As you may be aware, the Government’s Skills for Jobs White Paper set out an ambitious employer-led approach aimed at making Further Education (FE) provision more responsive to local skills needs and ultimately local economic needs.
As part of this approach, Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) were introduced as a key part of the Government’s vision of an adult skills system where businesses are given a much stronger voice in local skills planning by working closely with FE providers, engaging effectively with local leaders and other stakeholders and forging a stronger and more dynamic partnership that will enable provision to be more responsive to the skills needs of employers in local labour markets.
The LSIP is looking to have significant engagement from the business community in order to ascertain skills requirements and the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill provides a statutory underpinning for local skills improvement plans. It introduces duties on providers to co-operate in the development of and then have regard to the plans.
Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Milton Keynes Chamber of Commerce and Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce are the Designated Lead for the development of the LSIP for our region and we are now inviting expressions of interest from the following-
- Private Sector Business Representatives based within the SEMLEP region. This includes self-employed, SMEs, Large Corporates and Voluntary Community Social Enterprises (VCSE)
- Independent Training Providers currently delivering training programmes within the SEMLEP region.
Purpose of Executive Group
The LSIP Executive Group’s task is to oversee the successful delivery of the LSIP in our region
More specifically - to meet bi-monthly (from December 2022 to June 2023 inclusive), and discuss the project deliverables, identify areas that need addressing to ensure LSIP success and to support LSIP where possible in the areas of employer driven labour market information (LMI), research and consultation with employers, sector bodies, other stakeholders and education providers etc.
It is expected that meetings will be a mix of virtual and face to face.
Function
The LSIP Executive Group will operate under the Northamptonshire Chambers of Commerce (as lead on the LSIP) and will be responsible for:
- Ensuring the LSIP takes forward to the Secretary of State the skills priorities for our region (SEMLEP) as identified in consultations and engagements with providers, employers, trade bodies and other stakeholders
- Reviewing LSIP progress against the LSIP Project Plan and highlighting areas for action
- Reviewing evidence of skills need gathered during consultations and overseeing and agreeing identified skills related priorities for the LSIP
- Providing knowledge as required to the LSIP Delivery Team on areas related to skills, skills demand, skills gaps etc
Desired Attributes of Applicants
Applications are invited from parties with a keen interest in the skills needs of employers and the future planning of education to meet those needs.
Please click here to register your interest
Closing date for expressions of interest is Friday 9th December 2022 at 5pm. Successful candidates will be informed on Tuesday 13th December 2022 by 5pm.
Please note, all successful applicants invited to join the group will be expected to complete a Register of Interest and Conflict of Interest form as required by the Department of Education, and adhere to the Project Data Sharing Agreement (available on request).
The first meeting of the Executive Group will be virtual, and is expected to take place before the end of the year. Date to be confirmed, but is likely to be the 22nd December 2022.
