PSS calls for skills provision to better support Welsh ports

PSS has submitted evidence to the Welsh Government’s Skills Audit for Wales, calling for a skills system that better meets the specialist workforce needs of Welsh ports.

Welsh ports need a broad range of operational, marine, engineering, maintenance, safety, supervisory, and increasingly digital skills. Many roles are safety-critical and require practical occupational competence to be developed and demonstrated in the workplace, making flexible provision and workplace-based learning particularly important.

The absence of a live port-specific apprenticeship framework in Wales is one example of the current challenges. Where appropriate funded routes are unavailable in Wales, ports are forced to look elsewhere in the UK, or use internal or bespoke training. While these approaches can develop the competence required for a role, employees may not have equivalent access to nationally recognised qualifications or apprenticeships, potentially affecting progression and portability compared with people undertaking similar roles elsewhere in the UK.

PSS has also highlighted the complexity created by different skills systems, apprenticeship arrangements, and funding arrangements across the UK for port businesses operating across national boundaries. Greater alignment and portability would support both ports and their employees while respecting devolved skills arrangements.

Looking ahead; technological change, automation, decarbonisation, offshore wind, and other energy developments will continue to shape skills requirements. PSS has called for skills planning to anticipate these changes so that Welsh ports, their supply chains, and coastal communities are well placed to benefit from future investment.

The response also highlighted the challenge of developing and sustaining specialist provision where learner numbers can be relatively small and ports are geographically dispersed. PSS has stressed that low learner numbers should not be interpreted as low economic or strategic importance, and that port and sector evidence should be considered alongside learner volumes when decisions are made about skills provision.