The ambitions of the strategy are to:
- Support alignment of provision, facilities and activity with employer needs.
- Remove discrepancies between the skills and attainment needed by employers and those held by individuals.
- Inform, inspire and raise aspirations of the talent pipeline.
- Enable people into employment and those within employment to progress.
- Deliver through employer-led engagement, best practice and innovation.
- Guide stakeholders through informed labour market information.
- Coordinate, facilitate and simplify engagement for all stakeholders.
This strategy aims to influence local partners and feed intelligence to the central government, including the national-level Skills and Productivity Board.
The Skills Strategy includes the cross-cutting themes of:
- Being employer-led.
- Delivery including employer engagement to maximise impact.
- Accessible labour market information for use by stakeholders.
- Coordination of provision and support of local and national providers.
- Leveraging local and national initiatives to support local people and the economy.
- Supporting inclusivity and diversity throughout.
Governance of the SEMLEP Skills Strategy is through the Skills Advisory Panel (SAP) which operates under delegations from the SEMLEP Board and full terms of reference can be found here.
The Department for Education (DfE) supports the SAP with grant funding primarily to produce high-quality analysis of the local labour market and Local Skills Report.
The SEMLEP Skills Strategy comprises the Local Skills Report and two annexes containing the supporting data and evidence base. Further evidence can be found in Skills Needs.