§ Stephen HesfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of industry support for Centres of Vocational Education. [88286]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisCentres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) focus on meeting employers' intermediate skills needs. Employer engagement is central to their success.
An evaluation of the programme is under way and its initial findings will be available next year. However, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is impressed by the level of employer support so far.
At a strategic level the Sector Skills Development Agency and the newly created Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) are providing strong employer leadership on the skills priorities CoVEs should address and on the shape of the final CoVE network. Individual SSCs are advising the LSC on the network of CoVEs they need to meet the skills needs of their sector.
34WAt an operational level SSCs and local employers are increasingly involved in planning, designing and delivering training provision. CoVEs are reporting greater employer interest and involvement. This is resulting in:
donations of equipment (one CoVE has received over £1.4 million of state of the art equipment over the last few months in recognition of its new status),increased demand for level 3 provision places (the Further Education Pathfinder CoVEs have seen increases of between 5 per cent. to 100 per cent. over the last year),increased demand for courses offered by CoVEs (nine of the first 16 Further Education Pathfinder CoVEs have seen increases of between 3 per cent. to 20 per cent. over the last year),increased demand for short customised provision for which employers meet the full cost, and more effective use of labour market information and employer partnership in planning, developing and delivering CoVEs