A WORD FROM MARK HILTON, POLICY DELIVERY DIRECTOR:

This is the fourth London Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) Newsletter, delivered to your inbox by BusinessLDN, and it comes to you at a time of significant change in the world of skills. Nationally, our new Government has proposed structural and policy changes to support its growth mission, with plans to establish Skills England, a new national executive agency of the DfE which will aim to coordinate skills and migration policy in-line with the new Industrial Strategy, and a Growth and Skills Levy, to replace the current Apprenticeship Levy and introduce greater flexibility around how levy money can be spent in the future.

In London, we are part way through development of a new Growth Plan where skills will be one of the key planks. These are exciting times, and we believe LSIPs can play an important role in this new landscape, continuing to ensure the employer voice is heard loud and clear. More on that in future editions of this newsletter.   

Meanwhile, our work to deliver the London LSIP doesn’t stop. Since our last edition in May, we are proud to report the publication of both the London Local Skills Improvement Plan Progress Report, as well as our Advanced Digital Skills (ADS) Report titled ‘Pioneering Advanced Digital Skills for All: Making London the Best Tech City in the World’.

We are also planning our LSIP Spring Conference, which will bring our network of employers, educators and policymakers together to keep building on our skills successes – more on that soon.

BusinessLDN has been working with our sub-regional partners and key stakeholders to create a video promoting the work of the LSIP in its first year and showcasing good practice across London, find it below! Finally, please do contact the team at skills@businessldn.co.uk if you have any ideas or content you would like to submit for future newsletters.

LSIP HIGHLIGHTS

In September, BusinessLDN launched the London Local Skills Improvement Plan Progress Report. A year on from the LSIP’s publication, the first annual Progress Report highlights how it is already shifting the dial on collaboration around skill development in the capital. Improved joint working between educators and employers, more firms delivering apprenticeships and co-creating new courses, and investments in high-tech green and digital skills training facilities are just some of the highlights.

Earlier this month, BusinessLDN launched our ‘Pioneering Advanced Digital Skills  For All’ Report. The study addresses the huge demand from London’s employers for advanced digital skills, and looks at the barriers to delivering these. The report provides insight into the ADS gap in London, and sets out solutions to the city’s unique challenges, encouraging local government, employers, and providers to all play their part in the digital skills revolution in London, helping to make  the capital the best tech city in the world.

Last week, London Metropolitan University and New City College hosted an event entitled ‘Getting London Building’, supported by BusinessLDN and hosted by LandSec. Discussion focused on how FE and HE are working to improve uptake of construction-based courses, with attendees hearing from Alison Arnaud, Principal, Hackney College, Sean Flynn, Dean and Founding Head of the School of the Built Environment, London Metropolitan University, and Ayo Akande, Assistant Director, Employment and Skills, GLA.

GET INVOLVED

The London LSIP is vital in the continuing evolution of London’s skills landscape for individuals, education providers, and employers. We are keen to involve as many stakeholders as possible through events and our media and communication channels. If you are interested, click here to find out more on how to get involved.

LOCAL SKILLS PULSE: SUB-REGIONAL PARTNER UPDATES

Local London

Local London is collaborating with Thames Freeport to amplify key messages around skills gaps and training needs in the Local London sub-region and beyond.

Focusing on the digital and creative sector, discussions are underway with the Thames Estuary Production Corridor to explore opportunities for broader support in skills and employment initiatives where relevant.

Within the construction industry, Local London is hosting a roundtable at the end of October, to initiate analysis of the skills needs and training provision within the sub-region, engaging both industry leaders and training providers.

Local London’s employer offer highlights our collaborative approach to businesses, showcasing how we work to address skills gaps in the Local London sub-region. If you’re interested in learning how our extensive network across nine East London boroughs can support your organisation, please reach out.

Contact Cathy Back for more information or to get involved.

West London Alliance (WLA)

There was great enthusiasm at the  West London Film & TV Skills & Job Fest which took place on Monday 15 July at BoxPark Wembley. There was a strong emphasis on promoting the less well-known roles within the creative sector and for which there continues to be recruitment challenges. The event was organised and delivered by the West London TV & Film Skills Hub via the JGA Group and Garden Studios.

On 19 September WLA hosted over 35 local businesses for a session on understanding neurodiversity and how to support new and existing colleagues effectively. The Department for Work and Pensions shared an overview of the support available to employers to take on employees with additional needs through Access To Work. WLA has also been running deep dives into the construction sector for work coaches/careers advisors with employers so that they better understand the sector, and hence can better support unemployed residents into good careers in the sector.

The latest issue of the West London Skills Bulletin can be found here, containing details on the West London Youth Careers Summit which will be returning on 14 November 2024. To book your place click here

Contact Anna Gration to get involved or subscribe to the West London Skills Bulletin.

South London Partnership (SLP)

Within SLP, the newly formed South London Skills & Employment Alliance has drafted a Skills and Employment Partnership Charter to formalise the strong partnership and growth ambitions of the sub-region. The South London Local Skills Improvement Plan conference was held on 20 June, delivered in partnership by SLP and the LSIF Lead College, South Thames Colleges Group.  With over 80 attendees, the event provided opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to network, experience catering from hospitality students, hear from keynote speakers from employee representative bodies, including BusinessLDN, gather updates on LSIF funded project delivery, and participate in focussed strategic discussion on LSIP roadmap implementation.

