Collaboration Key to Improve Skills Landscape - Business West host Skills England

Collaboration was the theme of the day when Business West welcomed representatives from Skills England to the West of England.  

The visit was an opportunity for the recently formed Skills England team to hear from employers, education providers and local authority in the region, and for these organisations to speak directly to the new government body that aims to “work with partners to create better skills for better jobs, enabling growth and opportunity.” 

The day focused on the region’s skills needs, the work and collaboration that is already happening across the local area, plus how to help businesses now, and in the future. It was also a chance to showcase the impressive local facilities.  

With Business West, the Department for Education, Futures West and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA), including Mayor Helen Godwin, in attendance, the day started with a roundtable discussion hosted in the heart of Bristol, at Engine Shed. 

This was followed by visits to the Bristol Department for Education office, the Temple Quarter Research Hub and the University of Bristol, finishing off with a tour around GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Centre including the West of England Institute of Technology facilities. 

Lastly, a roundtable conversation was hosted at GKN with attendees from Business West, West of England Institute of Technology, Western Training Provider Network, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and NCC. 

Discussions throughout the day centred around several different topics including: 

• Collaboration – Organisations in the region already collaborate well and there is the appetite and enthusiasm to work together more. Collaboration was noted as imperative to futureproof industries such as manufacturing. There are already some fantastic projects in progress, such as the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer (run by West of England MCA) and the Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), plus it was said that the West of England is keen to help trial new government initiatives.
   
• Obstacles business face with the skills system – It's not a secret that the skills landscape can be difficult for businesses to navigate and we offered some short-term solutions in our recent blog. The importance of collaboration and conversations with SMEs was highlighted, to enhance understanding about the particular challenges they face, in order to learn how to support them in the right way. Simplifying and futureproofing the skills system was a key priority for everyone in the room. Some work has already been done on how to work with SMEs in different sectors via the Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) and noted was in depth work such as the Creative Entrepreneurship Report by Business West.
   
• Barriers to individuals getting into work and training – Training and upskilling was mentioned as needing to be inclusive and accessible to everyone, including those on the shop floor in industries such as manufacturing.  There is also work to be done on helping young people, parents, education providers and employers to understand different and preferred pathways into jobs. Poor public transport and high housing costs were also mentioned as barriers across the area. The Youth Guarantee Trailblazer was an example of work being done to improve some of these barriers for young people, while also working towards the wider priorities of the region.  
   
• How to plug skills gaps and improve information provided to businesses – Data is important to Skills England, to ensure that everyone across the skills system is “working to the same playbook” and that the right work is being done to fill skills gaps that businesses actually need.  The local authority is continuously listening and learning from stakeholders and partners locally. Whilst the region is strong in productivity, there are gaps in the skills of those coming out of education and what employers are looking for in work-ready skills, which the LSIPs have highlighted. Transferable skills were noted as important to have, particularly by those working in the manufacturing and engineering sectors.  
   
• How to resolve ongoing issues across different locations and within key sectors – Ongoing collaboration, continued conversations with businesses and further progress on the work we’re already doing in the region will continue to help reduce skills gaps. There is more to come from the LSIPs with further guidance expected from the Department for Education soon and the next iteration starting in the autumn. The Youth Guarantee Trailblazer has recently been launched offering free tailored support to help young people into work, education and training and the West of England MCA are currently working on a growth plan for the region. The Western Training Provider Network (WTPN), alongside the West of England MCA also offers a 'Share To Support' levy transfer service, which helps large employers gift their unspent levy to support small businesses across the West of England to hire and train apprentices. There is also an Apprenticeship Support Programme for SMEs available, which offers free, impartial advice from experts to help understand the apprenticeship system, and secure their dream apprentices.

Sarah Maclean, Joint Chief Executive of Skills England shared on LinkedIn, “Thanks to Business West for making Skills England so welcome and for supporting a rich discussion on the importance of skills in the region. Thanks also to University of Bristol, GKN Aerospace and West of England Institute of Technology for demonstrating cutting edge training and collaboration.” 

Mayor Helen Godwin commented on LinkedIn, “Thank you so much Business West and the Skills England team for this great opportunity to talk about our commitment to skills and training in the West of England and how pivotal the skills agenda is to our economic and social growth. It was brilliant to meet Sarah Maclean and her team!” 

Andrea Dell, Futures West Director said, "‘Futures West was proud to support the LSIP team in hosting Skills England. It was great to showcase the strong connections between industry, education and our politicians. There is much we can be proud of, and this was on full display. We also know that we have challenges, and we can only address these by working together. Futures West looks forward to supporting our LSIP team in making the case, with our academic and business partners, for further investment into this region’s skills eco-system."

Matt Tudge, Head of Skills at Business West said, “It was a pleasure to host Skills England, alongside some key employers and stakeholders in the region. It was valuable to all attendees to have the chance to talk about skills and the great collaboration in the area. The LSIPs are about meaningfully extending what is already happening within the skills landscape and helping to join the dots of initiatives that are in place – we want to work collaboratively – not reinvent the wheel. We’re looking forward to working more with Skills England and other partners to continue to improve, amplify and simplify the skills landscape.”