Our Approach
OxLEP Skills aims to ensure that every person who lives and works in the county is equipped with the skills they need in order to maximise their potential.
Oxfordshire is the UK’s engine for innovation: ground breaking research and development is driving the creation of new, dynamic businesses, hungry to grow and scale up; cutting edge products and services are solving the challenges in healthcare, mobility, energy and communications; and commercialisation of these new ideas is delivering manufacturing and supply chain opportunities across the length and breadth of our country.
Our Local Industrial Strategy sets out an ambitious plan to build on Oxfordshire’s strong foundations and world-leading assets and drive Oxfordshire’s ambition to become a top three global innovation ecosystem by 2040. To achieve this, we will continue to need a highly skilled, adaptable and innovative workforce and to ensure that they - and future generations - have the skills that businesses need and value.
OxLEP aims to maximise the full potential of each and every person who lives and works in the county, ensuring that they are equipped with the very best skills which can provide them with the capability to secure the new employment opportunities generated across the innovation ecosystem.
The role of OxLEP Skills includes:
- ensuring that we develop a strategic and coordinated approach to skills support activities which are aligned to Oxfordshire’s economic growth ambitions
- supporting employers to access the right talent and skills in order to grow and stay in Oxfordshire
- inspiring and preparing young people for the fast-changing world of work
- enabling local people to better access job opportunities arising from the impacts of large-scale infrastructure development
- working collaboratively with partners to support and deliver local skills initiatives
Oxfordshire Skills Board
The OxLEP Skills agenda is supported and delivered by the Oxfordshire Skills Board (OSB) operating as sub-group of - and under the rules of governance of - OxLEP. OSB pre-dates OxLEP and has for over a decade convened key stakeholders and communities of interest to develop a strategic and coordinated approach to skills support activities aligned to Oxfordshire’s economic growth ambitions, as articulated in the Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy and the extant skills strategy.
OSB/SAP draws representatives from relevant local key stakeholder groups, including (but not limited to); public and private sector employers, further education, higher education, local authorities, schools, private training providers, and other key stakeholders appropriate to the remit. Members are visionary independent thinkers who have a shared ambition to drive change.
Skills Advisory Panel
From 2019, the Oxfordshire Skills Board has taken on the additional responsibilities of the Skills Advisory Panel (SAP) for the Department of Education (DfE) continuing to bring together key partners and stakeholders to strategically plan for an improved skills infrastructure for the benefit of Oxfordshire's communities.
The primary role of the Skills Advisory Panel is to:
"Bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs, and to work together to understand and address key local challenges. This includes both immediate needs and challenges and looking at what is required to help local areas adapt to future labour market changes and to grasp future opportunities. This will help colleges, universities and other providers deliver the skills required by employers, now and in the future."
Skills Advisory Panels: Guidance on the role and governance, DfE, 2018
Local Skills Report and Plan
The Skills Advisory Panel Local Skills Report and Plan complements and supports the ambitions and priorities of our Economic Recovery Plan over the short term and the Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) over an extended period, to drive recovery and economic renewal, whilst building a resilient and inclusive economy for the future.
Download our Local Skills Report and Plan
Download our Local Skills Report and Plan Annex A and B
Watch our film to see how we bring employers and educators together:
See the OxLEP Skills playlist on the OxLEP YouTube channel to watch recordings of all our recent events.
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