Science Industry Partnership says empowering employers is key to success

The first-year report from the Science Industry Partnership, a initiative designed to provide a skilled current and future workforce in the science-based industries, says empowering employers has been key to its success.

The co-investment of £32m from Government and £20m from employers is aimed at implementing a series of new vocational pathways into companies, with a clear focus on apprenticeships as well as addressing urgent skills gaps impacting on wider workforce skills and growth.

The report suggests that empowering employers has been key to the success of the SIP, with employers taking direct responsibility for the sector ambition on skills, as well as the direct delivery of the skills programmes themselves.

In the first year, 260 science employers directly engaged in the SIP, ranging from the largest companies in Life Sciences and Industrial Science to supply chain companies and SMEs.

During the first year 2113 individuals have accessed training in a variety of forms including 372 apprenticeships.

One of the aims of the SIP was to grow the vocational pathways into the sector. In the first year, over 20 percent of employers taking on an apprentice are doing so for the first time and 50 percent of employers have increased their intake.

Former University and Science Minister, David Willetts, commented: “The science based industries are critical to our future prosperity – and higher skills are the key driver of their competitiveness.  Our investment will help the industry to take the lead investing in the skills they need.”

A more detailed report on the first year of the SIP can also be accessed here