More than £1 million earmarked for TV training
17 June 2010
Skillset's TV Freelance Fund (TVFF) will spend almost £1.2 million on television training in five priority areas over this financial year.
The TVFF is made up of voluntary contributions from the BBC, Channel 4, Five, the Indie Training Fund (via contributions from member companies), Sky and other cable and satellite companies, and is designed to invest in training for the entire television workforce. The TVFF is committed to increasing the diversity of the television workforce, and assisting the development of TV professionals across the entire UK, not just in the traditional centres of production.
The opening up of a global market, technological changes in how content is created and consumed and reduced commissioning budgets have all resulted in seismic shifts to traditional business models. Skillset argues that to remain competitive, both companies and individuals need to embrace new skills, techniques and business practices. Therefore, investment will be directed into five priority areas:
- Multiplatform: £300,000
- Management and Leadership: £300,000
- New Entrants: £300,000
- Craft and Technical: £50,000
- Health and Safety: £25,000
Administered by Skillset, the TVFF's spending priorities are determined by the TV Skills Council, which is made up of ten senior representatives from the UK television industry. These decisions are informed by Skillset's research into the skills needs of the industry, as well as the results of our ongoing engagement with the industry.
The remaining £200,000 will be allocated to other schemes throughout the coming year, such as diversity-focused and online learning programmes.
Funding for all of the above programmes, with the exception of new entrants, and some diversity-focused schemes, will be distributed as bursaries, giving TV professionals greater flexibility in accessing the courses that suit them - at a time that suits them.
The TVFF's ongoing commitment to multiplatform training is based on considerable evidence that this continues to be a training priority for companies throughout the television industry. In Skillset's Creative Media Workforce Survey of 2008, the most common need for training was reported as relating to multiplatform content (one in four employers identified this need).
There have been significant job losses in the TV industry, with a virtual freeze on new entrants recruitment by many major employers. Within the context of limited resources and employment opportunities, the TV Freelance Fund is seeking to support training courses for new entrants and professionals in junior roles, aligned with industry requirements by being across a full range of genres and disciplines, and targeted at skills required for cross platform content production.
Health and Safety is a long-standing priority of TVFF, and is essential in providing a safe working environment for those in the industry, while Craft and Technical skills are at the core of content creation and are required regardless of the platform or market you are creating for.
Peter Dale, TV Skills Council Chair and founder of independent production company, Rare Day, said: "We are incredibly proud of the creativity and resilience of our industry, and the aim of these funding programmes is to ensure we continue to entertain, innovate and educate at the highest standards well into the future."
Skillset's chief executive, Dinah Caine, said: "The coming year is going to be extremely important as our industry begins to emerge from the recession and comes to grips with the profound technical changes that have engulfed it in recent years. In this climate, the TVFF is more important than ever, and we would like to thank all of the contributors for the commitment that they have shown to help make sure our industry remains a world leader."
The details of each individual funding programme will be launched as they go live throughout the year.
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For more information contact
Skillset press and PR officer Nick Sheridan on 020 713 9854 or nicks@skillset.org
Or
Skillset press and PR manager Jennifer Walters on 0207 713 9854 or jenniferw@skillset.org
Out-of-hours: 07827 989 330.
Notes to Editors:
- Members of the TV Skills Council are: Peter Dale (Chair), CEO of Rare Day; Natasha Adams, head of HR, Five; Suzanne Burns, group HR director, STV Group; Sharon Elliott, communications officer, BECTU; Dan Kerkel, head of corporate development, QVC International; Helen Mariner, head of HR and talent, ITV; Clare Pickering, director of operations, Endemol UK; Angela Roberts, manager of production training, training and development, BBC People, BBC; Jo Taylor, 4Talent manager, Channel 4; Delyth Wynne-Griffiths, Cyfarwyddwr Materion Busnes, S4C
- Skillset is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Creative Media, with responsibility for 60 per cent of the UK Creative Industries. This comprises TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging, publishing, advertising and fashion and textiles. SSCs are licensed by the UK Government and by Ministers in the devolved administrations to tackle the skills and productivity challenges by sector. They are independent, UK-wide organisations, are employer-led, and actively involve trade unions, professional bodies and other stakeholders in the industry.