The deadline for sector employers to sign up to the Procurement Skills Accord for 2019/20 is approaching.
- The deadline is approaching for sector employers to join the Procurement Skills Accord for 2019/20
- The Accord has stimulated a number of advances from the sector, including an increase in the percentage of the eligible workforce accessing technical training
- The Accord was piloted in October 2016 by five sector companies
- Last year, 56 companies from leaders in the gas, water, waste and power sectors signed up to the Accord
- The Accord requires signatories to adhere to five audited commitments
Sector employers are being encouraged to consider signing up to an initiative that has helped leading UK gas, power, water, waste and contractor companies drive investment in training and skills, in areas where the sector needs them most, through procurement. The deadline for new signatories to join the Procurement Skills Accord for 2019/2020 is 30 September 2019.
The Procurement Skills Accord was created in response to the 2015 National Infrastructure Plan for Skills, as a mechanism to incentivise skills investment through procurement and engagement approaches that would provide appropriate incentives to retrain and up-skill the workforce to meet future skills demands. The energy and utilities sectors work to meet this challenge through the Procurement Skills Accord and it was recognised and welcomed by Her Majesty’s Treasury and was one of the core initiatives identified within the Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy.
This year through the Accord, Energy & Utility Skills and the Achilles Utility Vendor Database (UVDB) have successfully collaborated to encourage investment in skills throughout the supply chain. Recognising the need for upskilling and workforce resilience, Energy & Utility Skills called on the Achilles UVDB to support its guiding principles and drive skills development through its verification process.
Companies sign up to meet and follow the Procurement Skills Accord five commitments:
- Driving investment in skills through procurement
- Encouraging supply chain companies to sign up
- Using procurement to encourage supply chain companies to develop relevant skills
- Continuously improving performance
- Monitoring and reporting performance
The Procurement Skills Accord has helped its signatories record their procurement process and culture to ensure that they are investing in the skills and training that the sector needs – within the asset owners and their supply chain companies.
Those outcomes include:
- 68% of Year 2 signatories achieved the Procurement Skills Accord Award
- 76% of relevant companies are embedding skills development into their procurement practices
- Over 80% of signatories would recommend others to join the Accord
- Last year, 15% of the operational and technical workforce received eligible training*
*training that meets the PSA Training Eligibility Criteria
Nick Ellins, Chief Executive of Energy & Utility Skills, said: “The Procurement Skills Accord has demonstrated how procurement-based collaboration between asset owners and their delivery partners can directly increase investment in skills training, and help to build resilience into the sector workforce. Those involved have already seen positive and tangible business outcomes. We are now looking to extend the Accord to even more sector employers and further increase the resilience of the utility world to labour market constraints. Please do get in touch with us to learn more and be part of this initiative built by the sector, for the sector.”
Find Out More
Initial enquiries on how to sign up to the Procurement Skills Accord can be made via Rebecca.Clay@euskills.co.uk.
For more, visit the Skills Accord page on the Energy & Utility Skills website and the report on its recent awards ceremony.