Yeah, that's perfectly normal at the begining. I think all the 'graduate key-skills' malarky is a pretty recent thing. I think the research councils want the next generation of postgrads to be more well-rounded, with so called 'transferable skills'. This basically means you get less time to do your actual research - much to the dissaproval of your supervisor.
It is pretty sh***y, but its something all postgrads have to put up with these days. It'll be like this for the first 4, maybe 5 months.
Hope you find some solace in the fact that its NOT YOUR FAULT!!