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Sport, recreation and active leisure

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Introduction to the sector

This edition of the Sport, Recreation and Active Leisure Sector Profile was written in March 2011, with the worst of the recession over, but following the announcement of a disappointing 0.5% fall in economic activity in the UK as a whole and interest rates still pegged at a historic low of 0.5% after two years. The possibility of a ‘double‑dip’ recession had not completely receded, and the effect on the economy of public service cuts was just starting to be felt. Since this sector extends across both the private and public sectors, it was bound to be the case that negative economic effects were still being felt.

We will look at the current economic effects on the sector and on training and skills provision in some detail throughout this profile. However, at the outset it is important to put the data of this profile into context. As far as source material is concerned, the profile inevitably relies on a large body of research carried out before the recession, since SkillsActive, like all Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), undertook its most large‑scale piece of skills research at that time, and published it in the form of its Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) and Sector Qualifications Strategy (SQS). There have been updates since then, including the documents listed at the end of this profile. In all cases, the most recent data has been used to inform this profile, but it is important to bear in mind that, inevitably, many predictions for growth pre‑date the current public sector spending cuts, and some even pre‑date the general economic recession that began in 2008. For those reasons, it is important to treat such predictions with caution and to set them in the current context. The year from which any piece of data originates is given in order to help you do this.

A note on data

Introducing the sectorSport, recreation and active leisure as a recognised, unified sector of employment and of the social fabric of the country is a relatively modern phenomenon, even for a country as keen on sport, recreation and active leisure as the UK. As well as making a

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considerable contribution to the economy and the job market, the sector makes a significant contribution to

health ■

education ■

social inclusion ■

regeneration ■

neighbourhood renewal ■

childcare ■

personal development ■

local, regional and national prestige ■

Demand for the sector’s products and services has been increasing for many years with the growth in consumer interest in the natural environment, personal health and the problem of obesity. Increased disposable income has also been a cause of higher demand. Prior to the recession, the only significant negative factor impacting on demand was the public’s fear of risk taking and the fear that some employers in the sector have of litigation in connection with personal injury and loss. The UK’s ageing population will tend, on balance, to increase demand due to the increase in the proportion of the population with spare time and disposable income.

It is a sector that is becoming global in terms of transferability of skills and qualifications. However, it is relatively unaffected by the trend towards the removal of personal contact through the intervention of IT: it remains a high personal interaction sector. SkillsActive, the most relevant SSC, considers the sector to be relatively non‑innovative, except for the caravan subsector, which has been very innovative in terms of product design and caravan park facilities, but has currently suffered more than most from a downturn in demand in the last three years.

The personal and direct nature of the sector’s products and services leads to a demand from public and government to improve skills and business practice across the sector. Not surprisingly, health, safety and care are priority issues, as far as management practices and skills are concerned. However, they are not the only ones: best value, customer retention, physical and other technical skills are also key issues for training and development.

Prior to the severe economic downturn that began in 2008, there were several factors that clearly pointed to the sector becoming more important as a feature of the economy and of the national social fabric, including

the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics ■

government health and anti‑obesity campaigns ■

gradual growth in disposable income ■

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The recession had its effect, of course, and the current round of radical cuts in public spending are having

a negative direct impact on that part of the sector ■

that is within the ambit of local authorities

an indirect effect on the sector as a whole, as that ■

part of the customer base that works in the public sector feels the pinch

Nevertheless, as this profile was being written, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were less than a year and a half away and, even though scaled down from their original ambitious plans, the effect on both the demand for, and supply of, sport and recreation facilities around the country is likely to be considerable. Some commentators were predicting a boom, especially in levels of participation in sport by people with disabilities, as a result of the Games. More generally, there is no reason whatsoever to suppose that, when the negative effects of recession, spending cuts and the positive effect of the Games have ceased to have a direct effect, the general trend will continue to be one of expansion and of an increasing percentage of consumer disposable income being spent on sport and active leisure. In the long term, the future for the sector looks good.

Some commentators have gone further than point merely to the Games as the main agent of development in the sector in the medium term, and have identified what they have called the ‘Golden Decade of Sport’, undeterred by history, which shows that such terms have a tendency to come back and haunt those that coin them. Along with the Olympics, this Golden Decade is usually supposed to comprise

the Ryder Cup 2010 at Celtic Manor, Newport (which ■

proved a success despite terrible weather)

the World Police and Fire Games 2013, Belfast ■

the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow ■

the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles ■

the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup ■

the 2019 Cricket World Cup ■

A notable absentee from this list, of course, is the Football World Cup in 2018, which is now due to be played in Qatar, a decision which is looking increasingly risky given the current situation in the Middle East and north Africa.

Fitness services are increasingly delivered by local authorities and leisure trusts providing public leisure services, operating on a shift‑work basis seven days a week from early morning to late evening. Playwork is delivered by the voluntary, statutory and

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private sectors, with the majority of play provision delivered by voluntary management committee or charity. Playwork in after school clubs is complemented by holiday play schemes out of term time, which attract younger workers of both sexes.

Whereas sport, fitness and play take place in every community across the UK, the outdoor and caravan subsectors are usually located in rural areas. A lot of the sector is based on seasonal activity, particularly sport, the outdoors and caravan industries. Employment in the outdoors sector peaks in the summer months, and employers often recruit students and casual workers to cater for this peak in demand.

The challenge, as far as skills are concerned, is to keep pace with development by

raising skill levels across the board ■

improving workforce retention and career route ■

planning

integrating major sports and leisure developments ■

into social regeneration and community involvement

sustainable development in ecological, financial and ■

social terms

This sector, to a certain extent, shares a characteristic with parts of the land‑based sector in that many within its workforce view their job as a vocation and a natural extension of their personality (the number of volunteers in the sector is testament to that). This is clearly a good thing, but it can lead to, or at least mask, a system of training, development and progression that is inadequate for the size and importance of the sector as a source of work and added value.

For the purpose of this profile, the sector will be divided into the following broad subsectors, corresponding to the categorisation used by SkillsActive

sport and recreation ■

health and fitness ■

the outdoors ■

playwork ■

caravans ■



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Section 1 Composition, size and importance of the sector

1.1National level

Composition of the sector

The sector comprises

sport and recreation ■ : sport and leisure facilities; sports clubs; stadia and arena facilities; sports administration; sports development; governing bodies for sport; community and youth centres; coaching; activity leadership

health and fitness ■ : private fitness clubs; hotel‑based fitness clubs; multi‑group clubs; workplace clubs; public leisure centres; residential clubs

the outdoors ■ : education; recreation; development and training; sports development; exploration and expeditioning; sports tourism

playwork ■ : holiday playtimes; adventure playgrounds; weekend playtimes; play training organisations; school play centres; play associations; playbuses and mobile units; after‑school clubs; open access centres

caravans ■ : manufacturers; caravan parks; caravan dealers

Of the five subsectors, sport and recreation is easily the biggest employer (60% of all employment) followed by playwork (24%).

