Government welcomes new skills plan for UK Bioscience
The Rt Hon John Denham MP, Secretary of State for
Innovation, Universities and Skills, launched the UK’s first skills
plan for bioscience last night at the House of Lords.
Attended by representatives from bioscience companies and
organisations including Pfizer, the Bio Industry Association,
Novartis Vaccines, AstraZeneca, Cogent, the Association of British
Pharmaceutical Industry, GlaxoSmithKline, and Penn Pharmaceutical
Services, the event unveiled a ten-year skills action plan for the
sector.
With revenues worth £3.3bn per annum, the biosciences play a
vital role in maintaining the UK’s international competitiveness.
The Bioscience Sector Skills Agreement maps out exactly what skills
bioscience employers need to be more productive and competitive,
and how these skills will be supplied.
The agreement has been brokered by Semta, the Sector Skills
Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies,
working with a range of bioscience companies, trade associations,
government, unions, professional bodies, qualification authorities,
awarding bodies, and education/training providers.
According to research by Semta, over a quarter of bioscience
companies do not have the science skills they need in their
existing workforce. 39% of bioscience/pharmaceutical companies have
hard to fill vacancies, with 22% having skills shortages in the
science arena, five times the figure for other sectors. The Sector
Skills Agreement will help enable the sector to address this
deficit.
Main priorities identified by the Bioscience Sector Skills
Agreement include enhancing leadership and entrepreneurship,
achieving a top-quality workforce, improving the sector’s image and
attractiveness and improving employer engagement.
Specific achievements of the agreement for the sector will be
strong sector leadership at regional and national levels through
developing a pool of strategic leaders, a well-co-ordinated network
of clusters for employer engagement which shares training provision
and good practices, university short courses meeting professional
development needs, degree content being more fit-for-purpose with
increased practical activity and improved information advice and
guidance.
Speaking at the launch, John Denham said:
“This sector-wide commitment to skills will do much to enhance
the UK's position as a leading centre for research and development.
I am particularly pleased that the plan emphasises partnership
between employers and education and training providers. This will
be instrumental both in promoting the sector to young people and in
equipping graduates with high-level skills they need to contribute
to the success of our bioscience industries”.
Carolyn Mason of GlaxoSmithKline, who Chairs the Bioscience
Sector Skills Group, said: "We welcome the formal launch of the SSA
- the action plan has been developed and tested with a wide range
of employers and has the potential to make a real difference to the
skills of people working in the sector."
The Bioscience sector includes pharmaceutical companies,
businesses in medical diagnostics and equipment, and agricultural
feedstock and chemicals. Pharmaceuticals are especially identified
by the UK government as being strategically important.
Sir Alan Jones, Chair of Semta, said:
“Collectively tackling skills priorities will bring about the
step-change needed to safeguard a great future for the UK
bioscience industry. Commitment to implementing the Sector Skills
Agreement is crucial. We look forward to working with partners
across the UK: the Department for Innovation, Universities and
Skills, the new Commission for Employment and Skills, universities,
the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Executive, Cogent, and
the QCA to deliver a demand-led system that meets the needs of
employers..”
The Bioscience Sector Skills Agreement is available on
(www.semta.org.uk/employers/science/about_sector_skills_agreements/bioscience_ssa).
To join other bioscience companies who will be putting the
agreement’s plan into action, please call Darren Race on 01740
627000 or e-mail drace@semta.org.uk.
ENDS.
Media contacts:
Icky Hasnain, Semta, 2nd Floor, Weston House, 246 High Holborn,
London WC1V 7EX.
T: 020 7 269 9844 M: 07872 377 638 E: ihasnain@semta.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
Semta: As a Sector Skills Council licensed by government, Semta
is the employer-led organisation at the heart of the skills agenda
for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies in the UK.
The sectors it represents are: Aerospace, Automotive, Bioscience,
Electrical, Electronics, Maintenance, Marine, Mathematics,
Mechanical, Metals and Engineered Metal Products and Science. Its
role is to the raise skills levels and competitiveness in the
75,000 companies and 2 million-strong workforce that make up these
sectors.