To ask the Minister for the Economy for his assessment of the supply and demand for hospitality staff, in Northern Ireland and the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area.

There has been increased demand for workers in the Hospitality sector across Northern Ireland with a high level of vacancies in a number of occupations including chefs, catering assistants, bartenders and waiting staff.

The Causeway Coast and Glens has the highest proportion of workers in the ‘Distribution, Hotels and Restaurant’ sector of Northern Ireland’s district council areas with 20.8 per cent of workers in this sector compared with the Northern Ireland average of 17.8 per cent.

To address the shortages my Department has helped the sector to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic by supporting the Further Education Colleges to deliver a series of Master Classes and a dedicated leadership and management course. Working with the Hospitality Sector and Tourism NI, the Belfast Metropolitan College hosted four, DfE-funded Master Classes in April and May 2021, with 179 attendees from the sector. Support for the sector continues with the Skills Focus programme offering bespoke training, aimed at Hospitality and Tourism managers.

The Skills Intervention Programme was also introduced to support Further and Higher Education providers deliver free courses for priority sectors including hospitality in areas such as food hygiene, customer service, digital skills and leadership and management

Skill Up is a new initiative, following on from the success of The Skills Intervention Programme, delivering free training places in an investment of up to £23million over three years. Skill Up will support training of individuals, fully funding Further and Higher Education providers to deliver a wide range of qualifications.

This is according to NISRA’s Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2019. Available here: https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/labour-force-survey-annual-report-2019