Question 1

What is an LSIP, and who has to produce one?

Accepted Answer

A Local Skills Improvement Plan is a type of area strategy produced in England. They are statutory, employer-led plans that set out the priority changes a local skills system needs to make over a three-year period. Their development is led by a designated Employer Representative Body (typically a Chamber of Commerce or other local business network), working with the relevant public authority, such as a Mayoral Combined Authority, under official guidance set by Skills England.

Question 2

What makes a skills plan credible to partners and official scrutiny?

Accepted Answer

A robust evidence base; genuine and representative stakeholder input; clear alignment with local, regional, and national strategic priorities; a focused set of changes and clear "golden thread" from these to the evidence assembled for the review; and a credible plan for delivery and monitoring progress. The Skills Plan Readiness Diagnostic is organised around exactly these dimensions.

At PolicyDepartment we always recommend building a "Compliance Checklist" and document "Storyboards" at the earliest opportunity. These set out in detail the information requirements that the review should meet and how these are met in the design of the documents themselves. Sharing the evidence needs and blueprint for content with partners and scrutineers at the outrset minimises that possiblity of surprises later and helps bring people on board ahead of committing major effort.

Question 3

How does the Skills Plan Readiness Diagnostic work?

Accepted Answer

It asks nine weighted questions across the dimensions that determine readiness, then returns a score, your three highest-impact areas to strengthen, and what good looks like for each. It takes about a minute to complete and the results appear on screen straight away. It is a free, instant version of the scoping we do at the start of a readiness review.

Question 4

How do you get genuine employer engagement, not just the usual voices?

Accepted Answer

Engagement is designed, not opportunistic. We start by mapping the employer community and work to a sampling plan that operates through multiple channels, from surveys to interviews and lighter-touch asynchronous routes. We proactively reach out to SMEs and harder-to-hear employers. Larger, more fragmented areas (especially rural ones) have to work hardest at this, and we plan for it from the start.

Question 5

What is the difference between a sector and an occupational view of skills?

Accepted Answer

Local economic plans and investment prospectuses are typically organised around, and directed at, growing priority sectors and industry clusters. Education and skills outputs like courses and qualifications are typically organised around subject areas and occupational standards.

If, as with a Local Skills Improvement Plan, we want to understand, and act on, the human capital barriers to achieving economic priorities, then we need to work with both sector and occupation lenses.

The right question is: what kind of labour and skills does each priority sector need? Many of those occupations, such as engineers, technicians, and finance professionals or skills needs like communication and AI, sit right across the economy rather than within one sector. Holding both lenses together is what stops a plan misreading demand and misdirecting provision.

Question 6

Why isn't a fast-growing sector automatically the top skills priority?

Accepted Answer

Economic potential is not the same as labour or skills needs. A mature or even declining sector can generate the largest, most urgent labour demand as experienced workers retire. Strong plans weigh replacement and demographic pressures alongside growth, rather than chasing headline-growth sectors and missing where workers are actually needed.

Question 7

Can you just review our existing plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A light-touch readiness review tells you honestly how robust your current plan is and where to focus, and is often the right step when funding arrangements or guidance change. The Diagnostic is a quick first look; a full review goes deeper into your real evidence, engagement data and draft text.

Labour market and skills plans that deliver on local needs

Skills Plan Readiness Diagnostic

The components of a credible skills plan

The labour market plans we work on

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs)

Labour Market and Employment Strategies

Sector Skills Needs Assessments

Provision and Supply Reviews

Readiness Reviews and Plan Refreshes

Three steps no theatre

Scope and strategic alignment

Evidence and engagement, in parallel

Synthesis and sign-off

A statutory Local Skills Improvement Plan, delivered end to end

Frequently Asked Questions - our answers