Skills
North West Employers is committed to helping North West local authorities improve the skills of their workforces.
The North West has a strong and proactive group of regional partners, working together as the Regional Skills Steering Group, which has been active in developing a strategy to deliver the following strategic objective:
"To raise the demand amongst Local Authority employers to take a more proactive, sustained and strategic approach to enhancing workplace Skills (including Skills for Life).”
To help achieve this objective, the North West Local Government Skills Award was launched at the annual North West Skills Celebration Event on Tuesday, 30 June 2009. It provides a framework to support authorities in delivering their Skills Pledge objectives, bringing Skills for Life activity alongside the full range of an authority’s skills development work in one review process.
Nationally, the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) plans that the national GO Award and Skills Pledge will follow to this new framework.
Regionally Bolton, Bury, Knowsley and Salford are the first authorities to achieve the Skills Award and the input of all four authorities during the development and piloting of the Award, as well as that of the assessors, Alison Brierley and Julie Mooney, has been invaluable in helping to shape the criteria and the assessment framework.
In the coming months North West Employers will work closely with authorities who have previously achieved the GO Award, to help them gain recognition for their skills development work in line with the new Award and all new sign-ups will automatically be supported through the Skills Award framework.
Another exciting development is Skills Net, North West Employers’ online tool, based around the Skills Award criteria, which will provide support and guidance in addressing all aspects of the Skills Award, as well as the facility to build portfolios and action plans electronically.
If you would like more information about how to sign up to the new Award, access to Skills Net, or advice on anything related to the Skills agenda, please contact Skills.