Agency consults UK industry on plan to improve employee skills

"This is the first time that the sector has had the opportunity to have a properly co-ordinated plan to boost skills in order to drive up productivity and profitability,"​ stated Improve, a government-funded agency charged with training for the food and drink industry. "So far the response to our initiatives from all parties involved has been excellent, and we are working extremely hard to ensure that the training provision is properly reformed to address the needs of employers."​

Improve said the formal master-plan to boost skills will be ready for launch in January next year. The the Sector Skills Action plan (SSA) is geared toward helping the manufacturing sector find and train employees. The plan sets out what needs to be done to alleviate "skill shortages" in the industry.

The shortage results in unfilled vacancies, and "skill gaps", which prevent existing employees from fulfilling their potential, Improve stated in announcing the plan.

The plan falls under an agreement between employers, the government, partner organisations and Improve to meet the priority skill needs of the sector. The overall aim is to drive improved business performance.

The UK's food and drink industry has one of the most poorly qualified workforces in the UK, according to Improve. About 19 per cent of the sectors workforce has no qualifications, compared to the average of 11 per cent for the total UK workforce. One third of staff in the processing sector have no qualifications at all.

In addition there is a significant under-representation of females to males. Males make up two-thirds of the sector's workforce compared to the national average where males make up a little over a half of the entire UK workforce.

Last year Improve created created an accredited system to help employers check the qualifications of potential employees. The "Green Card" system provides employees with a record of the accredited training they have taken in the industry.

The UK'S food and drink manufacturing sector employs somewhere between 500,000 and 900,000 staff, or about 1.6 per cent f the total UK workforce.

Improve was established in July 2004 by the Skills for Business Network and is sponsored by the UK's department for learning and skills.