The caravan subsector, which is of relatively little interest to us as a college (most of the manufacturing side is based well out of our region) is within SkillsActive’s footprint, but is effectively looked after by Caravan Industry Training, a semi‑autonomous section of SkillsActive. We will refer occasionally to this subsector, but not in too much detail.

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Of the entire workforce, 54% is female and 46% male. The workforce is younger than in most sectors and predominantly white (94%). We will look at workforce characteristics by subsector in more detail later in this profile.

The definition of sport, used by SkillsActive, is one that comes from the Council of Europe

Sport embraces much more than traditional team games and

competition. Sport means all forms of physical activity which,

through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or

improving physical fitness and mental wellbeing, forming social

relationships or continuing results in competition at all levels.

This is a sector that develops incrementally all the time as trends in sport and leisure change and as new technologies and developments in physiological knowledge make their impact on the sector. The skills that are core to the sector remain the same, but need to be supplemented to cater for new technologies and techniques. All subsectors are now quite mature as features of the economy and as workplaces: job roles are not likely to change radically in the foreseeable future. The sport and recreation subsector will continue to be the biggest, and prior to the recession all subsectors with the exception of caravans were growing and likely to continue doing so. That subsector started to decline quite rapidly (certainly in terms of manufacturing) prior to the recession and has continued to do so. However, trends then started to work in the opposite direction, as people looked for more economical ways to take holidays. The problem for caravans as a holiday solution is that the great majority of the cost has to be met up front.

Changes in the composition of

the sector

Size and importance of the sector

Prior to the recession, the sector employed over 675,000 people in the UK and contributed almost £9bn to the economy. We will look at more current figures, subsector by subsector, later in this section. It was performing exceptionally well in national terms (growing at almost twice the all sector rate), though still not quite delivering services and facilities that were up to the standards set by some other nations known for their love of sport and active leisure. The sector’s increasing social significance, mentioned earlier, was therefore matched by growing economic importance. Although the recession could not have come at a more difficult time as far as the Olympics/Paralympics are concerned, nevertheless government and sporting agencies still expect the impact of the

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games to be hugely positive on developments, investment and public participation in the longer term. For political and social reasons, the UK is never likely to have the same attitude towards sport as the People’s Republic of China, but if, following the games, the UK is still lagging significantly behind other nations such as Australia, the USA and Germany in terms of sport and leisure infrastructure, then the value of the games coming to London will be seriously questioned. In all of this, skills development will play a huge part, in particular business, management and entrepreneurial skills.

The effect of the recession on the sector has not been universally negative and, to some extent, the impression you get depends which report you read. For example, membership of Britain’s estimated 150,000 sports clubs, and subscription revenue across the subsector, continued to rise between 2008 and 2010. The only participation sport of significant size to report a fall in membership during that time was golf. Apparent contradictions persist: reports from the sector showing continued growth, in both jobs and participation in sport and fitness, exist alongside other reports showing that the population is increasingly sedentary and obese. SkillsActive confidently claims that, despite economic factors affecting all sectors, the sector as a whole is performing better than the UK economy. This is backed up by other sources. We’ll try to make sense of the figures as we look at each of the subsectors, starting with the biggest, sport and recreation.

Sport and recreation

Sport and recreation, as a subsector, is a mix of paid (public and private sector) and unpaid voluntary activity on a grand scale. Funding streams, therefore, are extremely diverse, ranging from voluntary contributions, to local authority funding, entrance and membership fees and grants and other funding from national bodies. Most clubs are affiliated to one of the national governing sports bodies, and in one way or another (not always directly or through simple channels) are able to tap into some kind of support in terms of training, accreditation and other forms of development.

SkillsActive estimates that there are 371,800 people working in sport and recreation in around 176,000 businesses and organisations. Many more volunteers can be added to that first figure: it is estimated that there are almost a million unpaid sports coaches in the UK and a total of 1.9 million volunteers.

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Health and fitness

This includes the supervision of exercise and physical activity at public and privately owned leisure centres, fitness clubs and gyms This subsector has a GVA output of around £700 million, accounting for about 8% of total active leisure and learning output and 0.1% of national output.

Health and fitness is closely allied to sport and recreation and often overlaps with it at publicly‑funded leisure centres, which account for just under half of the sector. Some sports, particularly swimming, rely completely on the use of public facilities run by local authorities or public private partnerships/trusts, and schools. The other part of the fitness industry is commercially run and accounts for almost 60% of gym memberships.

As well as being an increasingly important aspect of the economy and social interaction, this subsector is becoming ever more connected with government initiatives on health and obesity. The government sees the sector as one of the key agents through which it can achieve its targets in these areas.

Some facts and figures include

subscriptions to health and fitness clubs in the UK is ■

not far short of £2bn

more than 90% of fitness professionals working in ■

the subsector are either very or quite likely still to be working in the sector five years later – it’s a job that people enjoy

more than 20% of the workforce considered the ■

training they had received to be inadequate for the job (we will return to this later)

The outdoors

This is the smallest of the five subsectors. Nevertheless, it is a very wide subsector in terms of activities, employers and job roles. It covers activities for adults and children and includes

outdoor education: experiential, environmental, ■

physical and social

outdoor recreation: organised and self‑guided ■

outdoor activities for fun

outdoor development training: leadership, team and ■

management development

performance coaching, instructor training and skill ■

development

expeditions and exploration: planning and delivery ■

of local, national and international expeditions and research

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Many of these overlap, and it is rare for organisations to fall neatly into any one single group. The subsector comprises private, public, charitable and voluntary organisations and has an extremely wide customer base. The outdoor subsector also plays an important role in delivering government policies. For example, successive government departments with responsibility for children always include a large role for the outdoors in their objectives for child welfare and development. The workforce is predominantly white (96%) and younger than the national average (despite 18 being the minimum age due to legal restrictions). Women are in the majority, but in a minority when jobs such as cleaning and catering are removed from the calculations. There are far more managers, senior officials and personal service workers in the subsector than in the economy as a whole, and in these roles men are very much in the majority. Part‑time working is an important feature of this subsector, accounting for over 40% of the workforce. The sector could not function to any meaningful level without volunteers. Prior to the recession the subsector was growing far faster than the economy as a whole. It has great seasonal fluctuations in employment and user participation, especially children’s holiday activities. Training and re‑training of such a fluid workforce is a constant activity. Regulation and insurance arrangements are very important, as are audit trails. Litigation for personal injury is a factor to be considered by employers.

Playwork

Playwork is the facilitation of children’s play outside of the educational curriculum for 4‑16 year olds. It extends across the public, private and voluntary sectors, providing

after school clubs ■

holiday play schemes ■

adventure playgrounds ■

parks ■

play buses ■

breakfast clubs ■

Both private and voluntary providers often rely on public funding subsidies and tax credits to make parental contributions affordable. For obvious reasons, it is a subsector in which regulations and health and safety play important roles in jobs and in skills training. This is a large subsector (second after sport and recreation) and 95% of the workforce is female (men play an important role in the seasonal workforce for holiday play). Volunteering plays a very important role.

