Licensees and pub operators are being urged to get behind a campaign to create a powerful voice to push for better training.
The government is in the process of appointing a limited number of Sector Skills Councils (SSC) to replace the National Training Organisations (NTO) which were wound up at the end of March.
The councils will be given public funding to finance initiatives aimed at helping promote skills and training in the industry - for example through the introduction of new qualifications.
Industries are competing to be awarded their own SSC, which will have a powerful voice in lobbying government and be able to influence the allocation of resources for training its workforce.
Sectors that fail to win their own council risk being put under the control of another SSC, which may not have the same priorities, or being out of the decision-making process altogether.
This could be very damaging for the pub sector in which there is already concern over the skills shortage.
A steering committee, which includes representatives from the Hospitality Training Foundation (HTF), the British Hospitality Association, trade associations and pub operators, has begun lobbying ministers and on April 15 will submit a formal request for an SSC covering the hospitality trade and tourism.
The SSCs will be given up to £1m a year by the government, which must be matched by employers in the sector.
Declan Swan from the HTF said the pub industry had already responded very positively to the idea.
He said: "Having an SSC will enable the industry to be in the driving seat and actually make the decisions on where funding is needed."
John NcNamara, chief executive of the British Institute of Innkeeping, has been involved in the discussions for some time. He said: "We are very much in favour. We see it as a way of driving more resources into our part of the industry."
Meanwhile, tomorrow (Tuesday April 9) marks the start of the Hospitality Training Festival, aimed at highlighting the importance of training within the pub trade.
The festival, which is organised by The Publican Newspaper and thePublican.com, is taking place at London's Olympia and offers licensees and their staff the chance to sit qualifications for a nominal fee. It is now fully booked.
For more information on the Hospitality Training Festival, click here.
We'll have the latest of our special reports, the Training and Recruitment Guide 2002, online for you to download as of tomorrow (Tuesday) - keep 'em peeled!