Election 2024: Boost skills new Government urged

Boosting skills should be a key priority for the new Government but politicians have been urged not to tear up the whole system.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce set out three key barriers to growth for firms in the region and are raising those issues ahead of the General Election.

The shortage of employment land and the cost of doing business are holding back regional businesses, according to the Chamber, on top of a shortage of skills that makes recruitment difficult, particularly in certain sectors.

That inability to find the right staff means that businesses with strong order books are still struggling to grow because they don’t have the workforce to meet demand.

Sally Lucas, Executive Director of Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Training –the training arm of the Chamber, said: “We want to see a skills system that supports the creation of higher skilled, higher value jobs with structures that are easy to access and navigate, free from red tape and bureaucracy which flexibly meets the needs of all businesses – particularly SMEs.

“It needs to be a simplified, stable and clear system, which raises the demand for skills amongst employers through a system that is familiar and well understood. Employers need targeted support, advice and guidance to articulate their skills needs and access appropriate solutions.

“The Government needs to create coherent pathways where parts of the system join up and interlink.

“Whilst the apprenticeship levy provides a clear focus on the need to invest in apprenticeships, it requires refinement and flex.

“Recent data on the take-up of apprenticeships, shows that employers are investing in their existing workforce which is at the expense of the creation of new apprenticeship jobs -particularly for young people. The system needs to create more apprenticeship opportunities for young people. So, while the system needs refinement, it doesn’t need to be ripped up.

“It’s also crucial that we see greater investment in careers education, particularly for young people, to enable individuals to make informed decisions as well as connecting schools with local employers, preparing young people with work readiness skills and understanding.

“It’s also vitally important that we provide very clear pathways for adults to re-skill and up-skill through focussed, modularised skills solutions, because it is becoming increasingly important for people to up-skill themselves throughout their working life.”

Rajpal Kaur, the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) Project Manager at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said progress has been made.

The West Midlands and Warwickshire was awarded more than £10 million to deliver on the plan last year. The plan has been designed to support key industries in delivering the right skills for regional businesses through a partnership between companies and training providers.

Rajpal said: “The LSIP puts local skills provision in the hands of businesses – something the Chamber has been calling for over a number of years.

“There has been some great progress in identifying the needs and some of the solutions, and we’ve been thrilled by the level of buy-in from businesses and the training providers over the past year.

“It’s important that this work continues and that the new Government builds on the progress because it’s vitally important that we finally crack the skills shortage, particularly in those industries that will provide the growth for our economy.”

Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, added: “When you look at this area alone, we’ve potentially got exciting developments at HORIBA MIRA, Wellesbourne, the Gigapark and at Ansty which could create up to 30,000 jobs and we need to make sure we have the people with the skills to meet that demand.”

Coventry City Council, in partnership with Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, hosted the event ‘Business Growth: Harnessing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Success!’ at St Mary’s Guildhall.

Around 100 delegates attended the event chaired by Andy Williams, director of regeneration and economy at Coventry City Council, who gave an insight into his career path as well as what the council is doing to champion the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion. Andy is Coventry City Council’s first Executive Sponsor for Race at Work.

Keynote speaker Natasha Broomfield-Reid, of diversity and inclusion consultancy Diverse Matters, spoke about the differences between equity, equality, diversity and inclusion, and the benefits of investing in it.

This was followed by a panel session with Christabelle Amoakoh, of The Highfield Centre; Tina Chander, of Wright Hassall; Sharonjit Clare, of WMCA; Kennedy Campbell, of Skint2Mint and Richard Easter, of The Yard, who gave their own thoughts on inclusivity in the workplace and what can be done to enhance this.

Natasha Broomfield-Reid said: “It is a good thing to invest in diversity for many reasons. Every business wants the very best in talent that they could possibly reach, but sadly a lot of people don't assess how they can reach the widest pool of people and may recruit in the same way every time. This often results in insufficient people applying and not having a wider range of applicants.

“Businesses need to do things differently so that people believe that they are an organisation that’s welcoming to them, whoever they are.