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Caravans

The caravan subsector is diverse and complex, employing multiple skills

the management, operational and technical ■

requirements of holidays and home parks

caravan manufacture, repair and retail ■

It is an almost entirely private sector, commercial business in all respects. Changes in the market and regulatory framework of this subsector have necessitated increased professionalism, skills training and qualification. Employment is not big in the North West – manufacturing is predominantly on the east coast around Hull, and the most popular caravan destination is the South West.

Profile of the sector by size of company

The sector is dominated by small businesses. Across the sector as a whole, 73% of employers are micro‑businesses employing ten or fewer people. Almost all the rest are SMEs. Large organisations account for under 1% of all businesses in the sector. In some sectors the proportion of micro‑businesses is even higher

80% in caravans ■

84% in outdoors ■

The sport subsector is mainly composed of voluntary sports clubs. Fitness services are increasingly delivered by local authorities and/or leisure trusts providing public leisure services and by private fitness chains and independents. Playwork provision exists in the voluntary, private and public sectors.

Male and female balanceThe workforce is 54% female and 46% male, but with significant variations across the subsectors. Playwork has by far the biggest female presence, caravans considerably less, and somewhere between a quarter and a third of sports coaches are women.

Ethnicity profileThis is 95% white, and 5% ethnic minority.

Age profileThe workforce has a higher than average proportion of young employees (but generally aged over 18 because of regulation).

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The workforce has a significantly higher proportion of part‑time workers (52%) than the economy as a whole. Self‑employed people make up 11% of the workforce.

Regional and local level

Sport, fitness and outdoor recreation are very important aspects of the social, cultural and economic fabric of the North West of England and of the City Region.

The region possesses great historic and contemporary strength in organised sport of many kinds: football, both codes of rugby, cricket, swimming, athletics, golf, horse racing, boxing and others. Within the North West, there are many high‑profile sporting clubs, venues, facilities and events. In professional football, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton, Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool and Wigan Athletic are in the Barclays Premier League, while there are many North West clubs in the lower divisions. Lancashire hosts a county cricket club and a test match venue at Old Trafford in Manchester. The region is home to a number of Super League clubs including Wigan, St Helens, Warrington and Salford, and Sale Sharks play in the rugby union Premiership. The region has a number of first class golf courses including three Open Championship venues (Lytham, Birkdale and Royal Liverpool). The region stages the world’s biggest horse race (the Grand National at Aintree) and has other courses at Haydock, Chester, Carlisle and Cartmel.

A wide variety of sporting events in the North West are responsible for attracting visitors and spending to the region, including major football, rugby and cricket matches and also one‑off events such as boxing, snooker and athletics. In recent years the region has hosted major events such as

the Commonwealth Games ■

UEFA Women’s Football Championships ■

Paralympic World Cup ■

ITU Triathlon World Cup ■

European Champions League Final ■

Super League Grand Final ■

1.2

Size and importance of the sector regionally and

locally

Type of employment

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The region has a number of major stadia and facilities; besides major football, cricket and rugby stadia, the region is home to

the MEN indoor arena ■

National Cycling Centre ■

Manchester Aquatics Centre ■

The English Institute of Sport is based at Sportcity in Manchester. Adidas and Reebok are also represented in the North West. Furthermore, the region is home to some of the UK’s largest sports retail chains, eg JD Sports, with major UK outdoor sportswear manufacturers Sprayway and Ellis Brigham also in the North West.

Outdoor recreation also features in the North West and City Region with such natural resources as the Lake District, the Peak District, Forest of Bowland, the Pennines and the Lancashire and Wirral coast.

For information on the sector in the North West, other than the SSA (which is now six years old), we are reliant on a brief Labour Market Assessment North West from 2010, in which some figures are recent and others date as far back as 2004. With this caveat, we can say that, pre‑recession, the sector as a whole in the North West contributed almost £850 million and employed almost 66,000 people – 1.9% of total regional employment. Just as nationally, sport and recreation is the biggest subsector (58%) and playwork second (26%). There are around 4,000 business establishments in the region, of which almost three‑quarters have fewer than 10 employees.

Category %

Self‑employed 11

Part‑time 47

Women 49

Men 51

Age 16‑24 24

Over 45 34

Minority ethnic 4

Table 1 The North West sector workforce

There are around

400 private health and fitness clubs in the North ■

West, with over 600,000 members

270 public gyms with around 260,000 members ■

270,000 people who, in any given 12 months, ■

provide some volunteer support for the sector as a coach, referee or other official, marshal, governance or in some other role (voluntary management committees are common in playwork

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Yet more statistics on the sector in the North West illustrate how important sport and active leisure is in North West society and as a source of employment

over 880,000 adults in the North West received ■

some tutoring or coaching in 2008‑9 to improve their sporting performance (a staggering 16% of the entire NW population)

there are 34,000 sports coaches in the region, 70% ■

of them volunteers, but with the figure for paid, professional coaches gradually increasing

around half of all sports coaches hold a coaching ■

qualification

48% of all sports coaches in the region are female ■

(there is a real discernible growth in the number of women becoming paid, qualified sports coaches in our region)

the average age of all sports coaches is 36 ■

On a rather more negative note, staff turnover in the North West is as high as it is nationally – around 14%, so retention rates and career development opportunities are issues that need to be tackled.

Although the North West has a strong sporting presence and tradition, research has shown that action is needed to ensure that the region maximises the opportunities presented by future cultural and sporting events. Additionally, while participation in sport and outdoor recreation in the region is high profile and successful where it exists, it is by no means universal; it exists alongside chronic lack of engagement in physically active recreation, social problems, obesity, and poor health and fitness levels.

The sector is more important to the total employment profile of the region than it is nationally, and within the region the growth in the value of the sector and of its paid workforce has been considerably faster and more consistent than average growth across all sectors. The main areas of expanding recruitment are

coaches and instructors ■

operational staff ■

non‑managerial support staff ■

The recession had a relative effect on those predictions, but there is every reason to believe that proportionally the sector will continue to be a growing source of employment in the region.

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Greater Manchester accounts for a large percentage of the whole North West industry in each subsector, in some cases, almost 40%. In detail, the figures are as follows.

Subsector Greater Manchester’s % of employees in North West

Sport and recreation 36

Health and fitness 35

Playwork 39

Outdoors 33

Caravans 19

Table 2

Greater Manchester’s share of the North West

sector



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Section 2 Context, dependencies and relationships

2.1National level

Impact of the sector on the national economy

The sector has a comparatively slight impact on the rest of the national economy; the impact being mainly on its suppliers. It is a sector which, apart from some major capital projects such as the construction of major stadia and sports centres, has a low capital‑to‑employment cost ratio.

