EDIT skills jul21_000_PSI_mar15 28/06/2021 17:14 Page 2
SKILLS
Filling the skills gap David Scott, Managing Director of Skills for Security looks at how the industry is addressing the skills shortage in the sector
E
ngagement in the Skills for Security technical fire and security apprenticeship is increasing, with 2000 apprentices enrolled at a number of centres across the UK, which is great news for those of us committed in securing the industry’s continued future growth. However, as positive that this figure is we urgently need more to fill the gap. Suppose we compare ourselves like for like with a similar sector, such as electrical installation for a moment - this sector currently employs 300,000 skilled people, of which 5% are apprentices. In comparison, the fire and security sector employs 100,000 skilled people of which only 2% are apprentices. Based on these figures there is still considerable improvements to be made; although 5,000 apprentices would be in line with the electrical sector, in order to eradicate our skills-shortage we need 10,000 apprentices enrolled on programmes throughout the UK. These figures raise the question why are there fewer apprentices? This is down to several factors, which the sector is hard at work ensuring no longer remain a barrier to joining the industry: Not every employer is aware there is an apprenticeship for fire and security professionals: the only way to professionalize the sector is through competency-based learning such as an apprenticeship. If we ever want to be respected in the same way that electricians and other trades are, the sector needs to get behind the recruitment and enrollment of apprentices. I do believe we are starting to see this with the increase in numbers over the last few years. National Electrco-technical Training NET, which govern the End Point Assessment for the fire and security apprenticeship, are doing good work in professionalising the sector through a robust testing system. The work that NET and the ECS are doing with experienced workers will be
“If we ever want to be respected in the same way that electricians and other trades are, the sector needs to get behind the recruitment and enrollment of apprentices” another step in this direction, where you can only achieve a gold ECS card by proving competency in the sector ( visit ecscard.org.uk). Apprenticeship training is not accessible: for as long as I can remember, there have been barriers to education. If you have a barrier to learning, please reach out to us on info@skillsforsecurity.org.uk, where we can discuss different delivery models to help make recruiting an apprentice easier. Skills for Security's goal is to make training more accessible and in the last 18 months have opened four centres to help remove those barriers in Warrington, Birmingham, Oxford and Southport. We have many more in the pipeline for 2021 and 2022.
YOUR SKILLS QUESTIONS ANSWERED As part of this column you can ask David questions directly about training and apprenticeships. We will aim, to publish the question and answer in the next column. If you want to participate in this, then email info@skillsforsecurity.org.uk
Where will the WSUK final be held this year and when? The WSUK final is to be held in Skills for Security headquarters in Warrington due to its accessibility to the North (Scotland) and the South (London), plus airport access for those coming from Northern Ireland. We are trying our best to align it with WSUK as much as possible, and it is likely it will take place on the week ending the 19th of November. There will be eight participants competing in security and four in fire. This year's competition will be judged by NSI, SSAIB and Skills for Security staff. Communication to the successful apprentices from round one will be sent out in the coming weeks.
www.psimagazine.co.uk
45
