LSIP

LSIP Update

Local Skills Improvement Plan

An exciting new project has come to the region in the shape of the Local Skills Improvement Plan, which will run to July 2025. The project comes as part of a nationwide roll-out by the Department for Education, designed to help the post-16 education and training provision more suitable for meeting the needs of local employers. The Skills and Post-16 Act 2022 lays statute for this work across the country, and 32 of the 38 local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) are being led by Accredited Chambers of Commerce just like ours. The Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce is delighted to have been designated the statutory provider of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough LSIP, and we’ve been focused on bringing together support from our friends at Make UK, the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Chartered Business Institute, Cambridge Ahead and many more to make sure we deliver in a collaborative and joined up way for the entire region. Between us, we will bring together local businesses, training providers and a broad range of stakeholders to identify skills needed to increase opportunities and enable economic growth for the benefit of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough community. Skills shortages are regularly highlighted by Cambridgeshire businesses in our economic surveys as a key challenge for growth and even survival, and the region’s LSIP aims to put the voice of local employers at the heart of the learning and skills system to build stronger, more dynamic partnerships between employers and further education providers. Chamber Chief Executive, Vic Annells, commented: “We’ve had fantastic support and engagement so far from major post-16 education and training providers from across the region to help us to start to build on the fantastic work that has come before. “With the help of providers, our fellow business representative organisations and the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority, we’re helping employers to shape how their current and future workforce can access the right training and skills to thrive in the modern workplace.” Supporting the decision for the Chamber to deliver the LSIP, Fliss Miller, Interim Associate Skills Director at the CPCA, said: “If we are to tackle the skills shortages that our businesses experience, it is imperative that businesses have a louder voice in the skills system. Our partners in the Chambers of Commerce are well placed to facilitate this.” Building on the success of the eight Chamber-led trailblazers, which engaged more than 10,000 businesses, we’ll be taking an efficient, networkwide approach to enable businesses and training providers to work together to solve some of the region’s most pressing workforce challenges. We’ll be offering plenty of ways for businesses to get involved over the course of the project and hope to hear from as many of you as possible. To hear more about this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Laura Ruaux, LSIP Project Manager l.ruaux@cambscci.co.uk