cogent, which will eliminate repetition and ensure better use of
resources and greater understanding of employers’ need.”
The Chairmen and Chief Executives of Semta and
Cogent will meet quarterly to review the Partnership Agreement, and
both will appoint a Director to be responsible for the delivery of
the Agreement.