While the sector’s impact on the national economy is comparatively slight, its impact on people’s lives is very significant. It has an impact on

health ■

education ■

social inclusion ■

regeneration ■

neighbourhood renewal ■

childcare ■

personal development ■

local, regional and national prestige ■

SkillsActive makes this very true and important statement about sport and active leisure in the fabric of society

The universal aim of promoting physical activity contributes to

improving the health of the nation and tackling the increasing

incidence of obesity. Sport is a great leveller, and is key

to central and local government policy for improving social

and community cohesion, deterring antisocial behaviour

and rehabilitating ex‑offenders. Active leisure, learning and

well‑being activities improve the quality of people’s lives through

fun, adventure and personal development and deliver a sense of

national pride through international sporting events.

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The impact of the national economy on the sector, on the other hand, is great since it is a sector which is considered by customers to be relatively non‑essential to life, and thus relies on levels of disposable income. Rising income levels, low inflation and low unemployment all contributed to the sector’s growth in recent years. Conventional wisdom predicted a severe downturn in business during a recession. However, as with the hair and beauty sector, consumers tended to view the sector’s products and services as rather more essential to life than conventional economics might suggest. There have been business failures, and even large and previously highly successful sports retailers have felt the pinch, but on the whole the sector seems to have survived comparatively unscathed and was in a fit state to expand in the future. That was until the public sector spending cuts announced in 2011. These have an immediate impact on local authority run sports and recreation centres, and a particularly negative impact on local authority plans for expansion and construction of new centres. Indirectly, there will also be an effect. Empirically it is hard to prove, but intuitively it would seem that sport and recreation will be particularly important to those areas of the country, including our region, where dependence on public sector jobs is higher than average. Spending power will be reduced, and there is bound to be at least some effect on the ability and willingness of people to spend money on sport and active leisure.

Impact of the national economy on the sector

2.2Regional and local level

The proportionally higher importance of this sector as a source of employment in our region heightens its dependence on stable and favourable economic conditions, which are exactly what we did not have as this profile was being written. However, the same consumer choice factors could add a twist to this negative outlook, just as they may nationally – perhaps more so.

Aside from general economic conditions, the sector in the region and locally is influenced most by

the region’s particular interest in sport and fitness ■

local conditions that affect the availability and quality ■

of childcare

Impact of the local and regional economy on

the sector

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levels of health, fitness and obesity ■

the region’s ability to attract large‑scale investment ■

associated with major sporting events and developments

Few places in the UK present such a dichotomy as Manchester does in terms of participation in, benefit from and economic dependence on sport and active leisure.

All of these issues are seen in high relief in the City Region, which

demonstrates a higher than average interest in sport ■

and fitness

has highly variable levels of childcare provision ■

has serious health and obesity issues to tackle ■

has repeatedly proved itself capable of attracting ■

major investment in sporting events and developments

Few places in the UK present such a dichotomy as Manchester does in terms of participation in, benefit from and economic dependence on sport and active leisure.

Impact of the sector on the local and regional

economyThe 2002 Commonwealth Games demonstrated the City Region’s immense capabilities in planning, designing, construction and managing successfully the world’s third largest sporting event. The Commonwealth Games also left a legacy of new world‑class sporting facilities

the City of Manchester Stadium (developed for the ■

Commonwealth Games and now used by Manchester City FC)

the Manchester Velodrome, the first purpose‑built ■

indoor facility in the UK

the National Squash Centre ■

a 6,000‑seat indoor athletic track at Sportcity ■

the Manchester Aquatics Centre ■

These sit alongside existing assets, including

Old Trafford football and cricket grounds ■

the Reebok Stadium and Robin Park Athletics Arena ■

the MEN Arena, which seats 19,500 people and is ■

Europe’s largest indoor arena



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Section 3 Characteristics

3.1National level

GeneralMany organisations belong to more than one subsector. It is a sector in which employers generally measure success in customer volume and financial performance. Somewhat unexpectedly, it is not a sector that has gone out of its way to seek recognition through quality standards such as Investors in People (IiP), and this is a shortfall that SkillsActive recognises and wishes to rectify.

In fairness, though, it should be noted that this is a sector which has set up quality assurance processes of its own. For example, the Register of Exercise Professionals (owned by SkillsActive) is a self‑regulatory process that recognises industry‑based qualifications and practical competency as well as setting up a Code of Ethical Practice – all in the interests of those who use the services of exercise and fitness instructors.

Skills vary very widely, but it is interesting to note that the sector as a whole has more need than the average for people in certain roles (see Job Opportunities, later).

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Job opportunitiesThe sector offers more jobs than the all‑sector average in the following roles

professional occupations ■

associate professional occupations ■

technical occupations ■

personal service occupations ■

elementary occupations ■

A higher than all‑sector average proportion of jobs are part‑time: 52% (47% in the North West) and over 70% in playwork. Many jobs are seasonal. In addition to the paid workforce (full and part‑time), there are an estimated 5 million volunteers across the sector.

Whatever the effect of the public sector spending cuts on jobs, it is unlikely that it will have much effect on the type of jobs available. Thus the same core skills will be needed, albeit supplemented by the need for updating to cater for new technologies and techniques.

Economic performance, ability to recruit and the

business cycleBefore the recession, the sector as a whole was growing steadily but was subject to cyclical and regional variations, mainly as a result of economic factors that increase or reduce disposable income. Principal determinants of the sector’s performance and ability to recruit at any time and in any economic circumstances are

consumer trends, including health concerns, fears of ■

obesity, the trend towards a more active leisure time to compensate for more sedentary working lives

an ageing population which, in its net effect, ■

increases demand for the sector’s products and services

government initiatives to get more people interested ■

in sport and physically active forms of recreation

government initiatives to improve childcare provision ■

Many aspects of the sector’s business are based on seasonal cycles, which has an important effect on recruitment and the practicality of training.

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Economic performance, ability to recruit and the

business cycleSignificant investment decisions were made in response to the publication of the first North West Regional Plan in April 2005. The strong demand expressed by employers for more and better quality coaches, alongside the need to professionalise the workforce, resulted in a £2m investment by the Regional Sports Board to develop both volume and quality of the coaching workforce across the region. More recently, further investment has been secured to finance the schemes and to encourage more women to enter the coaching profession.

On a national level, thanks in part to the ground‑breaking work undertaken by the North West region in publishing the first regional skills and productivity plan for the sector, Sport England made available £60m of its funding to build the capacity of the sporting workforce. The North West region ensured that its share of the national allocation was effectively deployed through the development of five County Sports Partnership (CSP) workforce development plans.

Additional investment to address the priority skill needs of exercise professionals and workers from the outdoor subsector identified in the original regional plan has also been secured.

Job opportunitiesIn the North West, the industry spans the public, private and voluntary sectors with a wide range of career and vocational opportunities available in paid and unpaid positions. The sector includes professional sportsmen and women who may ultimately achieve world‑wide success in events such as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, plus a growing workforce of leaders, managers, operational staff, sports administrators, officials, fitness instructors, stewards, activity leaders, recreational assistants, playworkers, events officers, marketers, trainers, lifeguards, athletes, coaches, outdoor education specialists, groundstaff and teachers who are ultimately behind the success of the vast range of facilities and settings across the region.

