Skills Council launch boosts design

Employers in design look set to gain more control over the future development of their businesses as a result of tomorrow’s launch of the Creative and Cultural Sector Skills Council.

Set up by the Government as one of 25 Sector Skills Councils across different industries, the CCSSC will be driven by employers rather than trainers to identify skill needs for the future. One of its main tasks will be to devise strategies to ensure ‘suppliers’ in education are producing quality people with the skills to allow the UK creative industries to compete on a global stage in fast-emerging markets such as China and India.

Representatives from design will sit alongside those from craft, advertising, publishing, music, heritage, museums and galleries, and performing, visual and literary arts on the CCSSC’s Skills Advisory Group. The advisory group will inform the executive team, led by chief executive Tom Bewick, former director of the Learning and Skills Council at Thames Gateway, under the chairmanship of Tony Hall, chief executive of The Royal Opera House.

In January, Conran Design Group managing director David Worthington will become an honourary board director of the CCSSC. Meanwhile, The Team managing director Julian Grice will sit on the Skills Advisory Group. Grice will also be deputy chairman of the Design Skills Advisory Panel, ‘co-owned’ and jointly funded by the Design Council and chaired by Paul Priestman of Priestman Goode, and will be the link man for design between the two groups.

The Design Council is resourcing the design element of the activity as part of its existing Design Campaign for design skills.