Financial Services Skills Council Skills Bill

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Financial Services Skills CouncilSkills Bill

• Bill Hibberd
• Regional Manager covering for Heather Radley

16 March 2007
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Who We Are

• Licenced by DfES
• Established 2004
• Membership body
• Independent employer lead
• -co-ordinate improvements in the sector's skills
  base -raise productivity and -improve
  business performance. 

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FSSC Vision Statement Mission

• Mission Statement
• To work with the financial services industry
  and stakeholders to develop the skills needed for
  continuous improvements in business performance

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Key Stakeholders
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Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs)

• What are they?
• All Sector Skills Councils will work closely with
  their industry through an 18mth research
  programme designed to
• assess skills and training issues
• develop solutions
• deliver an action plan
• to meet priority skills needs that will drive
  business performance.

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Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs) cont.

• Process developed through five stages
• Assessment of current and future skill needs
• Assessment of current provision
• Analysis of gaps and weaknesses
• Agreeing actions with employers and stakeholders
• Development of an action plan agreed between
  employers, the skills council and stakeholders

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Stage One Assess current and future skills needs

• This initial stage reviewed current research
  (e.g. National Employer Skills Survey etc.) and
  requires further in-depth research with
  employers
• Online questionnaire
• Employer forums throughout the UK
• Select number of one to one interviews

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Key themes from Stage 1
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Causes of Skills Shortages
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Shortages of new entrants by region
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Shortage of new entrants by industry
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Major Skills gaps
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Demand for types of training
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Satisfaction with training provision
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Stage Two Assess training provision

• Focused on the education and training provision
  available, and used, within the industry.
• What forms/type of training employers found most
  effective?
• Who receives the training managers or lower
  level staff,
• Was the training mainly focused on industry
  knowledge or soft skills/personal development?

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Key Themes from Stage 2
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Qualification Levels in Financial Services

• Changes Over Last 10 Years

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Stage 2 Key Results

• Qualifications in detail
• Regional Analysis Unreliable
• Almost 80 of the workforce hold an academic
  qualification all UK 55
• Approximately 6 of the workforce hold a
  vocational qualification all UK 10
• 1 hold apprenticeships all UK 6
• These are mainly accounts clerks and customer
  service staff

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Stage 2 Key Results

• Internal external mechanisms used
• Internal
• 77 use on-the-job/ad-hoc training (82 UK)
• 63 use in-house trainers/training (76 UK)
• External
• 79 use external training provider (66 UK)
• 63 use professional qualifications (63 UK)

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Training Provision

• Higher Education
• Around 70 pure financial services courses in
  the UK of which 57 are based in London
• 1,418 people graduated with pure financial
  services degrees in 2004/05
• 43 of them (610) entered financial services
• Overall, 5 of all graduates (13,000) entered the
  sector

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Training Provision

• of New Graduates Gaining Employment in
  Financial Services Sector

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Training provision

• Further Education
• Very low activity, linked to low level of
  Vocational qualifications
• Vocational Qualifications/Apprenticeship
• Low apprenticeship participation
• 31 Vocationally Related Qualifications
• Professional body principle are awarding bodies
  of these VRQs
• External Provision
• No evidence of shortage

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What happens next? (1)

• Stage 3 of SSA commences January 2007
• Will undertake mapping gapping
• Will develop Scenarios and themes for future
  action
• Will Consult with Employers (Feb 07)
• Stakeholder Consultation (Feb March 07)

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Sector Skills Agreement Stage 3

• Analysis of gaps and weaknesses
• Stage 1 has looked into what employers need,
  Stage 2 has looked into what is available
• Stage 3 highlights what is missing
• However, there is still a need to consult with
  employers and make sure your priorities are
  reflected
• And it is important to begin discussing possible
  solutions to assess what is useful and realistic.
  

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The Sector in the North West

• The North West accounts for 7 of all financial
  services output in the UK, and 10 of all
  employment
• Around 40 of the FS workforce work in higher
  concentration areas in Manchester, Chester,
  Stockport and Macclesfield
• Though employment has grown faster than the UK
  average in recent years, output has not
• Almost 1100 new jobs will be created per year
  until 2010 -and another 4000 retirees will have
  to be replaced annually.

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Stage 1 Key findings

• The labour market has not kept up with employment
  growth in the region hence the drop in GVA per
  person
• Both skills gaps and shortages are above UK
  average levels
• The region is facing difficulties retaining
  skilled technical staff shortages are higher
  than the UK and English average
• Retail banking and credit, finance and leasing
  are relatively worse-off, while third party
  administration is least threatened.

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What happens next? (2)

• Stage 4 Agreeing Actions with Employers (April
  07)
• Stage 5 Development of Costed Action Plan with
  Employers Stakeholders (May/June 07)
• SSA Publication (June/July 07)

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Foundation Degree Framework
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Apprenticeships
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Deliveries - Diploma

• (14-19) Diploma in Business, Finance
  Administration
• Delivery by 2009
• FSSC leading the development with Employers
• To better prepare young people for work
• Aims to be true integration of academic applied
  learning
• Looking for innovative approaches to the
  work-related elements of the Diploma

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Regional news NW

• Academy
• Most advanced region with 3 providers signed
• Oldham College
• Manchester Solutions
• FTC Kaplan

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Developments Running in Parallel

• Graduate Skills Recruitment Report
• UK Financial Services 5 Years Forward
• Foundation Degree Framework
• Diploma in Business, Administration, and Finance
• National Skills Academy

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• Thank You