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It is important therefore to assist the private sector in improving levels of productivity in the sector, by addressing skills and recruitment issues. In addition, there is a need to grow the sector’s market share to enable it to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the 2012 Games and government policies to improve levels of fitness and health through sport.

Even before the recession, within the active leisure and learning sector as a whole in the North West, predictions concerning new job opportunities in the next few years varied. However, they all agreed that there would be growth in all subsectors except for caravans. Prior to the public sector spending cuts, it was predicted that the biggest growth in job opportunities would be in

coaching, teaching and instructing ■

activity leadership ■

exercise and fitness ■

It is still safe to predict that whatever growth may occur will be in these job roles, certainly in the long term.



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Section 4 Relationship with training and development

4.1National level

Level of training and qualifications

Just over a third of the sector’s workforce is qualified to Level 4 or above, and 22% are not qualified at all or only to Level 1. However, figures showing the distribution of qualification attainment across the sector are not very meaningful for two reasons

there are significant differences between the various ■

subsectors

as SkillsActive stresses, what the sector needs ■

more of is employees with qualifications (at whatever level) that are directly relevant to specific subsectors and job roles

Taking these points on board, the most significant facts and figures include

employees without at least a Level 2 qualification: ■

outdoors – 28%, caravans – 37%

playwork employees tend to be well‑qualified ■

(almost 50% with a Level 4 or above), but this is because many come from the teaching profession and, for them, playwork is a ‘second career’ – playwork‑specific qualifications tend to average out at Level 2 or below

around half of sports coaches (paid and unpaid) ■

have a qualification relevant to the sport they are coaching (at any level), but this is improving all the time – a few years ago the figure was below 40%

25



The figures for playwork deserve further examination. Regulations require every playwork centre to have

a leader who is qualified to at least Level 3 ■

at least 50 per cent of all other staff qualified to ■

at least Level 2 in a subject that is deemed to be ‘full and relevant’ by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC)

Thus, it becomes clear that there is a shortage of people with full and relevant playwork qualifications.

As for sports coaching, the UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC) has been instrumental in increasing the number of coaches appropriately qualified.

To get a full picture of the qualification scene for the sector as a whole, one needs to view it in the context of legal requirements. Certain technical and practical skills are mandatory for a large proportion of the sector. For example, in the case of playwork, Ofsted

decides who can provide services ■

inspects these according to the Early Years Register, ■

the General Childcare Register or the Voluntary Register

Their minimum requirements have been mentioned previously. Additionally, many roles in sport and recreation, health and fitness and the outdoors also work with children under the age of eight, and so must comply with health and safety guidelines for use of equipment, swimming pools, outdoor locations, etc. As a result, the same requirements apply as for playwork. In many contexts, either the law or voluntary codes of conduct require certain qualifications, and often a minimum age of 18 for employees and volunteers.

Before we look at the gaps in the skills of the current workforce and in the skills that are lacking in applicants, let’s first examine the factors that are driving the skills agenda in the sector. The main factors can be summarised as

the continuing and increasing need to meet ■

regulatory requirements (health and safety, working with young people and others)

the need for both the private and public sector to ■

offer a competitive, attractive service to customers

rising costs and falling public funding ■

the sustainability agenda ■

What skills are needed and why?

26



We have already looked at the regulatory context. Let’s take a look at the other three.

Competitiveness

The sector is funded from a variety of sources

public sector: entrance and membership fees, ■

central government funding supplemented by local authority council tax

private sector: entrance and membership fees, ■

central government support, lottery funding and donations

Regardless of its source of funding and whether an organisation is in the public or private sector, all organisations must be able to attract and keep customers in a context in which expectations are rising and the sophistication of techniques and technology available (at least somewhere in the marketplace) are improving all the time. As SkillsActive points out

One of the reasons for the three per cent growth in the fitness

industry is the implementation of the government’s health and

well‑being agenda, which aims to raise awareness of the need for

improved lifestyles … People therefore may be moving away from

viewing health and fitness as a luxury and more as a part of their

lifestyle.

Rising costs and falling public funding

These factors are inescapable at present. All the subsectors rely on public utilities to a great extent, and the price of these has been rising steadily. Inflation has now picked up again in the more general economy and this is becoming a drain on margins and the ability to survive for many businesses. At the same time, all employers in the sector that are dependent in full or in part on local authority and central government funds are under particular pressure at the moment, given the huge savings that are having to be made. At the same time, credit is particularly difficult to obtain.

All of these factors have an impact on headcounts, on the preparedness of organisations to invest in training and skills, and in the type of training and skills sought.

Sustainability

This factor will never be as immediate and urgent as the others, but it is becoming more prevalent in the sector. Organisations in sport and active leisure are big users of energy, land, utilities,

27



infrastructure and natural resources. Their clients, at the same time, tend to be more aware than the average person of the sustainability issues affecting each of these. It would be an unwise organisation in this sector to ignore issues around energy use, waste, sourcing of materials and general impact on the environment of their existence and operation.

Skills shortages and gaps

SkillsActive has found that, across the sector, the most difficult jobs to fill with appropriately skilled and qualified people are

sporting officials (paid and voluntary) ■

coaches, teachers, instructors and activity leaders ■

(paid and voluntary)

operational helpers (volunteers) ■

Mention has already been made of the many people involved in playwork who, although well‑qualified, do not have a qualification that is directly relevant.

The most common skills gaps, ie skills that need to be improved in existing staff, are

coaching ■

other sport‑specific technical skills ■

skills associated with special categories of customer ■

(older people, those with special health‑related needs, etc)

communication ■

leadership and management ■

customer service ■

problem solving ■

teamwork ■

marketing and fund‑raising ■

health and safety ■

child protection ■

SkillsActive’s research has also told them (in common with the research carried out by every single sector skills council) that

… [employers] prioritise customer handling skills and

communications skills over technical or practical skills when

recruiting, as there is a general feeling that technical skills can be

trained whereas customer service and communications skills are

more dependent on personality …

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It is forecast that skills needed will remain largely as they are now, supplemented by those required for new technology and techniques. The most innovative subsector has been caravans (particularly in terms of manufacturing techniques and park facilities). For the rest, the skill set remains fairly stable compared with other sectors. Thus the missing skills are well known and are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

The sector’s record in sharing skills problems

and solutionsThe sport and recreation subsector has benefited from the intervention of a number of national and regional organisations over the years, part of whose brief has been to co‑ordinate skills solutions. However, the sector as a whole is only just beginning to tackle the issue through SkillsActive. The high proportion of SMEs and self‑employed also proves a barrier to a co‑ordinated approach.

