Local Skills for Productivity Alliance LSPA

1
Local Skills for Productivity Alliance (LSPA)

• Peter Collinge
• Isle of Wight LSPA Chair

2
The Business Communitys View

• A confused offer from the public sector, who to
  go to, what is available.
• A plethora of strategic partnerships with not
  that much evidence of actual follow through to
  making things happen on the ground.

3
Successful Hampshire and Isle of Wight

• Diverse economy of 90,000 businesses
• 836,000 employees making Hampshire IOW the
  largest sub-region
• Low unemployment
• Specialist sectors e.g. Aerospace, Defence,
  Leisure and Marine

4
Key Economic Facts

• Hampshire and IOW represent 22 of the South East
  area
• Unemployment static at 1.3
• Yet 14,400 vacancies
• 22 of residents poor literacy and numeracy
• 13 increase in population until 2021
• GVA increase 33.6 while SE is 40.6

5
Skills Issues

• Forecast employment growth 2005-2014
• Key Sectors
• Tourism Hospitality
• Business Services
• Construction
• Retail
• Care

6
Example of Skills Issues

• Workforce with no qualifications 8
• Employers with hard-to-fill vacancies 9
• Employers reporting skills gaps affecting
  prosperity 23

7
Comments from Employers

• We used private providers because colleges are
  too inflexible
• Colleges perception is that employers are often
  unable to communicate exactly what their needs
  are
• Employers perception is that qualifications are
  often secondary to skills for the job
• We want just in time training that can be
  tapped into as needs arise
• Employers struggle to forge definite links with
  local schools and colleges

8
Employers Perceived Reality

• Employers spend more on training than the
  Government
• Employers in the UK spend more time in structured
  training than their counterparts
• Employers can readily identify job specific
  skills
• Employers can readily identify job specific skill
  needs but are less able to identify generic skill
  issues e.g. management/supervisory or literacy
  and numeracy

9

• Train to Gain
• Apprenticeships
• Demand Led?

10
The Challenge

• Raising skills awareness
• Keeping employers involved

11
How We Engage with Employers

• Selling Points
• Opportunity to identify skills/employment issues
  currently unmet
• Never before have key public agencies offered a
  joined up response
• See some of their concerns turned into action
• Provide unique employer forum

12
How it Works

• Employer forum to tackle skills and employment
  issues unmet by current skills training provision
• Public sector partners form a response to tackle
  these issues
• Ensure employers are aware of skills offer from
  public sector partners

13
Who is Involved

• Partners
• SE England Development Agency (SEEDA)
• Jobcentre Plus
• Business Link
• LSC
• Chaired by the Business Community

14
Employer Involvement

• Employer led with a current membership of over
• 200 employers Including
• Financial Services
• Transport and Logistics
• Construction
• Retail
• Advanced Engineering
• Technology
• Tourism
• Marine
• Plus network of 500 employers/stakeholders
  

15
Health Warning

• Limited resources
• Cant be all things to all people

16
Employment Skills Boards (ESBs)

• A truly demand led approach

17
Local Skills for Productivity Alliance (LSPA)

• Peter Collinge
• Isle of Wight LSPA Chair