The Business Proposition to establish the Sector Skills Council (SSC) representing the Oil and Gas Extraction, Nuclear, Chemicals Manufacturing, Petroleum and Polymer industries has reached a major milestone with the submission of the application documents to the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) on 13^th November.  The application documents can be viewed in the library.

The SSDA is now evaluating the submission and is consulting with other government departments and the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The evaluation will include a due diligence audit undertaken by Panel Kerr Foster on behalf of the SSDA. The final stage in the licensing process will be a presentation to a License Assessment Panel on 13^th January.  

In the meantime, Cogent has been actively engaging with employers in the nuclear sector to introduce them to the work of the Sector Skills Council. Late in October, Cogent ran a two-day seminar on National Occupational Standards in the nuclear sector which attracted over 70 delegates from the defence, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning sectors.

A few days earlier, Cogent’s Chief Executive John Ramsay had addressed an International Conference on Nuclear Clean-Up organised by the Westlakes Research Institute near Carlisle.  The conference, attended by the Minister for Small Businesses at DTI, Rt Hon Nigel Griffiths MP, the local MP for Copeland Rt Hon Jack Cunningham and delegates from education, government, UK agencies, industry and other partners, debated the issues of skills retention and transmission and environmental issues in the nuclear decommissioning sector. “The international conference at Westlakes confirmed that skills and their contribution to improving business performance will be critical for the nuclear industry, as it faces the challenges for the future”, commented John Ramsay.  “The commitment to the development of national occupational standards coming out of the workshop is a good example of employers and others working together to address skills issues.”  

Additionally, in early December, Cogent’s Chairman, John Mumford, gave a lecture on the forthcoming Sector Skills Council at an annual dinner in London organised by the British Nuclear Energy Society, the Nuclear Industry Association and the Institution of Nuclear Engineers.  The dinner followed the Energy Choices conference held in Westminster on that day.