Welcome to the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils.

The Alliance is an organisation  comprising all licensed UK Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), the employer-driven organisations that together articulate the voice of the employers of around 90% of the UK's workforce on skills issues. Its core purpose is to:

  • Act as the collective voice of the SSCs
  • Promote understanding of the role of SSCs within the skills system across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Co-ordinate policy positions and strategic work on skills with stakeholders across the four home nations
  • Help build the performance capability of the SSCs to ensure they continue to work effectively on the employer-driven skills agenda
  • Sector Skills Councils are unique:
                   Uniquely independent and employer-led
                   Uniquely UK-wide, covering 90% of the workforce
                   Uniquely able to respond to real industry needs
                   Uniquely supported by all major political parties
  • SSCs are unique in the world, increasingly emulated by other countries moving to a more demand-led system of workforce training and skills

Latest Publications

Alliance response to the Low Carbon Consultation (July 2010)
The Alliance of Sector Skills Councils welcomed the opportunity to respond to the Government's consultation 'Meeting the Low Carbon Challenge'.

SSA and Cluster Reports
Sector Skills Assessments and Cluster Reports are now available.  Click this heading to access them.

Alliance Manifesto 2010 (March 2010)
Defining six key areas where Sector Skills Councils can contribute significantly to ensuring a more productive and competitive workforce in the UK.

Baker Tilly Economic Impact Report
This Baker Tilly report evaluates the impact of Sector Skills Councils.

Alliance Skills Monitor (October 2009)
Wave 1, October '09, of the new Skills Monitor from the Alliance.  Reporting on trends in the skills landscape  

Working Together as One Voice. Alliance Strategic Plan 2009/12 (October 2009)
As a relatively new organisation the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils outlines its strategic direction 2009/12, describing its 5 major objectives. 

Sector Skills Councils Speaking for UK Employers (2009)
This brochure describes what Sector Skills Councils are, why they are important and the very real impact they have on the development of skills in the UK.

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CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to the coalition Government on its election, and to all the new Members of Parliament.  We wish the new Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg well. The Alliance looks forward to working with the Government in developing policy to ensure employers have the skills needed for a sustained economic recovery across the whole UK economy. 

We look forward to meeting with Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, and the new skills Minister, John Hayes, to ensure increasing involvement of employers through a demand-led sectoral approach for the benefit of the whole UK economy. 

The Alliance UK wide manifesto sets out where we stand at a high level regarding the skills system. To achieve the change needed to make the skills system truly demand-led we want the government to fully support Sector Skills Councils in the following areas:

  1. Put employers at the heart of the skills system.
  2. Support employers to drive a simplified skills system that is flexible, responsive and collaborative.
  3. Support Sector Skills Councils to meet the needs of employers no matter what the sector, size or location in the UK.
  4. Ensure skills policy and strategy are based on sectoral analysis and understanding of the labour market.
  5. Ensure UK qualification strategies are shaped to meet the needs of employers.
  6. Ensure all development and delivery of training and learning is demand-led.

        Alliance Manifesto 2010

 Alliance 2011 UK Conference

Wednesday 23rd November 2011

Aston Villa Football Club Villa Park, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom

Watch this space for further information