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Proskills has said it hoped to get the green light for the National Skills Academy (NSA) before the New Year having made good progress in its ongoing negotiations with the Learning Skills Council (LSC).

The sector skills council was knocked back in July when its bid was deferred by the council responsible for funding and planning training for over 16s. However, it has since reported "excellent feedback" and said it expected approval in the near future.

Terry Watts, Proskills' chief executive, said: "We've had some very constructive feedback and are working towards a goal of sometime before the end of the year. These things are never straightforward, but we’re confident.

"The LSC initially thought that the scope of our bid was too ambitious, saying it was on a scale that had not been tested. That was one reason for the initial setback."

In July, the sector skills council failed to make the fourth round of the government-run NSA's qualification process, despite having already won £62m from the government to put towards training initiatives (PrintWeek, 8 August).

The setback sparked heated debate within the industry with Mark Snee, managing director of Technoprint and member of the Proskills committee, criticising it for its "lack of vision".

He added: "There will have to be some serious dialogue at Proskills. These projects are funded with money from the government so I think it likely the economic conditions affected the decision."

However, Watts called for critics of the bid to put their disappointment aside and unite behind Proskills following the bid's deferral.

If Proskills is successful it would join the 11 such projects that already exist across a variety of sectors.

It would also get funding from the LSC in the region of £5m for the first three years of the project. After that, the NSA would be expected to finance itself.

National Skill Academies
• Provide a network of training partners for industry training
• Winner receives around £5m from the LSC
• Become self sufficient after three years
• Currently 11 such projects across a variety of industries