The REC Essential Guide to Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs)

Last week, the REC participated in a roundtable focusing on London's Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIPs). BusinessLDN, the facilitators of the London LSIP, invited a range of stakeholders (education providers, employers, labour market policy specialists and government) to discuss the acute labour and skills shortages across the UK. As outlined in our 'Overcoming Shortages' report, a key recommendation made to the government was the expansion of the LSIPs model across the UK - in ways which are specific for each devolved system.

At the REC, we firmly believe that involving our members and using their local labour market expertise within the LSIPs model is critical.

Background to LSIPs

Introduced in the Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth White Paper (October 2021) by then Secretary of State, Gavin Williamson, Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) were a newly invented model designed to connect education providers with employers to ensure sufficient skills development to match local and regional labour demands. LSIPs are the UK's equivalent to the employer-led education systems in Germany and the Netherlands. At the time of its creation, there were only eight trailblazer pilots. However, these have now expanded to 32 across England.

Why recruiters are needed in LSIPs

As outlined earlier, the premise of an LSIP is to ensure that skills and labour market participation are locally driven and that experts can identify challenges and opportunities most relevant to each specific region. It is with this in mind that our REC members - with their extensive knowledge of labour and skills demands in their areas - can play a critical role in highlighting these challenges. However, recruiter participation is a postcode lottery with some Local Chambers, like Shropshire for example, relying heavily on the expertise of local staffing experts. Elsewhere, including in London, this expert insight is missing. Having accurate, up-to-date labour market intelligence is vital if LSIPs are to be a success.

Our work on LSIPs

We want to make a case for recruiters to be involved in all 32 LSIPs, as well as in any future ones. 

With this in mind, here is what the REC is doing, and where our members can be more involved:

• Connecting with all LSIPs and sharing the REC's research and labour market expertise. When the Department for Education initially designed the LSIPs, recruiter presence wasn't at the forefront. We are reaching out to all the LSIPs and trying to ensure that changes.
   
• Attending LSIP roundtables: We are attending roundtable meetings and engaging with those involved in LSIPs when possible. Details for the remaining London LSIPs can be found by clicking here.
   
• Case studies: We are interested in talking to any member's to see if they have experiences of LSIPs so that we can build case studies and share those with existing LSIPs and the Department for Education ahead to put in the finalised LSIPs in Summer 2023. These case studies and testimonials will also help to help with the refining and tweaking process of LSIPs between 2023 – 2025.

If you have any questions about the LSIPs policy or need some further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Usman.Ali@rec.uk.com