LSEB’s strategy review will reflect economic climate and sea change in policy

David Cameron and Nick Clegg

The impact of the new coalition Government on employment and skills support, combined with the pressing need to tackle the UK’s financial debt to stimulate the economy, will bring a radical shift in the way all organisations plan and provide services in London.

Government departments and publicly funded agencies are responding already to the demand to cut budgets by at least 25 per cent. One of the few exceptions is a year’s protection for adult skills funding. Looking ahead, the intended Public Sector Reform Bill aims to reduce the number of non-departmental government bodies. This may affect the future of many agencies in the employment and skills arena.

At the same time London remains a special case within England because of the Mayor’s devolved responsibilities. These include statutory duties to produce London’s employment and skills strategy. These areas of responsibility form part of the Mayor’s recent request to Government for an increased range of powers, including those for the London Skills and Employment board (LSEB). The Mayor is also seeking agreement from Westminster to fold the London Development Agency (LDA) into the Greater London Authority (GLA).

Same vision, new challenges

Part of our statutory duty is to consult on and produce an annual update of our five-year strategy. This offers an opportunity to address newly arising economic and social challenges facing London, and adapt our priorities to meet them.

While we plan to retain our vision, strategic aims and targets – to improve people’s skills and employability and increase business productivity to strengthen London’s economy – we must also adjust to an agenda of significant reform in Government policy. We will set out how the new skills and employment arrangements should best benefit our economy during a continuing period of adverse business conditions and high unemployment.

Opportunities for influence

We welcome the move of adult skills provision to a more demand-led service driven by the needs of both local employers and people. This freedom will increase the autonomy of colleges and other training and skills providers, while decreasing the influence of central government and, with it, many targets and bureaucratic controls.

Having published a paper last summer setting out principles for an effective demand-led adult skills system, we are considering how best to influence colleges and providers, and plan to set out our expectations of both further and higher education. As part of its agenda to support London as a high skilled economy, our Board will also want to encourage further increases in Apprenticeships in London.

One way of providing continuing influence will be through economic intelligence on London’s economy and labour market. As well as the work of the Employment and Skills Observatory and the recently published London Skills Priority Statement, we may also ask colleges and providers to show in business plans and annual reports how they have taken account of our strategy and labour market intelligence in shaping their provision.

Policies directed at tackling unemployment will converge under a single, national service called the Work Programme, commissioned nationally by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The primary aim is to help get people into jobs that last at least 12 months. If successful this will reduce the number of people who move repeatedly between work and welfare, helping to cut the unemployment and incapacity benefit bill.

We are keen to show our support for the Work Programme, contributing our expertise and experience to help shape its design and introduction across the Capital. In particular our involvement could usefully contribute to planning the contracts for London, the selection stages, and overseeing performance while working closely with the successful contractors. We want to see the Work Programme contribute to closing gaps in the employment rate for those people in disadvantaged, hard to reach groups.

While skills and employment policy may diverge at national level, our Board’s view is that Work Programme contractors and other providers must continue their collaborative partnerships with London’s local and city wide stakeholders. Such an approach will achieve the best results for employers and Londoners.

To this end the Board will want to clarify how the adult skills offer and funding will connect with the services from the successful contractors in the Work Programme. We also plan to encourage funders and providers to publish comparative market intelligence on the quality and success of publicly available employment and skills services. This will give greater understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of providers’ performance. It will also give more information to employers and people, aiding their decision-making.

Creative thinking for tough times

Large budget cuts will bring both challenges and choices. The most common response to the call for savings is to axe or retract services. However, we feel it important for funders to consider the potential for redesigning programmes across organisations in ways that will save money and produce quantifiable results.

While employment and skills will have more national and local management respectively, we must not discount the opportunities to run complementary services. For example, as the Work Programme moves people from welfare to lasting employment, good quality skills provision can offer a ladder of opportunity, helping people move into progressively better jobs.

Experience of ‘one-stop shop’ offers to employers, such as those piloted by the London Development Agency’s Accord project, shows that collaborative services aimed at improving employer engagement have merits, both in cost and impact. We will continue to identify and encourage similar models, including for Apprenticeships, for the benefits they create for businesses and people.


