Health & Life Sciences Workforce Development Partnership

An engaging and well attended 3rd meeting of the Health and Life Sciences Workforce Development Partnership was held at Green Park Conference Centre, Reading on October 23rd.

There was a strong presence from employers, training providers and wider partners to progress the skills agenda for the Health and Life Sciences sector in the region. Aligned with the Chamber of Commerce Health and Life Sciences Working Group, members were invited to stay a light lunch and the Working Group session in the afternoon.

An update on the Local Skills Improvement Plan, Skills England, and impact on the training provision in the region from employer and training provider engagements this year were shared with the group. This was followed by a warm welcome and introduction to our new co-Employer Champion Lonza, who alongside Moderna will co-chair future meetings and provide employer direction on the Partnership activity.

Tanya Jenkins provided an overview of Lonza’s involvement in diversity and inclusion initiatives, their relocation to Reading over the next 10 years and evolving nature of the company’s skills requirements. The Workforce Development Partnership’s aims to foster collaboration, share best practice and make commitments to workforce development were reaffirmed.

Activate Learning’s, Paul Emberlin, shared details of their new sustainability courses aimed at various organisational levels, from introductory to leadership programmes. Sustainability and its increasing importance in business strategy has generated a demand in the training provision. An introductory level onboarding course is currently available and leadership programme to be launched in November.  Paul Byard, OxLEP provided an update on the skills bootcamps in Oxfordshire and the 2 oversubscribed Health and Life Sciences skills bootcamps on offer. The Berkshire LEP’s Data Analytics generic/hybrid bootcamp has been well received following strong demand from employers in region.

Results from the Skills Survey to understand the longer-term view and potential of Life Sciences in the Thames valley stimulated an engaging discussion.

The greatest skills needs from the cohort included: training and upskilling for the existing workforce, higher level or Degree-level Apprenticeships, full-time programmes for young people to prepare them for Health and Life Sciences work, such as T -Levels, Apprenticeships for Level 3 Science Technicians and Short courses to retrain people to enter the workforce for example skills bootcamps. The current training provision landscape for the sector was also shared with the group with the aim of helping employers to better understand the qualifications and training provision available in the region today.

Attendees discussed whether the current skills needs are being adequately addressed and what changes organisations could make and those that may need to be lobbied for.

A need for more flexibility in the Apprenticeship Levy to help employers maximise and spend their Levy was raised and for further discussions on the Levy Transfer options. Exploration into a single Science Advisory Board was discussed, to create a more unified approach and efficiency gathering industry feedback for curriculum development. Upskilling for teaching staff was also highlighted and the opportunity to expand the reach of the Teacher Trades Programme run by the Berkshire Careers Hub to be explored.  There was an underlying theme throughout the meeting on the need for ongoing investment in people development to drive company success and for further discussions on the recruitment pipeline.