Recruitment drives gets underway - 11/04/05
Creative & Cultural Skills, the new Sector Skills Council being developed for the UK's creative and cultural industries, has announced its first appointment in the nations and regions. Miles Fletcher is to take up the post of National Manager, Wales with immediate effect.
The new body - recently recommended for a licence subject to ministerial approval- covers Advertising, Crafts, Cultural Heritage, Design and Music as well as the Performing, Literary and Visual Arts. Miles will work closely with both the employer-led Wales Management Group and the London-based executive of Creative & Cultural Skills.
According to Tom Bewick, Chief Executive of Creative & Cultural Skills:
"Wales has been at the forefront of moves to develop a truly representative Skills Council for the creative and cultural sectors. So it's fitting that our very first appointment outside London should be made here. Miles brings a wide range of contacts and considerable experience of Welsh public life. This will assist us in addressing the skills requirements of employers and individuals and effectively representing the sector to the Welsh Assembly Government and educational institutions."
Creative & Cultural Skills aims to provide a real voice for the sector, delivering powerful influence over the supply of education and training across the United Kingdom.
Its mission is to ensure that employers and individuals have access to high quality education and skills. It also aims to increase the vocational relevance of qualifications on offer and provide students with informed choice on courses and career pathways.
The board of Creative and Cultural Skills is made up of influential figures from across the whole spectrum of industries represented. Chaired by Royal Opera House Chief Executive Tony Hall, its members also include Judith Isherwood of the Wales Millennium Centre.
A former Business Editor of BBC Wales who has spent the last three years delivering a range of cultural, educational and media projects Miles Fletcher is relishing the challenge of his new role:
"The creative industries have long been a significant element in the Welsh economy and their importance is set to increase in the years ahead. But Wales will only derive the fullest economic and social benefits from its culture and creativity if we have the skills and knowledge to do so. This means ensuring that employers have access to people with relevant and useful qualifications and that vocational training is shaped and informed by informed by the needs of the real world."
Among the first projects for Cultural & Creative Skills will be to accurately assess the size and scale of the creative and cultural industries. Initial estimates suggest the sector accounts for around 20,000 jobs across Wales.
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