The Marches Local Skills Improvement Plan, known as LSIPs, is a UK Government funded project being rolled out by the Department for Education right across England. LSIP has one purpose, to put businesses at the heart of future post 16 skills training and development. This is all based on the Skills for Jobs White Paper released January 2021. The LSIPs project is designed to explore emerging skills needs as sectors evolve, automate, look to increase productivity and work to net zero. To also help the employers upskill their current staff to help to support business productivity, thus growing the economy for all.
This project is being rolled out across England, Stage 1 which dug deep into the needs of employers ran from September 2022 to July 2023. The final report on this work can be seen using the button below. The projects are being carried out by Employer Representative Bodies (ERB’s). Shropshire Chamber has been selected to be the ERB for the Marches LEP Area - Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Telford & Wrekin. Stage 2 commences in August 2023 and will initially run till March 2025.
The project looks at current gaps in skills, training provision, and focuses both on soft and hard skills. Moving forward the Marches LSIP project will look to better understand future needs of employers, how sectors are evolving and how that will change the skills training demands of employers. From that importantly working to bring employers and training providers closer together so that they can look for innovative solutions to meet changing needs, and unmet needs for skills training.
Due to the vast business range across the Marches, four sectors have been identified to work with:
- Engineering/Manufacturing/ inc. Food and Drink Production
- Professional Services
- Construction / inc. Environment Technologies
- Health & Social Care
Many skills and professions will have crossovers in and from these sectors, allowing a wider picture to be built.
Though interviews with employers for Stage 1 have now ended, Stage 2 will again see the Chamber team gathering business intelligence from employers to ensure the providers and other agencies understand what is happening in the world of business with regards to skills. If you would like to be put on an Employer Interview List, then please send your details through to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Skills for jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth white paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-for-jobs-lifelong-learning-for-opportunity-and-growth
LSIPs Stage 1 - Employers Voice March 2023
LSIPs Stage 2 - Employer's Voice March 2024
Not in the Marches, you can still have your say!
Below are links to neighboring LSIP projects as well as the national list. Please note this is an England only project. Click the name to follow the link.
Giving employersa voice