IT users and suppliers are urging chancellor Gordon Brown to set a timetable for the training market. National training organisations (NTOs) were due to be replaced with sector skills councils, however to date there appears to be no timetable for their replacement. The closure of ILTs last November also added another gap in the Government funded IT training industry.

Philip Virgo from The Management of Information Systems (Imis) sates “Unless rapid action is taken the UK IT training infrastructure, both public and private, may well suffer irreparable damage this spring”.

A letter issued by Imis to the Chancellor stated “We suggest that you require that proportions of the funding for new training structures be spent by the end of June and end of September to ensure that these are fully operational and delivering results in time to reduce the impact of the next skills crisis”.

The group has also suggested that a scheme to replace ILTs should be a top priority.