Identification of Priority Skill Areas for Northern Ireland
Improving the Employment and Skills Advisory Infrastructure in Northern Ireland
Improved Engagement of SMEs in the Employment and Skills Arena
Improved Leadership and Management of the Small Business Sector in Northern Ireland
Recovering the Unemployed and Inactive into the Economy

Advisory Task Groups

The Northern Ireland Employment and Skills Advisory Group (ESAG) supports the NI Adviser in providing evidence-based employment and skills advice to the Minister for Employment and Learning and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. As part of its role the ESAG is charged with identifying international good practice and actions that need to be progressed in order to address employment and skills issues more effectively.

The ESAG establishes priority areas which it wishes to address. These are taken forward through the establishment of bespoke Task Groups. These Task Groups, led by an ESAG member collate evidence, provide expert advice and develop recommendations for consideration and agreement by ESAG.

The current priority areas are:

Improving the Employment and Skills Advisory Structure in Northern Ireland; and
Identification of Priority Skill Areas for Northern Ireland.

The three priority areas in 2009/10 were:

integrating employment and skills to develop innovative solutions recover unemployed and inactive individuals into the economy;
develop innovative solutions to engaging SMEs in the employment and skills arena; and
increasing high performance working practices through the leadership and management of NI businesses, with a particular focus on SMEs.

These reports are available from our publications page.