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Overarching Themes

The RSP has identified a range of underpinning priorities that will enable it to work effectively with partners.

Joint Planning

The region will continue to work towards more effective joint planning involving all partners so that in effect there is: a single shared regional skills strategy; composite targets [covering all Regional partner priorities and RSP priorities]; agreed performance measures and monitoring arrangements.
The RSP will also take the lead in discussions on the shape of future regional structures in response to the Leitch Review of Skills.
Through better joint planning, the RSP will:
  • Develop a clear plan to enunciate the linkages between skills development and productivity, ensuring that strategies and projects undertaken by RSP partners, clearly demonstrate their impact on productivity.
  • Establish a mechanism to agree regional targets and milestones for skills development in the region in order to meet the proposed 2020 Leitch targets.
  • Recognise the increasing importance of Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and ensure that engagement takes place with local authorities consistently and at the appropriate level.

Promoting skills

The RSP has a role in working with partners to develop campaigns that promote the role of skills.  This will include:
  • Establishing the business case for investment in skills by employers.
  • Promoting the value of Skills for Life.
  • Promoting vocational route and pathways.
  • Raising awareness of the impact of demographic ageing and encouraging more flexible working to accommodate older employees.
  • Leading the development through partners to produce a guide aimed at young people promoting key employment opportunities across the region based on current research.
  • Actively promoting employability skills frameworks, which are appropriate to different sectors (and localities) in order to share good practice in the teaching, learning and assessment of generic employability skills.  

Supporting intelligence

It is critical that the work of the RSP and its partners is informed by a strong evidence base.  
Through the work of SLIM, the RSP will:
  • Commission regular reviews of forecasting information and research as the basis of a scheduled dialogue with sectors and key agencies.
  • Support the work of the Sector Operations Group with up to date sector information, through the Sector Balance Sheet and updated sector analysis. SLIM will work with SSCs and partners to develop improved intelligence and reporting on skills for individual sectors.
  • Support the development and implementation of a Performance Monitoring Framework (see Section 9), to enable partners to report on their performance to the partnership as a whole.
  •  Support a programme of underpinning research linked to the RSP priorities.
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