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Those of you who note such things will be aware that the only recent announcement on the new Sector Skills Council (SSC) for our industry was that it is to be called SummitSkills (EMC, October). There has not been an update on the development and progress of this most important body.

I will return to the choice of name later, but first an update on progress.

The good news is that the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) responsible to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) for Sector Skills Councils has reviewed the Expression of Interest SummitSkills prepared and submitted to its October board meeting. It has indicated that it is generally in approval of the electrotechnical, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration and plumbing industries' bid to become a Sector Skills Council.

However, the SSDA has asked that two changes be made in advance of their next meeting, at which, if the changes were satisfactory, they would allow the bid to move forward to the development stage. Rather like the guard blowing the whistle and waving the flag to allow the train to leave the station, but the signal not yet having changed from red to green!

By the time that you read this I am confident that the signal will be green and we will be well on our way to our destination – our licence.

So what has been happening since my last article? Lots of little things and the complete rewriting of the Expression of Interest, which you may recall was the requirement of the SSDA following the readiness assessment carried out in May.

While this rewrite was built on the foundations laid in February when the first Expression of Interest was submitted, it allowed much greater detail to be put forward. This detail would have been required during the development stage, but the SSDA decided that it required answers in the Expression of Interest.

This included consideration of the five points raised at the time of the readiness assessment; namely, matters relating to our relationship with the CITB and the other parties with a shared interest in the construction footprint; details of how senior staff will be appointed; the funding to be provided to SummitSkills by employers; and information on how the SSC will operate in the regions and throughout the UK.

The developments include meetings with the CITB and Utility Skills (the SSC covering gas, water, nuclear power generation and electricity transmission) and briefings with various other bodies with whom SummitSkills will have to work when it obtains its licence: the trade associations, Amicus, and professional bodies such as the IoP, CIBSE and the IoR. Of particular value was the meeting with the Joint Major Contractors Group that Sir Michael Latham refers to elsewhere in this issue (see, 'Skilling time').

By the time you read this I am confident that we will be well on our way to our destination – our licence

The implementation group for SummitSkills has also appointed a consultant to develop a range of communication avenues to bring the SSC to the attention of employers, employees, government departments and agencies, the careers service, training agents and providers and professional bodies associated with the sector. This appointment will ensure that through the development stage SummitSkills will become universally recognised as the natural home of skills in the sector and all bodies associated with it are kept up to date.

Finally, steps have been taken to advertise for, interview and appoint a chief executive. Adverts will have hit the national and regional press in November and it is hoped that an appointment will be made before Christmas, allowing the new chief executive to be in place by the end of February and the appointment of further staff in the new year, well in advance of the granting of SummitSkills' licence – hopefully by 31 March 2003.

Why SummitSkills?
Anyone who has tried, as a group, to name an organisation, product or even a child or pet, will know that the process can be a long one, and one that regularly ends in tears! The implementation group was well aware of this and felt that having successfully brought six industries together to create a new SSC they would be pressing their luck if they opened Pandora's box to come up with a name. However, there was discussion, some agreement and an executive decision to adopt 'Summit'.

Some of you will be aware that the name 'Summit' is already associated with training in the sector, it having been used for the umbrella body that considered matters of common interest between NTOs in the last generation of training bodies.

Summit is defined in the Penguin English Dictionary as:
highest point, top, utmost degree, maximum; and in Roget's Thesaurus alternatives and associated words include: stature, eminence, top, peak, crest, apex, pinnacle, zenith, culmination, climax, keystone, uppermost, supreme, tip-top and super! All these associations and meanings seemed appropriate to the new organisation.

Two further considerations were taken into account prior to the adoption of the full name. First, there is already a company registered as Summit (not, sadly, the aforementioned umbrella body) and second, using Summit alone gave no indication of the organisation's purpose. The possibility of adding SSC was considered, then dropped over fears that the Government would move away from the idea of SSCs. 'Skills' was added because that is what the new organisation will develop and champion.