Factors militating against accessing

training programmesThe main factor militating against access to whatever training programmes are available is, as is often the case, the high proportion of micro‑businesses and SMEs in the sector. There is less of a cultural barrier to training and development (and to attendance on courses that are externally provided) than in many sectors. The barrier is the limited possibility that small organisations have of allowing people time away from work. The other factor that must be taken into account (and should guide our strategy with this sector) is the perception, largely accurate, that relatively few customised programmes exist for the sector.

Current training provision and availability of qualifications

The 2010 SSA for the UK and for England (the main pieces of relevant published research from SkillsActive) do not touch on the subject of available provision, so we have to rely on the 2008 SQS for this information. At that time, research showed that there was a good supply of training and qualifications in general terms, though SkillsActive did complain about a lack of customised packages for specific subsector needs.

29



At Level 1, there was only one S/NVQ that was specifically geared towards the sector: Active Leisure and Learning. This is an introduction to the sector and a pathway into the specific S/NVQs at Level 2.

At Level 2, there were eight relevant S/NVQ options

activity leadership ■

coaching, teaching, instructing (assessed in the ■

context of a specific approved sport or activity)

instructing exercise and fitness ■

playwork ■

spectator control ■

operational services ■

sport and play installations ■

mechanical ride operations ■

At Level 3 there were five relevant S/NVQ options

outdoor education ■

development training and recreation ■

coaching, teaching, instructing ■

spectator control ■

operations and development ■

SkillsActive, with the support of Foundation Degree Forward, had developed foundation degree sector frameworks for the following subsectors

health and fitness ■

sports development ■

sports management ■

the outdoors ■

playwork ■

coaching ■

There was a range of VRQs in the form of

Vocational GCSEs ■

BTEC Nationals ■

HNDs ■

Technical Certificates ■

VRQs relevant to the sector included ones for

coaching ■

officiating ■

swimming pool supervision and rescue ■

mountain leaders ■

playwork ■

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One division of SkillsActive (see section 5 for an explanation of its divisional structure) is called SkillsActive Services, one of the functions of which is to administer, with other stakeholders, the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs – also known as the Exercise Register), which was mentioned briefly in section 3.1. This highly thought of register is based on

self‑regulation ■

a code of practice ■

industry‑based qualifications ■

continuing professional development (CPD) ■

and so acts as a stimulus to training and the acquisition of skills.

SkillsActive has developed national occupational standards (NOS) at four levels (a manual is available as a downloadable pdf on how to use the standards). The available NOS are

Level 1 ■

– Active Leisure and Learning

Level 2 ■

– Activity Leadership

– Coaching

– Instructing Exercise and Fitness

– Mechanical Ride Operation

– Officiating

– Operational Services

– Playwork

– Spectator Safety

– Play Surfaces

Level 3 ■

– Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance

– Coaching, Teaching and Instructing

– Leisure Management

– Leisure Vehicle Building

– Leisure Vehicle Component Manufacture

– Leisure Vehicle Composite Component Manufacture

– Officiating

– Outdoor Programmes

– Personal Training

– Physical Activity and Exercise

– Playwork

– Spectator Safety

– Sport and Play Surfaces

– Sports Coaching

– Sports Development

Level 4 ■

– Managing Sport and Active Leisure

– Outdoor Sector Senior Roles

– Officiating at the Elite Level

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– Physical Activity and Health

– Playwork

– Spectator Safety Management

– Sport and Physical Activity Administration and Governance

NOS at no specific level ■

– Expedition Leadership and Management

– Physical Activity

– Sport and Exercise Science

– Sports Therapy

– Using Sport to Tackle Crime

SkillsActive has also developed two guides to workforce development

for playwork ■

for sport and recreation ■


GeneralThe North West is not significantly different from the UK as a whole in terms of vacancies, hard‑to‑fill vacancies and skills gaps in the existing workforce. As nationally, the majority (60%) of training undertaken is unaccredited. Here is a snapshot of regional characteristics

Characteristic Percentage

Workforce not qualified to Level 2 22

Workforce qualified to Level 4 > 30

Employers with a vacancy 15 (national figure is 19)

Employers with a hard‑to‑fill vacancy 5

Employers with a hard‑to‑fill vacancy where the perceived cause is a skill shortage 3

Employers with a skills gap in existing workforce 15

Table 3 Regional characteristics

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The skills that are lacking in job applicants and existing staff tend to be the same (and it is a familiar list across all sectors). The most common are

customer service ■

technical/practical/job specific skills (especially ■

coaching and lifeguarding)

oral communication ■

team work ■

problem solving ■

hospitality skills ■

Initiatives to increase participation in sport and physical activity have created the need for other skills such as

working with the community ■

dealing with hard‑to‑reach segments of the ■

population

Sport, recreation, health and fitness and the outdoors

In these three subsectors, SkillsActive has noted a number of issues in the North West

a high number of vacancies for coaches, teachers, ■

instructors and sports community development officers

hard‑to‑fill vacancies of all kinds tend to be as ■

a result of the low number of applicants with the required skills, the low number of applicants generally and lack of obvious interest in the job applied for

skills gaps were often reported among coaches, ■

administrative staff and outdoor activity instructors

the main gaps were sport‑specific skills, ■

communication, initiative, team working, planning and preparing work

Playwork

SkillsActive has noted the following issues

a high rate of vacancies for play development ■

officers

employers believe that vacancies are often unfilled ■

because of the competition from other employers, lack of job‑relevant qualifications and a general low number of applicants

almost all applicants lack playwork‑specific skills ■

hard‑to‑fill vacancies lead to increased workload and ■

stress levels for existing staff

Skills gaps and shortages

33



employers believe that the most important skills ■

for playwork are teamwork, communication, child protection and health and safety – much of the last two being driven by regulatory requirements

skills gaps in existing employees tend to be in ■

playwork principles and practice, IT skills and planning and preparing work

Caravans

In this sector, which is of relatively little importance to the region or the college, SkillsActive has found that

the operational part of the subsector has difficulty ■

recruiting enough cleaners, housekeepers, bar staff and managers, receptionists, wardens, cooks and chefs

the manufacturing, supply, retail and maintenance ■

part of the subsector has difficulty recruiting enough workshop technicians, caravan sales people, service reception staff, caravan cleaners/valets, service managers and shop staff

The sector’s performance record

in providing training and development for its

workforceThe sector in the North West has a rather better record at providing training than other sectors and than the sector nationally. This applies in terms of

the number of training days provided per capita ■

the proportion of companies that provide training in ■

any given 12‑month period

the number of employees trained in those companies ■

that do provide training

However, the picture is rather different when one looks at barriers to training. Companies in the region are more likely to have experienced barriers to training than nationally. Higher than average percentages in the region had encountered a lack of

cover for employees being trained ■

funding for training ■

High staff turnover and a lack of time for training are perceived by regional employers to be less of a problem than nationally. The job roles that receive the most training are operational roles such as green‑keepers and lifeguards. Only one college offers

34



caravan‑related programmes. Playwork is the subsector most dependent on FE.

