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Are LSIPs going to work?

The CBI has submitted recommendations on how to make the Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) work – read key analysis on the most significant development of the English skills system to date.

28 Jun 2022, 3 min read

Getting the policy right is key to Levelling Up regions across the country and unlocking business investment in skills. The CBI welcomes Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) as an opportunity to close skills gaps and make the skills system more responsive to the needs of employers at local level.

Led by the Department for Education, the LSIP project aims to help change the way education and training providers interact with local business to respond to regional requirements. LSIP pilots were trialled across eight regions.

The CBI worked with local Chambers of Commerce to promote the trailblazer pilots that ran from Autumn 2021 to Spring 2022 to businesses. We will continue to offer our support to designated employer representative bodies (ERBs) as LSIPs are rolled out nationally later this year.

More work needs to be done to ensure LSIPs boost the quality of engagement between businesses and providers

The aim of this report is to highlight what needs to happen to ensure that LSIPs will be a success. We believe that:

  1. LSIPs must be directed towards businesses most in need of a voice in the skills system.
  2. LSIPs should be given the scope to embrace cross-cutting sector issues.
  3. Providers need to be equipped to deliver LSIPs.
  4. LSIPs will need to be kept under regular review to ensure the plans remain current and useful.

We are calling for:

  1. Effort to be directed at engaging businesses most in need of a voice in the skills system.
  2. The information gathered via LSIPs to be reflected in and used to inform national policy initiatives via the new Unit for Future Skills.
  3. LSIPs to help explain the local dimension to national priorities.
  4. ERBs to complete major reviews of LSIP content on a 3-yearly basis.
  5. A single LSIP hub on gov.uk so that all information relating to LSIPs is in one easily accessible place.

Published in January 2021, the Skills for Jobs White Paper set out government’s ambition to transform skills and training and Level Up across regions

With local Chambers of Commerce holding the pen, plans were produced by employers and further education providers working in partnership to offer a high-level assessment of the skills firms need locally. The aim is to provide a framework for reshaping education and training provision around these priorities.

LSIPs have now been enshrined in the Skills and Post-16 Education Act and will be implemented across the country later this year.

Read our full submission for CBI expert insight into the heart of LSIPs policy.