	Home > E-newsletter > Summer 2010: LSEB’s strategy review will reflect economic climate and sea change in policy
Home About Strategy Meetings and minutes E-newsletter Press releases Publications Useful links FAQs Contact us	LSEB’s strategy review will reflect economic climate and sea change in policy The impact of the new coalition Government on employment and skills support, combined with the pressing need to tackle the UK’s financial debt to stimulate the economy, will bring a radical shift in the way all organisations plan and provide services in London. Government departments and publicly funded agencies are responding already to the demand to cut budgets by at least 25 per cent. One of the few exceptions is a year’s protection for adult skills funding. Looking ahead, the intended Public Sector Reform Bill aims to reduce the number of non-departmental government bodies. This may affect the future of many agencies in the employment and skills arena. At the same time London remains a special case within England because of the Mayor’s devolved responsibilities. These include statutory duties to produce London’s employment and skills strategy. These areas of responsibility form part of the Mayor’s recent request to Government for an increased range of powers, including those for the London Skills and Employment board (LSEB). The Mayor is also seeking agreement from Westminster to fold the London Development Agency (LDA) into the Greater London Authority (GLA). Same vision, new challenges Part of our statutory duty is to consult on and produce an annual update of our five-year strategy. This offers an opportunity to address newly arising economic and social challenges facing London, and adapt our priorities to meet them. While we plan to retain our vision, strategic aims and targets – to improve people’s skills and employability and increase business productivity to strengthen London’s economy – we must also adjust to an agenda of significant reform in Government policy. We will set out how the new skills and employment arrangements should best benefit our economy during a continuing period of adverse business conditions and high unemployment. Opportunities for influence We welcome the move of adult skills provision to a more demand-led service driven by the needs of both local employers and people. This freedom will increase the autonomy of colleges and other training and skills providers, while decreasing the influence of central government and, with it, many targets and bureaucratic controls. Having published a paper last summer setting out principles for an effective demand-led adult skills system, we are considering how best to influence colleges and providers, and plan to set out our expectations of both further and higher education. As part of its agenda to support London as a high skilled economy, our Board will also want to encourage further increases in Apprenticeships in London. One way of providing continuing influence will be through economic intelligence on London’s economy and labour market. As well as the work of the Employment and Skills Observatory and the recently published London Skills Priority Statement, we may also ask colleges and providers to show in business plans and annual reports how they have taken account of our strategy and labour market intelligence in shaping their provision. Policies directed at tackling unemployment will converge under a single, national service called the Work Programme, commissioned nationally by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The primary aim is to help get people into jobs that last at least 12 months. If successful this will reduce the number of people who move repeatedly between work and welfare, helping to cut the unemployment and incapacity benefit bill. We are keen to show our support for the Work Programme, contributing our expertise and experience to help shape its design and introduction across the Capital. In particular our involvement could usefully contribute to planning the contracts for London, the selection stages, and overseeing performance while working closely with the successful contractors. We want to see the Work Programme contribute to closing gaps in the employment rate for those people in disadvantaged, hard to reach groups. While skills and employment policy may diverge at national level, our Board’s view is that Work Programme contractors and other providers must continue their collaborative partnerships with London’s local and city wide stakeholders. Such an approach will achieve the best results for employers and Londoners. To this end the Board will want to clarify how the adult skills offer and funding will connect with the services from the successful contractors in the Work Programme. We also plan to encourage funders and providers to publish comparative market intelligence on the quality and success of publicly available employment and skills services. This will give greater understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of providers’ performance. It will also give more information to employers and people, aiding their decision-making. Creative thinking for tough times Large budget cuts will bring both challenges and choices. The most common response to the call for savings is to axe or retract services. However, we feel it important for funders to consider the potential for redesigning programmes across organisations in ways that will save money and produce quantifiable results. While employment and skills will have more national and local management respectively, we must not discount the opportunities to run complementary services. For example, as the Work Programme moves people from welfare to lasting employment, good quality skills provision can offer a ladder of opportunity, helping people move into progressively better jobs. Experience of ‘one-stop shop’ offers to employers, such as those piloted by the London Development Agency’s Accord project, shows that collaborative services aimed at improving employer engagement have merits, both in cost and impact. We will continue to identify and encourage similar models, including for Apprenticeships, for the benefits they create for businesses and people.