Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce
TVOxonLSIP@tvchamber.co.uk

Support with employee health and disability

In 2021 DWP published the result of the Health is Everyone’s Business consultation. Employers told us they found the amount of information to help them manage employee health and disability was too vast; too fragmented and not navigable.

As a result we have created the SEHD tool on gov.uk. This has been developed with trusted information from across Government and in partnership with Arms Length Bodies (such as the Health and Safety Executive) to improve support for employers on health and disability at work.

Teach Your Trade

If you want to shape the future of your industry, why not use your skills, knowledge and experience to train upcoming talent at your local college?

You can join as a part-time trainer alongside your day job or work full-time and become a qualified teacher/trainer with a secure future.

Green Skills Academy

Windsor Forest College Group are forming a Green Skills Academy delivering courses in the areas of Green Skills Construction, Electric Vehicle Maintenance and Agricultural Technology to help businesses grow and keep apace of the technological changes and sustainable practices being introduced to help reduce carbon emissions. They were chosen to deliver a range of courses that focus on sustainable technology and practices to improve and upskill people in key sectors across Berkshire.

Discover Robotics

University Centre Newbury and The Henley College have partnered together to provide fully funded courses on robotics. These innovative, practical and fully-funded courses teach delegates how to set up and program industrial robots on a range of operating systems, as well as how to maintain and look after industrial robot cells to help minimise wear and reduce downtime.

Empowering you to take action on sustainability

In a world where sustainability is an ever-growing priority, it can feel overwhelming for a small business to know how to get started or where to go for information. But embracing sustainability could be an opportunity – helping your business become more resilient. And with the right support, you could make more of an impact than you might think.

That’s where Activate Learning comes in. As a leading provider of sustainability programmes specifically for SMEs, we can help you on your journey.

Net Zero Skills Hub

Explore renewable technologies at Abingdon and Whitney colleges net zero skills hub! They offer a range of courses that cover topics such as renewable energy systems, energy efficiency, and carbon management. Their instructors are experts in their fields, and provide hands-on training and practical experience to ensure that our students are fully equipped to succeed in this growing industry.

Chambers Lead Successful Start to Local Skills Plans

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) across England “are working and beginning to make positive differences for local employers”, according to a new report commissioned by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

Based on evidence from 21 of the 32 Chamber led LSIPs, the evaluation report concludes that the process is changing attitudes and encouraging more employers to collaborate and engage positively with the skills system.

As part of its budget submission, the BCC is calling on the Government to commit to fund business led LSIPs beyond the current 2025 cut off point, to at least 2028.   The study highlights the “huge potential of LSIPs to build on the employer led system, improve strategic planning, maximise the impact of skills funding and boost employer investment.”

Using research conducted in Autumn 2023, the report analyses the approaches taken by 21 Chamber led LSIPs and identifies their impact so far. Data gathered as part of the research show that, as of May 2023, 65,765 employers had been engaged.

The research identifies a number of challenges for businesses, including “bureaucratic complexities” and “limited employer influence over skills spending priorities”. The report says overcoming the barriers requires “active engagement, open communication, and the advocacy of Chambers to smooth over the bumps in the LSIPs process”.  The report argues that the LSIP approach will lead to a more cohesive skills system. 

Paul Britton, CEO, Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce (TVCC) said: “Chambers and their Local Skills Improvement Plans unlock the power of collaboration with purpose.  Leading the Chamber but also as a Governor of a local College Group, I have seen first-hand how Colleges and training providers are using the LSIP plan to drive and inform positive change.

“The crucial factor is that LSIPs are employer-led and locally owned – we have been able to use our reach to speak to over 1000 businesses – which has not been done before.

“TVCC was one of the Chambers who led the way in commissioning the independent research and we are delighted that The KWP Ltd has drawn together stories of impact and collaboration with purpose from Chambers across the country. The report points to some of the barriers and has influenced the forthcoming BCC Skills Manifesto”.

Dr Kate Webb, Managing Director, at The KWP Ltd said: “This independent research has highlighted the opportunities and strengths of a local employer-led approach as well as identifying some of the barriers and challenges”.

Jane Gratton, Deputy Director Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce said: “Business-led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are only just getting started – but they are already making a huge difference.

“The local approach to skills planning brings huge benefits. Now we need a long-term commitment from politicians to make sure we can align skills investment with local economic growth, and help more people access the training they need for great jobs.

“Our report highlights how the Chamber network is playing an important role in bringing employers and training providers together at a local level, to identify solutions and plan for change.

“If we get it right, the potential of LSIPs is phenomenal. It is an ongoing process that identifies business growth ambitions, the people and skills they need to achieve that growth, and the training needed for people to benefit from these opportunities. We need the LSIPs to stay business led, and to remain a key part of the government’s long-term skills strategy. Without that commitment – the hard work already achieved risks being undermined.”

Hospitality & Visitor Economy Workforce Development Partnership

A range of employers, education & training providers and wider strategic partners attended the first Hospitality Workforce Development Partnership on February 29th 2024. Held at the Oxford Belfry in Thame, there was a wide-ranging discussion on the purpose and aims of the Local Skills Improvement Plan for the sector, the skills needs it was experiencing and how these might best be met. Discussions ranged from the need to develop the ‘soft’ or employability skills of those looking to enter the sector, to how to create more work experience opportunities and the current development of Skills Bootcamps for upskilling those in the sector and/or those looking to enter it. Employers expressed a desire to influence the content of these bootcamps to try to make sure they met industry needs as closely as possible. There was also a feeling that the sector needed to do more to promote itself and the broad range of opportunities within it, particularly post-COVID. A number of actions were decided upon to take forward including the development of a work experience programme for level 1 learners; linking employers from the group with OxLep to enable input into the bootcamp design, and the running of a communication campaign to promote opportunities in the sector more effectively.

Health & Life Sciences Workforce Development Partnership

The first Health and Life Sciences Workforce Development Partnership meeting took place recently at Owen Mumford’s new manufacturing facility in Witney, Oxfordshire.  These partnerships are part of the Local Skills Improvement Plans for Oxfordshire and Berkshire. They aim to meet employer skills needs by bringing employers and education & training providers together and encouraging and enabling collaboration and partnership working between them. They are facilitated by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Skills Unit.

There were presentations from the Office of Life Sciences, Moderna, Activate Learning, Oxfordshire & Berkshire LEPs, and STEM Returners. These covered national and local skills needs, current and future education and training provision, skills bootcamp programmes, and help for career break returners looking to get back into STEM careers. The presentations encouraged good discussions around skills needs and what more can be done to meet these. This included actions around the creation of more opportunities for new entrants to the sector and those trying to return to it; mentoring and work insights for 16-24 year olds; the development of new education and training provision to help meet the skills and recruitment needs of local businesses. These quarterly meetings are also designed to build links and ongoing collaboration across the region, so we can do more to meet these pressing needs and continue to help enable the growth of this very important sector for the region’s economy.

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