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Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is joining forces with Lochaber College to ensure that workers in the area have the opportunity to learn the skills needed to meet the demands of the growing Information, Communications and Telecommunications (ICT) sector.

A skills survey is shortly to be carried out in order to ascertain the level of skills currently available amongst the local labour force and identify any skills shortages. The initiative is supported by managers of Lochaber College who will use the information from the household survey to develop and provide new courses specifically designed to plug any skills gaps which the survey shows.

HIE head of operations in Fort William, David Oxley, said: - "The availability of a skilled workforce is seen as a priority by employers. Feedback to us from the ICT sector indicates that in Lochaber there is lack of the skills required and that is something we are keen to address.

"The aim of the survey is to collect information on core skills for the ICT sector that will be used to assist the college in course provision. The survey will also provide HIE with background information to help business growth and promote investment."

Mr Oxley added: "The skills survey is one of the several projects that we're developing in Lochaber to encourage the growth of employment and population in the area."

Questionnaires are being sent to households in the area via the free, monthly Lochaber Life magazine, which has a print run of around 11,000 copies. In order to encourage people to take part, all returned questionnaires will be entered into a prize draw.

Mr Oxley explained: "People will only be required to put their names on the survey if they want to enter into the prize draw. They will be asked about their employment, educational qualifications - whether they have Standard Grades, Highers or University degrees   and will also be invited to rate their skills levels in certain areas such as word processing."

Experts will then undertake a statistical study of the collected data and produce a report on their findings. According to recent studies, the kind of skills that ICT employers are seeking are good numeracy and literacy levels as well as IT and communications skills.

Lochaber College's head of further education Georgina Morrison said:- "the college is very demand driven in its course provision and we try hard to make sure that new courses meet local demand.  The information gathered from the skills survey will be of immense benefit to us and hopefully of immense benefit to the businesses in Lochaber.  It should highlight what training is required and help us target our course development to the most appropriate area.  That means that we are plugging the gaps for the community and ensuring people are appropriately qualified for available jobs."