The fruits of all our labour

Food and drink sector skills council Improve's pitch for government funding is nearing its end as the organisation celebrates its fifth birthday. While for many funding prospects are bleak, with budgets being slashed to ribbons, in this instance, optimism prevails.

Chief executive Jack Matthews says Improve has laid the groundwork for turning the skills shortage in the industry around.

First, the research informing its future training and skills strategy is complete, he says. "The work Improve has done will deliver the most detailed market intelligence the food industry has ever had. It has allowed us to deliver the first cross-sector skills action plan for the food industry."

Training up existing staff through the National Skills Academy (NSA), Improve's delivery arm, which is near the end of its development and close to self-funding, is key to that plan. It will ensure the food and drink talent pool is self-sustainable, says Matthews.

One of NSA's biggest initiatives has been creating training provider networks in the devolved nations and English regions and expanding the network of employer steering groups working with these networks.

Networks have been set up for meat and poultry, bakery and confectionery, seafood, fresh produce, dairy and drinks bottling, with more to come.

The steering groups have been providing input into course content tailored to the sectors they cover as well as pooling information on existing useful courses.

Then there's the progress on adult apprenticeships, with Improve securing 50% government funding for apprentices in their first year. "There are 950 apprentices in the food industry in England," said Matthews. "When we came into being there were 400, so we have doubled numbers and aim to double them again in the next five years. There are now 417 adult apprenticeship places in Scotland alone."

As part of wider qualifications reform under the Qualifications and Credit Framework, Improve has overseen the creation of a package of food manufacturing qualifications. It provides the paths for National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications in Food Manufacture, with courses ranging from meat and poultry processing to production control.

"We have a new suite of food based skills and qualifications, so staff can move up the value chain in terms of roles and jobs," says Matthews. "The key thing is they are identified by employers, developed by employers and delivered by employers."

Through the NSA, Improve is now pushing through the government's Train to Gain programme for funding for training to be shifted from a full qualification approach to a modular, short course system. Employees could then fit studies around work time to achieve a practical, respected qualification, enabling firms and staff to engage in bespoke, rather than overly general, training.

"We're negotiating with the Learning & Skills Council," says Matthews. "By transferring funding from a full qualification approach to a short course approach, we will end up with the same level of skills."

By September, Improve hopes to have established 1,000 such units as part of the Qualifications and Credits Framework and 1,400 by 2010. "We encourage employers looking to design programmes and upskill their workforce to look at these courses," says Matthews.

Improve has assigned its operations team to persuade the top 150 food and drink businesses initially to commit to the unit system. The aim is to get the rest of the industry to buy into it in the next five years.

All this addresses training, but Improve also has big plans for recruitment. It has worked extensively with industry to create the Diploma in Manufacturing and Product Design (MPD) for 14-19 year-olds, to capture schoolchildren's interest in food and drink processing.

The Diploma is set to launch in September, with 34 consortia of employers and training providers, including two to 10 schools in each, promoting it in their regions. The NSA aims for 54 consortia by September 2010, with national bodies such as Improve and the Food and Drink Federation co-ordinating that process.

The main content and awarding bodies for the Diploma are set. The second component - specialist and additional learning - is still evolving, as is the final aspect of the Diploma - extended projects.

Derek Jones, Improve vocational programmes leader and head of the MPD programme, is urging food and drink processors to provide ideas for these projects. He says it's vital that companies from different food and drink sectors engage more collectively in the development process. "At present the sector is too fragmented."

Simultaneously, Improve is devising a proposal for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to fund a scheme advising workers from other industries how to transfer their skills to food processing. That's particularly relevant in a climate in which a lot of them are being laid off. Prospective recruits could access these skills pathways through Improve's website and Jobcentre Plus, the government agency dedicated to helping those on welfare back into work and filling employers' vacancies.

Matthews estimates a notional figure of 2,500 people on Job Seekers' Allowance would cost the exchequer £2.4M, not to mention the additional commercial costs involved in making them redundant. However, he says retraining costs would be £1.1-1.2M, so providing government funding in this area makes sense. "For those 2,500 you would be saving more than £1M."

He also foresees a stampede for retraining opportunities, "because people would be preparing to join a sector that's recruiting"

Improve has been so successful in meeting its remit, it is now exploring widening it to include the whole of the food supply chain, with government backing. It is now best placed to open the throttle and power down the open road, argues Matthews.

"Our re-licensing will start in July and our campaign of engagement will start shortly thereafter - we have started now, but the marketing will run from September." FM