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Placing employer needs right at the heart of the local skills system – a welcome policy evolution. 

Since the launch of the Dorset Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) process in November 2022, Dorset Chamber has worked with a wide range of stakeholders including other ERB partners, employers, education and training providers, and organisations who support learners and people not-in-employment. We have targeted and spoken to small and micro businesses who are typically unheard across the sectors and the county. Our approach has been collaborative and focused on constructive partnership working.  

The review has identified a wide range of issues, some of which are challenging and embedded. Through the process we have learnt that assumptions are made by many and that some historical perceptions and attitudes continue to be entrenched. 

Conversations have been engaging, honest and, at times, controversial. We have heard how many young people are anxious or unprepared when starting in their first job, how FE funding works, how employers are struggling to recruit and cover rising costs, and how many feel that they have little or no time to consider future skills needs or carbon reduction in their businesses.  

Dorset Chamber has added value by using new communication and collaboration processes to develop clearer insights to enhance our employer understanding. We have sought to identify appropriate and viable actions to create change. In doing so, we are highlighting the skills gaps, generational differences, a climate emergency, labour shortages and recruitment challenges, a shrinking workforce, a lack of affordable housing, transport issues and the impact of rising costs for all.

Dorset has clear strengths to build on. This includes new and expanding businesses, skilled apprentices, and an education and training system that is passionate about its learners and supports their transition to and ongoing development in the workplace.

The need for long-term change is clear. The next stage of the Dorset LSIP must result in the development of a coherent strategy, underpinned by a clear action plan involving all parties. We must ensure that we understand the skills that businesses need now and, in the future, and evolve provision to meet these needs.

I am excited about what we can achieve together and am looking forward to the next stage of the LSIP process. I would like to thank all our partners and stakeholders for their support and positive approach to this review and look forward to building a stronger workforce in Dorset together.

 Ian Girling, Chief Executive, Dorset Chamber, August 2023

What is the Dorset LSIP?

The Dorset Local Skills Improvement Plan (Dorset LSIP) is a three-year Dorset-wide review of skills provision against the current and future needs of businesses, funded by Department of Education (DfE). It aims to identify, and provide recommendations on, the skills and training provision which Dorset employers need to grow and develop their businesses now and in the future.

The Dorset LSIP intends to support Dorset businesses to have the right people doing the right jobs with the right skills.  As priorities and technologies change, as do the skills required to adapt to the different demands.  The Plan will work to provide appropriate post-16 technical education to meet the skills needs in business – and those on the near horizon such as Net Zero changes

The delivery of the LSIP is led by Dorset Chamber (appointed as the Employer Representative Body – ERB) who will be working closely with public and private sector partners including Dorset employers, the LEP, the Local Authorities and all the local colleges and private providers.