Several recent studies have suggested that the UK currently has a skills gap, a gap between what employers want or need from their employees and the availability of employees to carry out those roles. Research in 2018 by the City & Guilds Group found:

“Employers are struggling to fill one in every four job vacancies due to a lack of appropriately skilled candidates.”

As the UK approaches Brexit, there are concerns that these skills gaps will only get wider. It is in this context that the government has made this policy pledge, to ensure that colleges help to fill these gaps, principally through Skills Advisory Panels (SAPs) and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

The government commenced work on this policy by hosting the first Skills Summit in November 2017.  The Summit was supported by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and brought together leading employers representing 3.5 million employees as part of an effort to “spearhead a major skills reform programme”. At the Summit, it was announced that seven regional SAPs were being established to “help identify the skills needs and employer demands at a local level, supporting colleges in providing training that is relevant”. The SAPs are not yet fully up-and-running and so this part of the policy can be deemed ‘in progress’.

The second part relates to Local Enterprise Partnerships, business-led partnerships between local authorities and local private sector businesses. The government reaffirmed its commitment to LEPs  in a policy document in July 2018, Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships which sets out a programme of support for LEPs. With the programme still in its early stages, this part of the proposal can be marked as ‘in progress’.

With both parts of the pledge initiated, the overall policy is ‘in progress’. To move to ‘done’ we’ll expect to see a fully operational network of SAPs and LEPs nationwide. Follow this policy to stay up to date.

More reading

• People Power – City & Guilds Group
• Nine in 10 UK employers struggling to find skilled workers with Brexit set to make shortage worse, survey finds – The Independent
• The UK skills gap: A problem for employers, an opportunity for workers – UK Construction Online
• Local Government Association  Industrial Strategy Briefing – Local Government Association
• Justine Greening hosts first ever DfE Skills Summit – Gov.uk
• How LEPs can build the local foundations for a global Britain – Gov.uk
• About LEPs – LEP Network
•  Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships – Gov.uk, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government