News - Industry backs National Skills Academy

Plans for a purpose-built training centre to support the technical and business skills needs of performing arts organisations, are being championed by Creative & Cultural Skills, the UK Sector Skills Council for the creative and cultural industries. Under the proposals, a National Skills Academy for the Live Performing Arts will be based in Thurrock, Thames Gateway, and housed on the same site as the Royal Opera Houses proposed new production campus. It will act as a national beacon of excellence, linked to a network of regional and local training centres around England, and aims to plug technical skills gaps in areas such as production management, lighting and rigging as well as sound and stage controls. It will also open up new routes of entry into the sector, including Creative Apprenticeships.
The proposal already has the backing of employers and trade bodies from across a wide spectrum of live performance, and financial pledges from industry so far total around £3m. Supporters include Academy Music Group, EMI, BECTU, Royal Opera House, Live Nation, Musicians Union, Glyndebourne Opera, Arts Council England and the Theatrical Management Association, as well as the local authority and regeneration agencies. Announcing the initiative, Tom Bewick, Chief Executive of Creative & Cultural Skills, said, Despite high levels of enthusiasm for working in the live performing arts, the skills gap in the technical area is increasing and employers are reporting difficulties in recruiting adequately skilled technicians& Right now theres a complete lack of industry-approved courses and qualifications for this highly valuable sector. The Academy will fill that void and set young people, including some who might otherwise be lost to education, on the road to exciting and rewarding careers. Minister for Skills, Phil Hope MP, is expected to announce whether the Academy will go ahead before the end of this month. National Skills Academies are an initiative of the Department for Education and Skills, and have already been established, or are in development, for other sectors including film and television, financial services, food and drink, construction, engineering and manufacturing.