Although training provision is not bad compared with the all‑sector average, there is an issue with retention and career progression that needs to be tackled. Figures regarding turnover need to be treated with caution, however, since they necessarily include vacancies created by career progression itself. Nevertheless, there is a clear issue to be tackled here, and clearer progression routes and opportunities need to be created in all subsectors.

Key challenges for sector employers in the

North West1. Ensuring an adequate supply of people over the next five

years. There will be competition from other sectors, and sports organisations will need to be encouraged to recruit more women and people of different ages, ethnic origins, background, employment history and physical ability. Employers need to demonstrate the range of career opportunities in the sector, and that having a particular set of skills, knowledge and competence will allow an individual to be employable in different parts of the wider sector as they progress their careers.

2. Providing volunteer skills development and continuous professional development opportunities.

3. Managing very tight budgets, especially in the public sector, and distributing money effectively across capital development projects, payroll, operations and maintenance, training and development. Whatever money is left for training and development must be spent on job‑specific, identified needs.

4. Providing relevant, timely and accessible training, human resource and business support to the sector. Maximising the support, provided by the 150 partner organisations already active in helping the sector. Ensuring a more effective and efficient mechanism to promote and provide training and business support to sport and active leisure organisations.

5. Promoting even closer links with FE and HE institutions in order that learners may have the skills and experience valued by employers. Reducing the proportion of businesses that feel training available is not meeting their needs.

35



6. Making available learning and qualifications as relevant, timely and affordable as possible to encourage take‑up. Recognising that there are both common skills needs across all occupations within the sector, but also different types of training need depending on an organisation’s

size ■

subsector ■

location ■

business outlook ■

ownership (voluntary, local authority or private ■

sector)

workforce composition (volunteers, freelance, ■

seasonal and paid full or part‑time staff, those with lower/higher qualifications)

7. Supporting both those organisations and clusters that show most growth potential and those that wish to improve the quality of their product (but not necessarily grow their workforce). Proving the benefits to business of working together in networks or clusters in order to share the costs of training, HR and business support. This will lead to greater productivity, more satisfied customers and better financial performance.



36

Section 5 Sector Skills Council and other relevant organisations

5.1National level

Sector Skills Council (SSC)

SkillsActiveCastlewood House77‑91 New Oxford StreetLondonWC1A 1DG

Tel: 020 7632 2000Fax: 020 7632 2001

Email: [email protected]: www.skillsactive.com

For the caravan subsector, SkillsActive works closely with Caravan Industry Training Ltd (CITO).

SkillsActive was successful in securing an extension to its licence from UKCES in 2009, receiving a ‘good’ grade. Some of the sector‑specific solutions it had devised were found to be ‘outstanding’.

Since 2009, SkillsActive has been effectively a group of three organisations

SkillsActive, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) ■

The National Skills Academy (NSA) for Sport and ■

Active Leisure

SkillsActive Services ■

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.skillsactive.com

37



SkillsActive’s role is to create a framework of qualifications, training and continuous professional development based on industry requirements and standards. We ensure that employers can access the right qualifications, based on those national standards that have been designed by employers, so that their workforce is appropriately trained and qualified.

The NSA’s role is to deliver relevant vocational qualifications, training, and continuing professional development based on the national standards that are recognised by employers. These qualifications and training are quality assured, cost‑effective and relevant to employers’ needs in England only at this time.

SkillsActive Services’ role is to develop and deliver commercial products and services to support employers to identify and implement their workforce’s skills development and offer tailored solutions to help meet the individual challenges that businesses in our sector face. It is this division that administers

activepassport (a web‑based facility for recording ■

skills and qualifications)

the register of exercise professionals (REP) ■

endorsement services ■

Its mission, values and key strategic objectives

Its vision is a highly skilled and competent workforce in an industry equipped to fulfil its potential at the centre of the economic and social development of the UK.

Its goals are

to involve more employers and their workforce ■

in best practice based training and development programmes, thereby reducing skills gaps and shortages, improving productivity and lifting business and public service performance

to take a strategic lead in developing a new, ■

demand‑led, flexible supply of learning and skills development that meets the needs of workers (paid and unpaid) and organisations, as well as providers from the active leisure and learning sector

to work with partners across the UK to agree ■

common messages, as well as cohesive, innovative ways of boosting the skill of the active leisure and learning workforce

SkillsActive works around the UK to help achieve government objectives regarding health and fitness. Obesity is an important issue. They have programme managers in each of the home

38



countries and nine regions, working with employers to ensure that sport and recreation workers are appropriately skilled and qualified. They work in close partnership with sports councils and other sports bodies.

Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) and

other key research documents

The SSA was published in 2006 and is available as a series of downloadable PDFs from SkillsActive’s website. Reports are available for England and the North West of England. The SSA identifies the following national priorities

support for upskilling and professionalisation of ■

existing workforce

support for short course, bite‑size and flexible ■

delivery programmes

recognition and support the skill needs of volunteers ■

switch of emphasis to work‑based learning ■

support of the industry drive to create national ■

frameworks that support career development

recognition and support of experiential learning ■

(through adventure, sport and play) as a key part of skills development in the UK

working towards equality of funding across the UK ■

The Sector Qualifications Strategy was published in 2007 and approved in 2008. It includes this vision statement

To have a framework of vocational qualifications and training that

meets the needs of the sector, is delivered by a quality workforce

and is appropriately funded. The current range of qualifications

and training within the sector is complex and confusing and does

not appear to provide the appropriate skills and knowledge that

employers require. Sector-specific provision within the sector is ad

hoc and includes a vast number of non-accredited qualifications

yet industry‑recognised. Further and higher education provision

is of value to the sector however employers suggest that college‑

leavers and graduates do not have the necessary skills to enter

the workplace without additional training needs. Public investment

in the sector is not maximised and existing Government funding

priorities do not meet the demands of the sector; there is a

significant lack of public investment into the training of volunteers

essential to the sector.

39



The key actions for realising this vision are stated as

working with partners to make VQs fit for purpose ■

(unit‑based) on a rationalised framework

revision of national standards for the range of ■

occupational areas within the sector

working with FE and HE to identify and fill skill gaps ■

and shortages and to press for more vocational outcomes and opportunities into undergraduate and post‑graduate programmes (including Foundation Degrees)

formalisation and accreditation of current and CPD ■

activity and promotion of the Register of Exercise Professionals

promotion of greater flexibility and accessibility in ■

provision

promotion of upskilling and CPD among the ■

provider/trainer population

identifying sources of funding to review existing ■

and develop new qualifications and direct public investment into qualifications and training needed by the sector

2010 saw the publication of the most recent set of key research documents by SkillsActive, the relevant ones having informed this profile. They are

the Sector Skills Assessment for the UK ■

Labour Market Assessment North West ■

These are available on SkillsActive’s website.

