Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 85
85
Accepted
Another challenge identified by contributors related to retraining and lifelong learning for the existing workforce.
Conclusion
Another challenge identified by contributors related to retraining and lifelong learning for the existing workforce. City of Glasgow College told us “a skilled workforce which is regularly upskilled and reskilled across a lifetime is vital to sustaining a world-class shipbuilding industry in Scotland and the UK.” The College drew attention, in particular, to advances in manufacturing technology for which retraining would be required.140 John Howie gave a practical example of how reskilling could help bring workers from other sectors into shipbuilding: As technology evolves, we need to think about where there might be people with sympathetic skillsets who can be easily retrained. For example, as we move from the world of internal combustion engine cars to electric vehicles, the demands for complex vehicle maintenance will decline, so there is a load of people out there with good mechanical and electrical skills who could be easily retrained to work in complex platforms, because the world of work is evolving.141
Government Response Summary
The UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce (UKSST) is collaborating across Government, the Devolved Administrations, industry and training providers to develop and implement a future-focussed skills strategy and intends to publish a report of recommended actions in autumn 2023.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
29 & 30: The UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce (UKSST) seeks to address this challenge by collaborating across Government, the Devolved Administrations, industry and training providers to develop and implement a future-focussed skills strategy. The UKSST includes representatives from both Skills Development Scotland and Scottish industry. The UKSST is overseen by the Department for Education (DfE), with close support from the NSO. The UKSST will work to build a picture of industry’s skills needs and provide solutions to skills shortages, particularly those relating to new and emerging technologies. It intends to publish a report of recommended actions in autumn 2023 in pursuit of the policy goals outlined in the NSbS Refresh, principally to reduce skills shortfalls and to increase reported improvements in the quality and availability of skills.