SLP has also welcomed a new employer engagement officer to focus on strengthening the SRPs employer offer and maximise business engagement across South London. The role-holder will be developing an employer training needs assessment model (as detailed within the SLP roadmap) as well as delivery of priority sector and SME events later in the year.

Contact Kirsty Hogg to learn more or to get involved.

Central London Forward

Central London Forward is pleased to invite employers from across the health and life sciences sectors to Business Breakfast: Demystifying Health and Life Science, in partnership with the Inclusive Health & Life Sciences Coalition, taking place on 21 October at the London Centre at 8:00am.

This event, hosted by the Lord Mayor’s Connect to Prosper programme, Lateral, and eight London boroughs will focus on showcasing and creating inclusive career pathways in life sciences, with a keynote speech from the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of the City of London Professor Michael Mainelli. There will be presentations on pilot projects that have started over the summer with input from children & young people, teachers, social mobility experts, local politicians and employers as well as the opportunity to network with key sector stakeholders and local elected representatives.

You can find more information and sign up here.

Contact Euan Cadzow-Webb to learn more or get involved.

SPOTLIGHT ON SKILLS AND TRAINING IN LONDON

This section of the newsletter provides stakeholders with an opportunity to highlight best practice in London – and can be used to showcase case studies from the LSIP report, blogs, and updates from previous case studies. Please get in touch if you’d like to be featured (skills@businessldn.co.uk).

Envision empowers young people from less-advantaged backgrounds to develop their essential skills and confidence. Its structured programme is delivered in schools by trained Envision staff. Envision partner young people with Envision Programme Coordinators and a team of mentors from a local business to deliver a social action project that makes a positive change in their school community.

Working towards project goals and key milestones, young people build the essential skills and confidence proven to support their education, employment and well-being.

Find out more about the programme here.

Early Connect is a unique pilot being delivered in partnership between the Department for Education (DfE) and UCAS, aiming to support more young people onto apprenticeships, and to make it easier for employers to find apprentices. Greater London is one of the three pilot regions. This new initiative run by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the DfE aims to help current year 13 students to find and apply for apprenticeships across Greater London.

Employers operating in the Greater London region can help participants to get an apprenticeship by posting their apprenticeship opportunities on the Government’s ‘Find an Apprentice’ portal.

Please contact Rezaul Hussain for more information.

The Greater London Authority has recently published research on the delivery of transferable skills through GLA adult skills funding in London. This research aims to improve the GLA’s understanding of the delivery and impact of transferable skills provision as well as challenges and success factors in supporting development of such skills.

Read the report here.

The City of London Corporation has launched a new Skyline Skills Hub resource, showcasing and signposting green skills best practice from across Central London's commercial built environment. The Hub is designed to raise awareness of the competitive careers and training opportunities in the sector, to encourage diverse new entrants to join the workforce, and promote investment in green upskilling and reskilling. 

If your organisation or network is delivering innovative green skills and diversity work that should be showcased in the Skyline Skills Hub, then please get in touch.

Westminster City Council’s £1m recruitment service for hospitality and leisure businesses, Westminster Works, has introduced a new experiential way of placing entry level candidates in some of London’s top restaurants and hotels despite them having no direct experience or training.

The service was developed by Attis and Step Ahead to help businesses that were having difficulty in recruiting staff immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses were encouraged to drop the traditional CV approach and instead recruit on attitude and potential. Step Ahead created a range of opportunities for employers to see job-seekers in action, including the UK’s first Recruitment Restaurant. Find out more here.

West London College has been awarded funds through the Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) to respond to local demand for logistics skills, after gaps were found within the LSIP.

This funding has allowed the College to strategically position itself as a champion for supporting logistic skills and careers by developing a dedicated Hub. The Logistics Skills and Careers Hub will foster collaboration between the sector and the talent pipeline of the future, through connecting employers and prospective employees.

The Logistics Skills and Careers Partnership Board, which consists of external stakeholders, will provide the oversight and steer to ensure the Hub delivers its agreed objectives.

The Logistic Skills and Careers Hub officially launched on 17 October 2024. Read more here.

Opportunity: Pearson is seeking employers as industry experts to join its Employer Panels. The panels review content, scenarios, terms and language to provide industry expertise. If you are interested in the opportunity, please reach out to Andrew Hambelton, Stakeholder Engagement Manager.

THE LOCAL SKILLS IMPROVEMENT FUND

The Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) is designed to enable further education providers across the capital’s four sub-regional partnership areas to respond collectively to the priorities in LSIPs. Find out more below:

• Central London Forward: New City College
• Local London: London South East Colleges
• South London Partnership: South Thames College Group
• West London Alliance: Harrow, Richmond & Uxbridge Colleges

LSIP IN THE NEWS

FE News – With the right approach, Skills England can shift the dial on closing skills gaps

The Standard – The simplistic migration debate is misguided –  business needs both more trained UK workers AND foreign talent

For updates on our upcoming LSIP events, please visit the events section of our LSIP microsite.