Train to Gain is a hit with employers everywhere in the region

Mar 13 2007 By Chris Roberts, The Journal

Chris Roberts, regional director, Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North-East, discusses how the Train to Gain service is taking the region's employers by storm.

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The Train to Gain service is designed to help organisations of all sizes get the training they need to stay ahead in a competitive business environment by improving the skills of the workforce.

Officially launched five months ago, the jointly funded Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North-East and One NorthEast service was developed as part of a wider effort by the Regional Skills Partnership in the North-East to increase productivity and further regenerate our region. The launch last September, saw David Neilson and Julie Hesmondhalgh, also known as small-business owners Roy and Hayley in Coronation Street, returning to the region.

Alongside colleagues from One NorthEast, Business Link North-East, the North-East Chamber of Commerce, the TUC and the CBI, we all spoke about our hopes for Train to Gain and the challenges ahead for the region and its employers.

It is therefore fantastic to see first-hand that Train to Gain here in the North-East is proving to be a huge success. Employer engagement through the skills brokerage service, delivered by Business Link North-East, is continuing to progress with over 1,800 employers engaged in Train to Gain to date, of which 75% are classed as hard to reach, (in that they were not involved in previous employer training pilot `eQ8' or who do not have the Investors in People Standard).

Recent figures show that 5,400 North-East employees have started skills training, funded through Train to Gain, since April 2006.

Employer satisfaction, which is monitored frequently, shows that the brokerage service is performing well - achieving a 90.9% satisfaction score, compared to a national average of 88.5% and a target score of 90%.

All Skills Brokers are required to achieve accreditation against the new national skills broker standard by 31 July 2007. Thirty-two Skills Brokers from Business Link North-East have now completed their initial assessments and have already been awarded their interim licenses.

The remaining 14 Skills Brokers are expected to complete in the coming weeks.

I am particularly pleased with the diverse range of organisations that are using the service. To date both privately and publicly funded organisations have used the Train to Gain service.

These include large employer Woolworths in Hartlepool, manufacturing company Knauf Insulation also based in Hartlepool, Gateshead Council's Transport, Cleaning and Catering division, Tynedale Care in Northumberland and United Response, a charitable organisation with offices across the region.

Many of the region's schools are also taking up the opportunities the service offers them and their staff.

In January I welcomed Nora Sands, the school cook who worked alongside Jamie Oliver in Jamie's School Dinners as he worked to change the quality and standard of food served in schools. Nora welcomed the opportunity to see first hand the changes schools themselves were making to ensure that their staff had the right skills and qualifications to cook for and look after young people.

And the success of the service is being mirrored nationally, with over 18,500 employers already engaged in Train to Gain (57% of those employers are classed as hard to reach).

• For more information on the Train to Gain service, Tel: 08000 833 312 or visit the Train to Gain website at: www.traintogain.gov.uk