AQW 53727/11-16

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 02/02/2016
Answered On Date: 15/02/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning how he is encouraging the involvement of local industries and businesses with (i) schools; (ii) further education colleges; (iii) universities; and (iv) recruitment agencies as part of a long-term strategy to identify and address skills shortage.

Answer:

Employer engagement is at the heart of my Department’s approach to ensuring that a workforce with the right skills for the future economic success of Northern Ireland is developed.

My Department’s main source of information on emerging skills needs is the Skills Barometer, which was developed in conjunction with Ulster University. This provides detailed forecasts of the skill requirements for the Northern Ireland economy up to 2025. It includes an analysis of job growth, examination of the changing skills mix and a detailed review into the demand and the supply of skills for our economy, highlighting potential imbalances.

The forecasts within the model are based on a high growth assumption, which has identified an aspirational level of economic and employment growth, including the potential impact of a lower Corporation Tax rate in Northern Ireland. This scenario was adopted as planning will be essential if we are to achieve our economic ambitions of higher economic growth and improved prosperity.

The tool clearly highlights that there will be a strong need in our economy for people with intermediate and graduate level skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) related subjects. There will be growth opportunities for all skills levels across a range of sectors; however the focus will be predominately on higher level skills. It also identifies a strong emphasis on developing employability skills in order to secure employment.

Partnership working with industry is key to identifying and addressing our skills needs. To this end, I have established a number of industry working groups, with a focus on priority sectors. These groups bring together business, academia and government and have developed action plans, through which specific sectoral skills issues are being addressed. The ICT Action Plan, for example, includes the employer led ‘Bring IT On’ campaign which aims to: improve the image of the ICT sector; to encourage individuals to consider the sector as a viable career option; and to encourage the workforce to seek skills in the areas required to pursue a career in ICT. As part of this year's programme the IT Industry will directly engage with over 150 secondary schools and 15 primary schools.

While the main responsibility for linkages between schools and business lies within the remit of the Department of Education, Minister O’Dowd and I have worked together to establish the Careers Advisory Forum, which includes representatives from business, education and other key stakeholders. Part of the Forum's remit is to facilitate engagement between employers, educators and other stakeholders, and to improve employer links with schools at a local level.

My Department is also developing a work experience system which will improve access to placement opportunities for all young people, highlighting areas where we anticipate employment growth, and provide a platform for employers to promote their sectors.

In terms of encouraging the involvement of local industries and businesses with further education colleges, the six further education colleges play an important role in engaging with local industries and businesses to address skills needs through the delivery of the Employer Support Programme across Northern Ireland.

The Employer Support Programme is a skills development programme consisting of two strands; Skills Focus, which aims to increase the skills levels and employability of a business’s existing workforce to qualifications at level 2 and above; and InnovateUs which delivers the skills necessary to engage in innovation activity.

In delivering the Employer Support Programme, colleges focus on engaging directly with and providing support to employers through identifying future skills needs, in collaboration with employers/skills groups, and being both proactive and reactive to employer skills needs in order to provide tailored skills provision.

From a university perspective, the Northern Ireland Higher Education Innovation Fund (NI HEIF) provides the core, underpinning funding for the universities’ business and community engagement activities. NI HEIF is complemented by 'Connected' - a 'unique to Northern Ireland' programme which promotes collaborative working right across the higher and further education sectors enabling universities and colleges to collectively provide a “one-stop-shop” for companies wishing to access technology and knowledge capital, taking them right through the whole process from problem definition through to solution identification and implementation.

In addition to the study options offered by further and higher education, my Department offers a range of skills pathways developed in conjunction with industry to deliver on identified skills needs.

‘Securing Our Success’, the new Northern Ireland Strategy on Apprenticeships, puts employers at the heart of a new Apprenticeship system, and I have established an interim Strategic Advisory Forum, comprised of employers, trade unions, providers of off-the-job training and other key stakeholders, to provide advice on key issues concerning implementation of the new strategy. In addition Sectoral Partnerships have been established to involve employers, employer representatives and curriculum experts from the further and higher education sectors in the design and provision of apprenticeships to ensure the needs of employers are met.

The Department’s Assured Skills programme is another area in which employer involvement is key. The programme is designed to help attract new foreign direct investment companies to Northern Ireland by assuring them that the skills they need to be successful are available in Northern Ireland. Assured Skills support is also available to encourage existing companies who are considering expansion.

Working with business to identify skills needs, a structured mechanism exists for collaboration between further education, higher education, InvestNI and the Department through the Assured Skills programme to design and deliver bespoke training programmes tailored to meet the needs of the individual companies. Through this collaboration, our colleges and universities are gaining direct industry experience, providing bespoke training, and thus making changes to the curriculum.

The Collaborative Skills Change Fund programme provides short term pre-employment training solutions to skills shortages. In the creative sector, for example, the Animation Academy and the Game Development Academy were developed in conjunction with employers, Northern Ireland Screen and colleges. Each Academy offered 16 participants the opportunity to uptake employment in their respective areas.

The higher education institutions also work collaboratively with employers. For example, the University of Ulster has worked with CME, Citi and SR Labs to develop and deliver a financial services academy for 13 participants. The programme will continue to work with employers and academia to meet the skills needs of local employers in Northern Ireland

Following the recent ‘Fresh Start’ agreement, announced on 17 November 2015, which will see the devolution of Corporation Tax powers, a need now exists for speculative training to meet the anticipated demand in skills from employers. The devolution of Corporation Tax powers will change the landscape for business growth and employment and will greatly enhance Northern Ireland’s ability to attract foreign direct investment and enable indigenous companies to re-invest savings back into their businesses.

Speculative Training will be used as an Assured Skills tool to assist in the delivery of a lower rate of Corporation Tax to employers. Research that is currently underway is considering which sectors speculative training should focus on and also how the training should be delivered.

Finally, the Department’s Employment Service has an essential role in working with local industries and employers to help them find the people with the right skills for their business. The Department does not, however, deal directly with recruitment agencies.

I trust that my response demonstrates the value I place on ensuring that partnership working with business is integral to my Department’s work in ensuring the appropriate skills for our economy both now and in the future.