The South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership has now
formally closed as a registered limited company.

To stay updated on the latest economic developments throughout the region, we encourage you to visit the South East Midlands Growth Hub. The SEM Growth Hub also provides free business advice and guidance to all businesses, manages funding and grant programmes and has an extensive resource library where businesses can find additional support.

Northampton Waterside Campus Northampton Waterside Campus

Economic Strategies and Plans

Northampton Waterside Campus
People talking in a building under construction People talking in a building under construction

Economic Strategies and Plans

People talking in a building under construction
Northampton College Advanced Engineering Centre Northampton College Advanced Engineering Centre

Economic Strategies and Plans

Northampton College Advanced Engineering Centre
A Starship Robot driving down a street A Starship Robot driving down a street

Economic Strategies and Plans

A Starship Robot driving down a street
School students having a discussion with their teacher School students having a discussion with their teacher

Economic Strategies and Plans

School students having a discussion with their teacher
East Northamptonshire Enterprise Centre East Northamptonshire Enterprise Centre

Economic Strategies and Plans

East Northamptonshire Enterprise Centre
   

Growing People Skills Plan

‘Growing People’ is an employer-led strategic plan for skills development in the South East Midlands.

Working with partners from businesses, all providers across all stages of education, third sector, agencies and local authorities, the plan sets out how we will build a talent pipeline to meet the skills needs of local employers, by providing and highlighting opportunities, unlocking people’s potential and by enhancing employer engagement in a long-term skills agenda.  

Growing People Skills Plan

Having a workforce with key employment skills- core competencies, behaviours, attitudes, and technical and vocational skills has helped to make the South East Midlands economy thrive.

Securing these employability skills, at appropriate attainment levels, brings a positive social impact. It opens doors to opportunities, provides financial security for individuals, families and communities which, in turn, leads to prosperity and buoyancy in the local economy.

The ‘Growing People’ Skills Plan focuses on lifelong skills development. Working with partners across all stages and pathways of education and employment, the Plan sets out how we will develop the talent pipeline and opportunity for individuals and employers in the South East Midlands.

The ambitions of the Growing People Plan are:

  • To inform people and stakeholders about opportunities by improving employer and sector-driven labour market information
  • To address discrepancies between the skills and attainment levels needed by employers and those held by people of all ages
  • To address skills gaps between those held by employees and those required by employers
  • Enable people into employment and support people in employment to progress

The four key challenges affecting the national and local economy are:

  • Skills gap: a shortage and mismatch of skilled people needed by employers in some occupations within key sectors.
  • Ageing population: net job growth is predicted to increase over the next 20 years, with a significant increase of people over 50 and fewer young people entering the working-age population. This will place pressure on the labour market. 
  • Digital: the growth of the digital sector and increasing pace of the introduction and use of digital technology in all sectors is having an impact on the way people work. Digitalisation offers opportunity for those with digital literacy and specialist digital skills.
  • Leaving the EU: Some sectors report that this already impacting on their industry, with changing legislation on movement restrictions likely to result in labour shortages in some sectors and on skill levels.

 

The Growing People Skills plan is sector and employer-driven, and will be delivered through the participation and collaboration of a wide range of stakeholders.

SEMLEP will:

  • Work with local businesses, stakeholders and educators through the Skills Advisory Panel to review evidence of need, identify priorities for action and facilitate collaboration
  • Develop strategies with partners for building relevant capacity within education, training providers and employers
  • Prioritise the development of core competencies, attitudes, behaviours, technical, vocational, digital and STEM skills
  • Enhance employer-led development of the talent pipeline through effective careers information and supporting employers to provide inspiration and advice in schools, colleges and universities, including special educational needs and alternative provision
  • Promote all relevant pathways based on employer needs to all cohorts
  • Promote and support high impact provision supporting vulnerable, hard to reach groups and people with barriers to work into, or progression within, employment
  • Promote the retention of people in work, up-skilling and re-skilling within businesses and organisations
  • Continue to promote the importance and opportunities of inclusivity and diversity to individuals and employers
  • Develop greater business engagement with educators, third sector and agencies
  • Develop calls for delivery on activity related to all the above for funding streams
  • Ensure future activity complements existing, follows best practice and includes innovative approaches with robust impact assessment processes

For more information on SEMLEP’s activity, go to our growing-people/ pages or read the full skills plan by clicking here.

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