A WORD FROM MARK HILTON, POLICY DELIVERY DIRECTOR:

We’re pleased to be bringing you our third edition of the London Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) Newsletter. As many of you will already know, the London LSIP is being led by BusinessLDN alongside a range of partners across London and aims to shift the dial on skills in the capital across priority business sectors and key cross cutting themes including green and digital skills.

Since our last edition in May, the team has been working hard to engage employers, providers, and key stakeholders at the pan-London level by continuing to amplify the LSIP at external events, and monitoring progress as we look to capture the impact of the LSIP in its first year. Much activity is taking place in each of London’s four sub regions, too, as we set out below. We have produced an annual progress report which tells a positive story, with training providers working together to meet our priority skills needs and employers increasingly engaging in our activities.  We are excited to share this with you as soon as the new ministerial team in the Department for Education give us – and the other LSIPs across England – the green light.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on what you’d like us to include in future editions of the newsletter. Please do contact the team at skills@businessldn.co.uk if you have any content you would like to submit.

LSIP HIGHLIGHTS

In July, BusinessLDN held an LSIP session on building a world-class careers system in London. Attendees heard from The Careers and Enterprise Company, Local London Careers Hub, and The Crown Estate on what London needs to foster a careers system that works for learners, educators, and employers.

Post-event, the Careers and Enterprise Company provided valuable content on their vision and model, as well as their education outreach pack for employers.

Mark Hilton  gave a keynote speech at South London Partnership’s LSIP conference, held on 20^th June at Merton College. Mark spoke about skills needs across London, touching on why the LSIP matters to employers, our approach, and the impact of the LSIP so far.

If you’d like one of the BusinessLDN team to speak about the LSIP at one of your events, please get in touch,

GET INVOLVED

The London LSIP is vital in the continuing evolution of London’s skills landscape for individuals, education providers, and employers. We are keen to involve as many stakeholders as possible through events and our media and communication channels. If you are interested, click here to find out more on how to get involved.

LOCAL SKILLS PULSE: SUB-REGIONAL PARTNER UPDATES

Local London

Local London has created an employer offer to showcase their aims, their collaboration with businesses, as well as how they can support and bridge skills gaps in our sub-region. If you’re interested in participating and exploring how their extensive network across nine East London boroughs can benefit you, please get in touch. They are especially keen to connect with businesses in the manufacturing and distribution sectors.

In May and June, Local London hosted two Green Skills Breakfast events for SMEs, facilitating valuable discussions between employers and their local college about individual businesses skills gaps and how the college can directly support.

In line with LSIP priorities, Local London’s Integration Hub has developed a range of sector based publications aimed at the 50 + demographic in Local London and co-designed with jobseekers. Each publication offers simplified careers information that is accessible and easy to follow for their 5 key sectors.

Contact Cathy Back for more information or to get involved.

West London Alliance (WLA)

On Thursday, 6 June, over 100 guests attended the launch of the West London Retail Skills Hub a brand-new venture launched by Westfield, Spark! and West London College. The Hub will support people of all ages to start or grow their career in retail and was inspired by one of the key recommendations arising from the West London Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP).  It is funded through a blend of investment from the public and private sectors. Find out more about the West London Retail Skills Hub.

Education and training for the Health and Social Care Sector in West London was centre stage at the first West London Health, Care and Life Sciences workforce development forum held on 18th June.  The forum has been developed to support initiatives to drive collaboration between FE & HE institutions and employers.  The room was filled with enthusiasm for what can be achieved by aligning work more closely to tackle the recruitment and skills challenges in the sector.

Building a network of inclusive employers in West London: Work is underway to support businesses to become more inclusive in their recruitment and retention in order to secure the best outcomes for our residents. WLA have published an introductory Toolkit, host regular network meetings and are offering bespoke 1:1 support for any business that needs additional help to achieve their goals. Full details on the project here.

Understanding the ESOL system in West London: WLA have recently published a report to help understand the ESOL system in West London, and which interventions would be the most impactful for improving both the quality of existing provision, and the uptake of provision.

Contact Anna Gration to get involved or subscribe to the West London Skills Bulletin.

SPOTLIGHT ON SKILLS AND TRAINING IN LONDON

This section of the newsletter provides stakeholders with an opportunity to highlight best practice in London – and can be used to showcase case studies from the LSIP report, blogs, and updates from previous case studies. Please get in touch if you’d like to be featured (skills@businessldn.co.uk).

London South East College have partnered with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Quantum (an Independent Training Provider), and Daikin (a green products manufacturer) to pilot the Green Skills Sector-Based Work Academy Programme (SWAP).

This five-week programme is being hosted at the college’s state-of-the-art Green Skills Lab at its Bromley Campus. 20 learners over the age of 18 have been recruited by the DWP, with funding from the Local London Mayor’s Skills Academy Green Hub initiative.

Every participant to complete the programme will get a guaranteed job interview with Daikin and Quantum reflecting the commitment to support learners in securing employment. To read more click here.

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) has recently launched the Flexible AI Upskilling Fund Pilot, a £6.4 million grant scheme which subsidises the cost for UK SMEs in the Professional and Business Services to procure AI skills training.

The pilot specifically seeks to stimulate employer investment in AI training, measure the impact of AI upskilling on business productivity and outcomes, and address AI skills gaps in the UK workforce limiting AI adoption. Applications are being accepted until 18^th August 2024.

To find out more and apply, click here.

Barnet & Southgate College’s STUDIO project enables learning in an industry-standard environment through new creative media courses, along with leading-edge kit and facilities. This prepares students for a transition into the working environment, in terms of their sector skills and insight. Industry input has informed the design of learning spaces and the procurement of leading-edge equipment across TV, film, sound, games, VFX and animation production. The College is building a network of industry advisers, partners and deliverers to support course delivery.

To learn more about the STUDIO project, click here.

Opportunity: Nominations for the Mayor of London Adult Learning Awards are now open! The Awards celebrate London’s fantastic adult skills sector and are key to the Mayor’s commitment to help Londoners and businesses get the skills they need to thrive. Click here to find out more and nominate!

THE LOCAL SKILLS IMPROVEMENT FUND

The Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) is designed to enable further education providers across the capital’s four sub-regional partnership areas to respond collectively to the priorities in the LSIPs. Find out more below:

• Central London Forward: New City College
• Local London: London South East Colleges
• South London Partnership: South Thames College Group
• West London Alliance: Harrow, Richmond & Uxbridge Colleges

LSIP IN THE NEWS

For updates on our upcoming LSIP events, please visit the events section of our LSIP microsite.