Other key organisations representing the sector

The principal organisations from the college’s point of view are

Sport England

www.sportengland.org

Sports Volunteering North West

www.sportsvolunteeringnw.org

Manchester Sport and Physical Activity Alliance

National governing bodies (of sports)

A list of these can be found at

www.sportscoachuk.org

http://www.sportengland.org

http://www.sportsvolunteeringnw.org

http://www.sportscoachuk.org

40



Some other relevant organisations are

4Children

Association of Volunteer Managers

CACHE (childcare)

Children’s Information Services

Children’s Play Council

Clubs for Young People

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Early Support (childcare)

Institute for Sport, Parks and Leisure

Institute for Outdoor Learning

Joint National Council on Training for Playwork

Lifelong Learning Network

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action

National Council of Voluntary Childcare Organisations

National Playing Fields Association

Open Space

Play England

SureStart

Volunteering England


SkillsActive in the North West

Dian Shaw is the relationship manager for the North West.

Dian ShawSkillsActivec/o Sport England Office North WestAstley HouseQuay StreetManchesterM3 4AE

Email: [email protected] number: 07841 743 202


41



There is also a playwork strategy manager for the North West, Julia Fallowfield, whose role includes

supporting employers in the play sector with their ■

workforce needs

improving recruitment and retention of skilled ■

people

helping employers access funding for training and ■

business support

Sport England North West has its offices in Manchester

Suite 1, 3rd FloorBuilding 3Universal SquareDevonshire StreetManchester M12 6JH

Tel: 0161 834 0338Fax: 0161 835 3678email: [email protected]

Summary of SSA for the North West (2006)

Improve the quality and range of services

Address skills issues arising from the impact of the ■

Olympic Games

Increase uptake of business support schemes and ■

help and advice in staff development, recruitment and retention

Establish a shared commitment to improving skills, ■

eg by promoting business support and ensuring dialogue with policy makers

Develop a more sustainable funding strategy ■

Provide data to influence regional policy and support ■

development of sub‑regional workforce development plans

Improve recruitment and retention

Raise individual aspirations and demand for learning ■

Develop skills passports (activepassport) ■

Promote more and better work placements and ■

career pathways

Promote the wide range of career opportunities ■

Establish clear employment routeways into the ■

sector


42



Professionalise and upskill the existing workforce

Develop registers of professional competence (eg for ■

coaching)

Improve the percentage of coaches with a ■

qualification

Match supply to demand

Establish a region‑wide portfolio of fit‑for‑purpose ■

training supply for employers and workforce to access

Encourage training providers to offer suitable work ■

placements that meet job requirements

Facilitate input of employers’ needs into training ■

provision by, for example, increasing employer awareness of national occupational standards and quality standards, such as IiP (currently 26% of businesses in the sector in the North West have IiP recognition)

Increase the number of young people participating ■

in apprenticeships and FE programmes in areas relevant to the sector, for example operational services, coaching, outdoor education, physical education, etc

Redirect funding

Identify appropriate funding sources to support ■

training needs and qualification attainment by, for example, influencing LSC planning and funding

Increase investment into vocational training ■

Agree investment into coaching and exercise and ■

fitness initiatives

Increase sector investment in people

Increase employer demand for, and investment in, ■

skills

Promote the sector and celebrate success ■

Monitor and review the impact of investment in skills ■

NB SkillsActive also has a number of objectives under each of these categories specifically aimed at playwork. These can be found in SkillsActive’s SSA Executive Summary for the North West, which can be accessed as a downloadable PDF from their website.



43

Section 6 Key targets


The priority gaps in the sector’s training

provision that we can fillSkillsActive North West, in its Labour Market Assessment North West 2010, identifies five priorities for the region

improve recruitment and retention of the workforce ■

upskill and professionalise the existing workforce ■

match training supply to employer demand ■

redirect and secure new funding for training to meet ■

employment needs

increase sector investment in people ■

The Manchester College is well placed to respond to these and to satisfy the region’s needs for skills in coaching and sport management.

Nationally accredited provision includes

NGB‑recognised coaching awards ■

industry‑endorsed health and fitness qualifications ■

Levels 1‑3 in BTEC sport qualifications ■

NVQs in exercise and fitness and activity leadership ■

a range of apprenticeships and vocational ■

qualifications

We offer a range of HE provision, linked to partner HEIs (Bolton, Salford, MMU, Edge Hill), and the college is also expanding its provision to volunteers.

44



Key employers or regional subsectors that

we wish to targetThe key regional and local players that we will target are

Manchester Leisure ■

SERCO (service management company) ■

schools in Manchester ■

private sector health, sport and fitness organisations ■

voluntary organisations involved in sports and ■

fitness

the NHS ■

Key opportunities for development

Currently the college has plans to deliver and grow provision for youth and adult apprenticeship programmes with Manchester Leisure and other private sector employers.

There are opportunities to work with the sector in designing programmes (local, regional and national) that address the technical, physical, management and customer service skill needs that the subsectors have, set in contexts that are directly relevant to them.

Experiential residentials have long formed part of our flexible learning management programmes. The college continues to deliver enrichment and extra‑curricular activity programmes.



45

Section 7 Sources of further information

The majority of the information contained in this profile was obtained from the SkillsActive website. Further details are available there, including full and executive summary versions of the national and regional SSA and other skills needs reports. There are available as downloadable pdfs.

In addition, the following sources were used for specific pieces of data relating to the North West of England

LSC North West Commissioning Plan

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/nwr finallscnorthwestcommissioningplan2007 08 publicreport 17jan2007.pdf

North West strategic analysis

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/NW_Regional_Strategic_Analysis2.pdf

GM strategic analysis

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/Greater_Manchester_Strategic_Analysis2.pdf

North West LSC analyses of demand and supply of skills by sector subject area

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/Summary_SSA_Analyses_of_Demand_and_Supply.pdf

Sector Skills Council North West regional data

www.ssda.org.uk/ssda/PDF/SkillsActive%20LMI%20sheet%20NW%20051111.pdf

Manchester Enterprises City Region Profile

www.manchester enterprises.com/documents/ME_KSP_2007_Sport.pdf

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/nwr

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/NW_Regional_

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/Greater_Manchester_

http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/NorthWest/Summary_SSA_

http://www.ssda.org.uk/ssda/PDF/SkillsActive%20LMI%20sheet%20

http://www.manchester

46



SkillsActive North West SSA employer summary

www.skillsactive.com/resources/publications/North_West_SSARAP_Employer_Summary.pdf

SALSPA Action Plan 2006 2012: SkillsActive North West Newsletter

www.skillsactive.com/resources/research/Full_NW%20RAP.pdf

SALSPA Action Plan 2006 2012: Executive summary

www.skillsactive.com/resources/research/EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY%20NW_Final.pdf

http://www.skillsactive.com/resources/publications/North_West_SSARAP_

http://www.skillsactive.com/resources/research/Full_NW%20RAP.pdf

http://www.skillsactive.com/resources/research/EXECUTIVE%20

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