Sharron Robbie, managing director of the Devon & Cornwall Training Provider Network, has her feet firmly in both the colleges and ITP camps. Can she get her unique cross-sector voice heard at a national level?
Training provider networks are perhaps the unsung heroes of FE. Ministers new to the sector quickly learn there are independent training providers, passionately represented by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, and colleges, again well-represented by the Association of Colleges, plus a multitude of other stakeholders. So far, so (fairly) clear.
But then there are training provider networks – not-for-profit organisations run off membership fees and other income streams – who arguably do the most important job of all.
