Manufacturers" skills body facing closure Terry Watts, chief executive of Proskills, which represents the skills needs of employers in 'process industries" such as glass, paper, wood, ceramics, and building products manufacturing, said it has a "50-50" chance of survival after it did not receive any backing in a recent public funding round. Mr Watts said schemes such as a programme which sees Proskills members train design and manufacturing skills to 20,000 GCSE students each year are under threat. Proskills members are almost exclusively small and medium-sized companies, he added, which contribute a combined £68bn to the economy while employing 780,000. Equivalent 'sector skills councils" fared much better. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UK CES), a quango with a "mission to raise skill levels to help drive enterprise," awarded the financial services body £1.7m, the hospitality and leisure organisation received £6.8m, while the creative media body got £6m. John White, chief executive of the Timber Trade Federation - the wood industry is one of nine represented by Proskills - has written to business secretary Vince Cable demanding an explanation for "this utterly bizarre decision which flies in the face of everything the Government says it wants industry to do." Mr White said: "The required investment was small. The return great. Is this not exactly the sort of investment we should encourage to support our economic recovery? Proskills also develops industry standards and qualifications and lobbies Government on its skills and funding policy. A spokesman for UK CES said decisions were based on the "strongest proposals that could make a significant change to the skills agenda. All decisions were based on bids from sectors whose employers were able to demonstrate overwhelming ownership, strong ambition and leadership on skills. Mr Watts denied he had a case of "sour grapes" and said Proskills was disadvantaged since decisions were influenced by how much employers were willing to contribute to projects. Neil Stevenson, managing director of furniture manufacturer N. E. J Stevenson Ltd, and chair of Proskills furniture industry board, said this measure "favours sectors with large dominant employers or well-structured supply-chains" over those dominated by smaller employers. He added that ministers should move to "overturn or mitigate this extremely short-sighted decision" so small manufacturers can "continue ... to use Proskills to address the skills obstacles that they face." Sector skills councils (SSCs) are government-licensed independent, employer-led bodies. The £61m of funding adminsitered by UK CES, which comes from the Government's Employer Investment Fund, was awarded to SSCs as follows: Sector Skills Council Sector Government offer of investment through the Employer Investment Fund People 1st / GoSkills Hospitality, Leisure, Passenger Transport, Travel and Tourism Skillset TV, Film, Radio, Interactive Media, Advertising, Animation, Computer Games, Facilities, Photo Imaging, Publishing, Fashion and Textiles Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Skills for Justice Policing & Law Enforcement, Youth Justice, Custodial Care, Community Justice, Courts Service, Prosecution Services, Forensic Science, Fire Rescue Services and Legal Services Cogent Chemical and Pharmaceutical, Oil, Gas, Nuclear, Petroleum and Polymers, Life Sciences e-skills UK IT and Telecoms Skills for Logistics Freight Logistics and Wholesaling Industry Energy and Utility Skills Energy, Waste and Utilities Institute of the Motor Industry Retail Motor Industry Creative & Cultural Skills Craft, Cultural Heritage, Design, Literature, Music, Performing Arts and Visual Arts Skills for Health UK Health Lantra Environmental and Land-based Skills for Care and Development Social Care, Children, Early Years and Young People's Workforces in the UK Asset Skills Property, Housing, Cleaning Services, Facilities Management and Parking Financial Skills Partnership Finance, Accountancy and Financial Services Improve Food and Drinks Manufacturing and Processing Construction Skills Construction SkillsActive Sport and Recreation, Health and Fitness, Outdoors, Playwork and Caravanning Industry Proskills Building Products, Ceramics, Coatings, Extractives, Furniture, Glass, Paper, Print, Wood.