Skills In DemandUsing LMI– The Essex Employment

and Skills Board Evidence Base

Labour Insight User Group - 26th November 2015Nicola Faulkner & Tristan Smith

The Background: Essex Employment & Skills BoardSet up in July 2013 with the fundamental role of helping to set the strategic direction of skills provision and ensuring that this supports economic growth and is aligned to employer needs.

Remit: •Strategic influence and leadership (i.e. with national government and the LEP)•Affect change locally (i.e. work with Providers Network and schools to bring about change)•Commission activity to support employer led skills (i.e. grants for employers, STEM in schools, Tutor CPD) •Be a voice for the wider business community and champion involvement and participation in the skills system

Supported by: A robust and comprehensive Evidence Base identifying skills needs now and in the future

Membership: Essex Employment & Skills Board

Why an evidence base? • To provide clarity and agreement among partners on the current and future

picture

• To achieve (for the first time) an accurate local skills picture which is owned, utilised and endorsed by all partners

• To ensure that skills issues and barriers are reflected in evidence

• To inform the Essex Employment & Skills Board – lobbying, funding, decision making

• To inform local FE / HE and help shape their future offer ensuring it is employer driven

• To provide an accessible toolkit to support work such as funding bids and collaborative working

• To provide all Essex businesses a clear voice

Essex Skills Evidence Base: What is it? An overview of current employees, companies, vacancies, salaries and skills needs leading up to 2020

Incorporating infrastructure and other developments as indicating skills needs (i.e. 50,000 new homes, ageing population)

Feedback from employers and sector specialists through existing (and new) surveys, visits and Sector Skills Councils

All ‘reality tested’ with real employers and regularly updated

How? • Evidence Base Task & Finish Group , chaired by the University of Essex

• Engagement with all national Sector Skills Councils and local businesses

• Feedback from ESB Sector Action Groups

• Peer reviews & input fro local companies and partners

• University of Essex intern assisting research – inlcuding data from Nomis, ONS, SSC reports, FE data library, SFA Data Cube and ……….

Labour Insights.

Types of info – Nomis (PAYE / VAT businesses)

www.nomisweb.co.uk

Types of info – Vacancy Data

Types of data – specialist skills (by sector)Construction Skills

Types of data – Location of vacanciesConstruction

Types of Data – Essex Skills Survey

Types of Data – Essex Skills Survey

Types of Data – Sector Action GroupsSector action groups established for 7 priority sectors

Meet to discuss skills issues challenges / opportunities

Review sector information produced

Develop solutions

Essex Skills Evidence Base: How is it used?Enabled the ESB to identify seven growth sectors, with significant skills and employment needs and opportunities locally now and in the future

Helped the ESB to illustrate to government the mismatch between local provision and employer need

Informed the ESB’s first Programmes and priorities including the Digital Skills for Growth Programme, extension of Essex Education and industry Programme

Essex Skills Evidence Base: How is it used?Helping to inform a wide range of partners, i.e. South Essex College adapted rebuild to focus on construction and provide level 3 and 4 in building Technology

Colchester Institute’s South Wing development to provide skills for growth sectors; i.e. Engineering, ICT & Creative

Writtle College and Chelmsford College utilising the information for curriculum development

Job Centre Plus using for future planning

District, borough, city and unitary authorities

Skills Funding Agency and MPs utilising information

Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) planning to adopt the same model for Kent & East Sussex

AND starting to inform schools, Governors, local business and sector groups

How labour insights informs the ESB programmes

1. Helps clarify our sector approach. e.g. Creative / Digital– Identifying clusters / what providers to work with– Identifying skills needs and subsector focus

» Colchester wants to grow its ‘creative’ sector but what does this mean?

How labour insights informs the ESB programmes2. Helps identify cross sector programmes

» Digital Skills for Growth

3. Helps with curriculum planning » Demonstrate to colleges skills needs of industry

4. Helps inform activities of E&I programmes» Demonstrates where / what projects, mentoring and activities should

focus on

5. Helps inform IAG» Sector fact sheets – job roles, salaries, skills.