Foreword
We are delighted to introduce the North Lincolnshire Skills & Employability Plan 2023-2028.
Economic growth and renewal is at the heart of our ambitions for North Lincolnshire. This plan sets out how we will work in close collaboration with our businesses, partners, providers and communities to realise our growth ambitions and achieve a highly skilled workforce, working in high value jobs.
We have listened carefully to what our businesses and resident’s skills needs are and working together we have already made great strides in increasing opportunities. However, we know more needs to be done to ensure businesses and residents can access the skills they need now and in the future.
Ensuring people have the skills they need to realise their potential and businesses have access to a highly skilled workforce will be crucial to our success.
We want to go further than supporting people to get a job, but instead focus on encouraging personal ambition through high quality education, training and a focus on lifelong learning which will enable people to build a successful career in North Lincolnshire.
Cllr Rob Waltham MBE
Leader of North Lincolnshire Council
North Lincolnshire in numbers
North Lincolnshire Skills and Employability Plan
The purpose of the Skills and Employability Plan is to provide a framework for the Council and its partners to work together as a system to improve employment and skills outcomes for the North Lincolnshire economy and its communities. We are focused on making the most difference locally through the best application of local and national resources.
Supporting our plans for economic growth
The Skills and Employability Plan is a key document which underpins our plans for economic growth across North Lincolnshire.
Our Priorities for North Lincolnshire
- A place to build a great career
- A place enabling businesses to grow through skills and careers investment
- A place with a proud culture of local skills aspirations and proactive
Our approach to the skills plan
Our approach to developing this skills plan considers work that has taken place to understand the system in which skills operate within North Lincolnshire.
Essentially, we have looked at 3 interrelated elements – People, Employers, and Skills Infrastructure. Resources sits at the centre of the model, cross-cutting the three elements and reflecting that all three in some cases have access to funds for skills improvements. The critical driver of 'Place & Local Leadership' on the local skills ecosystem is also recognised. This interrelationship is demonstrated in the diagram below.
Priority 1 A place to build a great career
Enabling people to access routes to local, high-quality careers in North Lincolnshire.
Our intent
- People of all ages have the information, advice and guidance they need to access skills and employment opportunities that are linked to the requirements of the labour market
- The area is a visibly attractive place to build a career for residents and non-residents living within commuting distance
Our interventions
- Collaborate with partners to enable consistent careers education for young people and access to work experience opportunities which give insight into different careers and help build employability skills
- Work in collaboration to tackle barriers to skills and employment for the unemployed and economically inactive
- Promote a new focus on lifelong learning and in-work skills progression
- Work in collaboration on projects providing skills development for older workers to maximise the value and experience of the 50+ age group
- Support the objectives to increase the number of Disability Confident employers
- Promote the importance of developing employability skills alongside technical and higher-levels skills to increase work readiness
- Continue support for place-based strategies utilising available funding for town centre and market town regeneration
Priority 2 A place enabling businesses to grow through skills and careers investment
Working with businesses to understand skills demand and supply, ensuring encouragement and support towards higher level skills.
Our intent
- Businesses can access and grow the skilled workforce they need to remain competitive, drive productivity and respond to changes and opportunities now and in the future
- A healthy and resilient workforce with good physical and mental health, supported to take control of their own wellbeing and overcome barriers to employment
Our key growth sectors
- Construction
- Digital
- Energy & Chemicals
- Food
- Health & Care
- Manufacturing & Engineering
- Ports & Logistics
Our enabling sector
- Visitor economy
Our interventions
- Targeted in-work skills training support for employers
- Work in collaboration to drive progression towards achievement of Level 3+ qualifications
- Promote T Levels and apprenticeships as a prestigious alternative to A Levels
- Increase work experience opportunities for young people in our key sectors
- Support businesses to provide greater opportunities for the postgraduate population through appropriate level roles and training packages
- Encourage active involvement in the Local Skills Improvement Plan
- Continuous engagement with businesses around the skills agenda to drive progress in the areas important to them
- Create sustainable partnerships with employers to develop a culture of good physical and mental health for employees and their families
Priority 3 A place with a proud culture of local skills aspirations and proactive collaboration
Providing the best skills offer for residents supporting high value employment, growth and inward investment.
Our intent
- An impressive local infrastructure of innovative, enterprising employment and skills providers with a real appetite to collaborate to benefit local employers, communities and local provision
- Opportunities for highly skilled jobs in key growth sectors, building local skills aspiration whilst, also attracting the best people from the global marketplace
Our interventions
- Provide strong governance for the Skills and Employability Plan through the Skills Transformation Board
- Develop a local Skills Pledge which provides focus and commitment to the skills agenda
- Monitor progress of the Devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire and the implications for the skills agenda locally
- Enable collaboration between inward investors, existing businesses, providers and local stakeholders to address the skills requirements for significant inward investment opportunities
- A single post-16 and adult prospectus for residents, workers and businesses
- Develop and promote the concept of North Lincolnshire as a centre of skills excellence linked to our key sectors
- Create collaboration with universities to drive innovation, growth and productivity
- Drive equality of opportunity through implementing place-based skills and employability programmes
Our Local Skills Framework
Oversight and governance for the Skills and Employability plan will be through the Skills Transformation Board which meets on a quarterly basis through the year and more frequently if required. Terms of reference for the Board setting out purpose, plan, responsibility and membership can be found on the council's website.
Developing a Local Skills Pledge
A local Skills Pledge is being developed to support the vision outlined in the Skills and Employability Plan. Employers will be able to demonstrate their formal commitment to invest in improving the skills of people living and working in North Lincolnshire. The Skills Pledge will give employers one route to access support and find out more about local and national skills initiatives and will recognise employers already working to improve skills.
Priority 1
Impact
North Lincolnshire is a place with strong and sustainable economic growth, leading to wellbeing and prosperity for our businesses, residents and communities.
Performance measures
- Universal access to careers advice
- Every school pupil can access work experience / workplace encounters
- Increased levels of people who are economically active
- Increase in skills levels across all wards in North Lincolnshire
Priority 2
Impact
North Lincolnshire has thriving local businesses with competitive employment offers and established skills investment plans providing opportunities for local people.
Performance measures
- All schools have links with businesses in key growth and enabling sectors
- Increased apprenticeship starts and completions
- Businesses supported with a Workforce Skills Plan
- Increased awareness and commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme
Priority 3
Impact
North Lincolnshire is a place to upskill and develop a career where local education and skills providers collaborate to support economic growth and career opportunities for local people.
Performance measures
- 100+ employers sign up to the Skills Pledge
- Annual job fair and careers fair held
- Increased partnerships and collaboration between further and higher education and businesses