An organization representing local businesses has been appointed to lead a project to determine the county’s job skills needs.
The Cumbria Chamber of Commerce will lead the ‘Local Skills Improvement Plan’ (LSIP), a plan which will illustrate the county’s employment needs, making the provision of technical education and vocational training better adapted to the changing needs of employers and the local economy in the future.
The Chamber was tasked with producing an LSIP for Cumbria this year and continuing to update, develop and implement the plan over the following two years.
This follows the Chamber’s delivery of a pioneering LSIP pilot earlier this year, which involved talking to hundreds of Cumbria employers, employing bodies, suppliers and other stakeholders.
Some of the big names they have engaged with include: the UK’s Energy Coast Business Cluster, CBI, CITB, CLA, Cumbria Tourism, The Farmer Network and the National Farmers’ Union.
The Chamber LSIP will seek to build on the work done during the pioneering pilot project by uncovering and clearly showing what employers need and the issues they face, as well as defining how those needs and issues can be resolved.
Suzanne Caldwell, Chief Executive of the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed to take this project forward, working with employers, partners and wider stakeholders, and we look forward to to do.
“The pilot was a great success.
“Many of the actions identified have already been implemented or are underway – some even before the report was completed in March, and stakeholders are continuing this.
“It says a lot about Cumbria, the practicality and commitment of the people of Cumbria and what we can achieve by working together.
“The national rollout gives all of us a valuable opportunity to build on what we started in the pilot, to deepen and broaden the areas covered.”
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