Essex LSIP - LSIP – Skills Priorities now available

LSIP – Skills Priorities now available

Welcome to the third edition of this e-bulletin, updating you on development of the Essex LSIP. Further information is available on our website and you can also email us at lsip@essexchambers.co.uk. This update includes general skills news, so please get in touch if you have any to share.

In recent months and weeks, a lot of engagement has been happening through the roundtable discussions and business survey. The Essex Chamber of Commerce concluded roundtable discussions with employers and providers in March and those findings are now being reviewed and analysed, to help inform the development of the LSIP.

Key sectors for focus have been informed by feedback and data. Further information on these will be produced as accompanying reports to the main LSIP. Priorities and skills highlighted at roundtables, in the survey and endorsed by data have informed initial recommendations for the LSIP (submitted to the DfE) further to the LSIP Board approving them at its March meeting. For now, the broad priorities highlighted were:

Essex Skills Priorities – The skills, behaviours and attitudes Essex employers need from staff now and in the future. These included: Soft-skills and behaviours; Basic English, Maths and EOSL (English for Speakers of Other Languages); Digital Skills and “Digitech”; Green Skills; Leadership and Management.
Essex Skills System Priorities – The skills system challenges reported by employers. These included; Lack of flexibility in the system; Information, Careers Advice and Guidance (CIAG); tutor shortages and capacity of providers to respond; inclusive employment; barriers to engagement and the wider skills planning system for Essex.
Key sectors for focus have been informed by the data and with feedback at the roundtables as to skills needed by employers in those sectors. These include Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering and Aviation; AgriTech and FoodTech; Community and Voluntary; Construction and the Built Environment; Creative and Cultural; DigiTech; Education (added due to shortages); Health, Social Care and Med Tech; Professional Services; Transport and Logistics.

These priorities and recommendations were reviewed by the DfE and will be included and expanded on within the LSIP report, alongside data and intelligence. Once fully drafted, the LSIP report will be shared with the LSIP Board for approval in mid-May, ahead of submission to the Secretary of State at the end of May ’23.

A final version is due to be published by the DfE in the summer, so that delivery against the plan can commence in the autumn. There is also a new Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) due to be launched (following early market engagement) to help colleges and providers to deliver against the priorities and recommendations identified through the LSIP.