Chapter 2: Skills Advisory Panels – Introduction
Since 2018, SAPs have been bringing together employers, skills providers and key local stakeholders to better understand and resolve skills mismatches at a local level. SAPs are part of Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and there are 36 in total across England. The DfE has supported SAPs with grant funding primarily to produce high-quality analysis of local labour markets and publish Local Skills Reports, which set out the local skills strengths and needs, and explain how the SAP proposes to address key priorities for the area.
This second iteration of SAPs’ Local Skills Reports comes at a time when DfE is Trailblazing new Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), in eight areas of the country. Developed by Employer Representative Bodies, LSIPs are part of a suite of reforms launched in DfE’s “Skills for Jobs” White Paper that aim to put employers more firmly at the heart of the skills system. An evaluation of the eight Trailblazers will inform the national roll out of the programme. In the meantime, and before LSIPs are rolled out across the country, it is DfE’s intention that Skills Advisory Panels and this Local Skills Report should continue to influence the behaviour of local partners and feed intelligence to central government, including to sectoral focussed skills teams and the national-level Skills and Productivity Board.
WMCA Skills Advisory Board
The WMCA Skills Advisory Board predates the establishment of SAPs. As the national SAP infrastructure took shape, the WMCA Skills Advisory Board was formally recognised as our SAP through a Memorandum of Understanding in late 2018.
The Skills Advisory Board is chaired by Cllr George Duggins, Leader of Coventry City Council and WMCA portfolio holder for Productivity and Skills. Through Cllr Duggins’ leadership the Skills Advisory Board:
- provides a strategic steer and direction to ensure effective delivery of the RSP, offering oversight, guidance and constructive challenge;
- provides oversight and ongoing monitoring of the WMCA’s Productivity and Skills project pipeline;
- identifies and monitors risks that could affect the delivery of the RSP and wider skills programmes;
- advises on major policy change within the Portfolio;
- develops a clear understanding of current and future local skills and labour market needs, against current skills and employment support provision, ensuring work programmes are underpinned by a clear evidence base; and
- provides a forum for strategic conversations between business, local authorities, HE and FE stakeholders and the WMCA.
The Board’s wide membership reflects the breadth of its work. It includes representatives from the region’s Local Authorities and LEPs, employer chairs of our Sector Taskforces, trade union officials, and Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) sector. Government officials from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), DfE and Education and Skills Funding Agency are invited to attend as observers. The Board meets twice yearly, and secretariat support is provided by WMCA.
The Skills Advisory Board reports directly to WMCA Board, which is chaired by Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street. It has oversight of the WMCA’s Skills Officers Working Group, an operational group which brings together regional partners to collaborate on skills issues, and the Digital Skills Partnership (DSP), which in part is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports. The Board’s direct oversight of the DSP reflects the importance of digital skills to current and future growth prospects.
During the last year the Advisory Board’s priorities have been centred on understanding and responding to the impact of COVID-19 and emerging skills needs on the regional economy, specifically how innovative and flexible models of training can support people to access and progress in work. We have also sought to strengthen collaboration between the further and higher education sectors, with a particular focus on driving regional productivity.
The West Midlands SAP Geography
The West Midlands area is centrally located at the heart of the country. Administratively, our geography is complex. The West Midlands is both a ‘NUTS 1’ official region2 (or former UK Government Office for the Region) and a Metropolitan County. The latter is the basis of the West Midlands Combined Authority – the seven local authorities of Birmingham City Council, Coventry City Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Walsall Council, and the City of Wolverhampton Council are the constituent members of the WMCA. This is also the area that the devolved Adult Education Budget (AEB) covers.
There are also ten neighbouring local authorities that are non-constituent members with significant involvement, for example (limited) voting rights, and four further observer organisations2. Our region also spans across the three LEP areas of the Black Country LEP (BCLEP), Coventry and Warwickshire LEP (CWLEP) and Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP (GBSLEP). Most of the analysis in the report is done at three LEP level to recognise the breath and importance of our partnership working on skills. However, the metropolitan and NUTS 1 definitions of the region are also used to provide additional context, or where data is not available at a three LEP level.
1 Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, as determined by our former membership of the European Union.
2 Non-Constituent Local Authority members are Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Cannock Chase, Tamworth,
Redditch, Warwickshire, North Warwickshire, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Rugby and Stratford-upon Avon. Observers
are Herefordshire Council, The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service and
the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.