A new phase in a proven approach

The government’s Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper marks a substantial shift in how education, training and work align and in Devon, the approach is familiar.

The Devon Chamber of Commerce has already been coordinating the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) for several years, helping shape the region’s training provision to meet employer needs. The White Paper now reinforces and accelerates this model across England.

What’s changing nationally

The White Paper sets out a number of changes that affect employers and local training providers. Key shifts include:

• Stronger employer-led planning: The reforms emphasise that employers must be central to skills planning (through bodies like LSIPs).
• Data-driven skills decisions: A new body (Skills England) will collect and use labour-market data to guide what training is funded and offered.
• Funding aligned to employer need and priority sectors: Public investment in training will focus on those sectors where growth and skills shortages are most acute.
• Modular, flexible training and lifelong learning: Acknowledging that many workers will need to reskill or upskill throughout their careers.

For business leaders this means the skills ecosystem is becoming more strategic and responsive – and your role in shaping it becomes more important.

The LSIP in Greater Devon – business voice in action

In Devon, the Chamber-led Skills Improvement Plan serves as the local interface between employers and training providers. It has already helped businesses influence what courses exist locally, how placements or apprenticeships are structured, and what training current employees can access. Now, with national reforms, the model is further validated and placed at the heart of the system.

The key point: this isn’t optional for business. Your input will help ensure that local provision aligns with your workforce needs and that training isn’t something done to you, but with you.

Why it matters for business

When business engages with the LSIP and broader skills reform, you gain direct advantages:

• Better fit between training outputs and workforce needs: Courses and qualifications will increasingly map to local employer demand, not generic design.
• Access to upskilling/reskilling routes: Especially if you have existing employees whose roles are evolving, the move to more flexible, modular provision means opportunity.
• Greater regional competitiveness: If Devon can show robust employer-provider collaboration, and a skills system aligned to growth sectors, the region becomes more attractive for investment, talent and expanding firms.

If you don’t engage, you risk being “left on the sidelines” of how training and talent pipeline get shaped and that may mean future recruitment becomes harder, training less relevant, or talent moves elsewhere.

What business leaders should do now

Here are practical steps for business leaders:

1. Clarify your current and future skills needs

Map out roles you struggle to fill now, those you anticipate in 2-5 years, and strategic growth areas. This gives you the language and insight to contribute meaningfully.

2. Engage with the Devon Chamber of Commerce

Given the Chamber’s established role in delivering the local LSIP, this is your immediate contact point. Attend employer forums, share intelligence, and ask how your organisation can feed into curriculum planning or training design.

3. Collaborate with training providers

Build relationships with colleges and other local training providers. They will increasingly need employer partners for placements, curriculum advisory boards, and co-designed training. Position your organisation as active, not reactive.

4. Challenge and monitor quality and relevance

Don’t assume all provision will instantly align with your needs. Ask: Is the curriculum up-to-date? Does this course lead to the skills our roles require? Are placements or work-experience elements meaningful? Your voice helps keep standards high.

The risk of standing back

The reforms are structured so that those who act will gain real advantage. Failing to engage is a risk: you may find local training offers become less relevant to your workforce; talent pipelines may be patchy; and your region may lose ground to places where employers are more active in shaping provision.

Skills are increasingly a competitive differentiator, not just a cost centre. Engaging now means positioning your organisation, your workforce, and your region for future success.

A call to action

If you haven’t already engaged, now is the moment to contact the Devon Chamber of Commerce. Share your workforce strategy, challenges and growth plans. Ask how you can have a seat at the table in the LSIP process. Please contact our LSIP team: soo.brizell@devonchamber.co.uk

The national reforms may be broad, but at local level, through your Chamber and LSIP, you can help shape how they play out in Devon. Don’t let this change happen to you. Make sure it happens with you.