The Council for Excellence in Managment and Leadership has published its first major report into developing and meeting the needs of managers and leaders in the workplace.

The Council, which was established last April, was set up to look at management and leadership issues is a joint initiative by the then Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Trade and Industry, aimed at ensuring UK companies gain and maintain a competitive edge in the global economy.

The intention is for the report to act as a basis for a dialogue to determine how best the Council can increase the commitment of organisations to develop better managers and leaders, to help ensure that business education is there to support this, and to improve the ability of individuals and organisations to develop themselves.

The Council's research finds that despite the growth in management development over the last decade, there are still shortages in the quality and quantity of people with management and leadership abilities, but that also that there is low demand for management training, especially in smaller organisations.

An estimated 1.4 million new managers will need to be developed in the years from 1997 to 2006, according to the Council, many of whom will be undertaking management degrees (around 20,000 a year) or MBAs (around 9,000 a year). The number of candidates working towards NVQs in management at level 3 or above may be declining, says the Council, but there is an increase in numbers taking other management qualifications such as the NEBS Management programmes.

The Council's recommendations are that SMEs are encouraged to develop their management skills by using the Business Improvement Tool for Enterpreneurs (BITE), intended to help entrepreneurs identify their own development needs. For larger organisations, the Council would like to see a five step model used to establish best practice for leadership development. It would also like to see those with professional qualifications develop their management skills.

The next steps for the council include assessment of opportunities for management development post-16, and looking at the economic outcomes for business education.