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Skills is an area that the Chamber has always been passionate about, as it is the people in our organisations, who deliver our successes. To achieve this, we need them to be suitably trained and we need to be able to access the training and skills necessary.

Surrey Chambers of Commerce has been designated as the Employer Representative Body (ERB) to create a Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) covering Surrey and North and Mid-Hampshire, funded by the Department for Education. 

LSIPs are designed to put employers at the heart of the skills system and ensure that local businesses’ voices are heard to help influence and shape local skills and training provision. They are uniquely placed to shine a spotlight on the actual skills employers most need in the workplace but are struggling to find locally. It is the first time we have had access to resources that will allow us to reach out into the business community and amplify the voices of employers and sectors that struggle the most to be heard. 

In partnership with Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, we are engaging with businesses via multiple channels to hear first-hand what their skills shortages and challenges are. In partnership with colleges, local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Universities, other training providers and organisations in the area, we will work collaboratively to articulate the needs of local businesses and set out the key priorities and actions needed to ensure the local skills system is more responsive to their needs. 

The Surrey and North Mid-Hampshire LSIP will: 

• set out a clear articulation of employers’ skills needs, and the priority changes required in a local area so that skills provision is more responsive and flexible
• embed a stronger and more dynamic relationship between employers and providers within local skills systems
• support greater employer engagement in enabling and being part of effective solutions.

This is a real chance to put employers, big and small, at the centre of decisions made on skills needed. This is an opportunity to hear from businesses across the area, from all sectors, on their skills needs and any challenges they face around recruitment.