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Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) are UK wide, independent, employer-led organisations responsible for specific economic sectors with a remit to build skills systems driven by employer demand for their sectors. During the last five years they have been working to build relationships with government and related administrations, those that fund and provide training and education, and other key stakeholders.
SSCs have four key goals, to:

• reduce skills gaps and shortages
• improve productivity, business and public service performance
• increase opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of everyone in the sector's workforce
• improve learning supply through National Occupational Standards, apprenticeships, and further and higher education.

Thus their work has involved:

• working with employers to identify future skills needs;
• setting occupational standards;
• the development of skills training and qualifications;
• encouraging greater investment in training and producing labour market information. This has included, for example, developing the new Diploma qualifications and organising National Skills Academies for their economic areas.

The Sector Skills Councils responsible for HLST related interests are People 1st for hospitality, tourism and events management, SkillsActive for leisure and sport, and Habia for the hair, beauty, nails and spa industries. HLST has also been working with Skillsmart which represents the retail sector. The SSC responsible for those working in education is Lifelong Learning UK.

For general information about SSCs see the websites of the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. 

People 1st provides a wide range of websites and newsletters which provide news on their sectors.

In 2007/08 HLST, in collaboration with People 1st, SkillsActive and SkillsmartRetail, produced a publication entitled Skills for Success: progressing careers in the Hospitality,Leisure and Retail sectors (14mb .pdf). 

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