Chamber leads on ‘joined up approach to skills’
18/10/2006
Don’t know your Abitur from your Baccalaureate? Not sure what a VWO or a Matura is? With the European labour market opening up it’s essential that businesses and job applicants can benchmark qualifications from around the European Union (EU). The Chamber, which represents businesses in Bedfordshire and Luton, is involved with two projects aimed at helping individuals and businesses compare qualifications, enabling the transfer of skills across the EU.
Transqual is a scheme for helping individuals educated in countries other than the UK translate the value of their overseas qualifications into the UK equivalents, equipping them to apply for work in Britain. The Chamber is leading on the related Da Vinci Project, which helps businesses in the construction sector compare qualifications, ensuring companies employ the right person for the right job. Commenting on the projects, Richard Collyer, Project Development Leader for the Chamber said:
'With half a million new homes planned for the region we are going to see a significant skills gap, particularly in the construction sector; some of these roles will be filled by people from the accession states such as Poland and Hungary. It is important therefore that businesses and individuals can quickly and accurately compare qualifications. The schemes will also help job applicants from Britain apply for jobs in other parts of the EU'.
The Chamber is also a partner in the Sustainable Communities Project through which key individuals – such as borough architects, planners and builders – are trained in the skills needed to create sustainable communities. Comments Richard Collyer:
'There is clear synergy between the Sustainable Communities and both Transqual and Da Vinci, with each having the transfer and development of skills at its core. The Chamber wants to take the lead in a genuinely joined up approach to the European labour market taking into account the skills issue and the proposed development of the sub-region'.
