Coast to Capital Local Skills Report

Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

In 2020 genecon was commissioned by Coast to Capital to undertake an analysis of available labour market data and produce a narrative around 27 core indicators to give an overview of the local skills landscape to be included in a Local Skills Report requested by the Department for Education.

At a glance

genecon undertook detailed labour market research and analysis to develop a Local Skills Report for the Coast to Capital LEP

The report covered 27 core indicators, grouped into four themes

The report has paved the way for collaborative strategy and action among local partners

The challenge:

Coast to Capital LEP is responsible for supporting economic growth across an area south of London that includes Brighton & Hove, West Sussex, the Gatwick Diamond and Croydon. In 2020, the LEP’s Skills Advisory Panel – like all skills advisory panels nationally – was asked by DfE to produce a Local Skills Report by the end of March 2021. The purpose of this was to provide a clear and consistent view of local skills needs in each area around the country.

genecon was commissioned to do this research with the 27 core indicators grouped into four themes covering Local Context, Skills Supply, Skills Demand and Mapping Skills Supply and Demand. Along with these, the final narrative also needed to include key findings from other local intelligence and data sources.

The solution:

We began by reviewing the data for the core indicators to gain a clear understanding of what it revealed, look at any limitations and consider what additional data would be needed to improve the accompanying narrative. This included adding value by collecting and reviewing data for different time periods and locations for comparison. There was also an analysis of local authority-level data to identify where aggregated data at LEP level was masking more localised issues.

Along with the data analysis, genecon undertook a literature review looking at the existing understanding of the local skills landscape, particularly when in relation to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sources included the LEP’s most recent Strategic Economic Plan and its Skills Strategy and Action Plan, as well as local consultation feedback which helped to explain themes that had emerged from the data analysis.

As well as ensuring outputs followed DfE guidance and were accessible to a wider audience, genecon then worked closely with the Coast to Capital LEP team to make sure that the key messages and narrative from the project were aligned with the wider Local Skills Report, helping local stakeholders to buy into the report and ensuring that it could be used as the evidence base for collaborative strategy and action-planning.

The impact:

The final narrative from genecon’s work covered all 27 indicators and the four key themes, identifying key drivers in the local economy as well as strengths and challenges, with information on the skills supply and demand and issues relating to these. The Local Skills Report is now being used to bring partners and stakeholders across the region together to develop appropriate policy responses and targeted action.

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