Today is the 6th anniversary of our 5 year SSC Licence, presented by Charles Clarke (Secretary of State, DFES) on this day in 2003 – as only the 4th Sector Skills Council to be licensed.

Even more importantly, today Lord Mandelson (Secretary of State, BIS) has announced our new licence as the SSC for Active Leisure and Learning. This is something of a coincidence – but at least we will be able to remember the date!

We are proud of our achievements to date, and delighted that the comprehensive relicensing assessment recognised the expertise that we bring to the sector.

We were scored as “good” in all categories and “outstanding” for our sector specific solutions which includes innovations such as the Register of Exercise Professionals, National Skills Academy and Active Passport. We received further praise for our work across our diverse sectors, the strength of our labour market intelligence and pioneering work at a European level.

All of these are part of our vision, aspirations and ambitions for developing and up-skilling the workforce over the next 5 years – so the challenge is now to continue with our mission.