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"We’re just getting started"- Scotland Local Skills Work Continues to Grow

“We’re just getting started” - Scotland Local Skills Work Continues to Grow

Following the success of the first Scottish Local Skills Accountability Board in Glasgow, a second LSAB has been introduced in Edinburgh, bringing together local stakeholders in the area.

Since our local skills work has started across the UK, it has continued to grow at an unprecedented pace.

As mentioned in our strategy published earlier this year, Releasing the Power of Our Profession, we are aiming to ensure that the right training is available at the right time, in the right place, to ensure that local economic, social and health and wellbeing priorities can be achieved.

Thus, regional areas across England, Scotland and Wales, will all have different priorities depending on the makeup of their local community.

Launching in March this year, the Glasgow Local Skills Accountability Board took flight with over twenty attendees – the first board created in Scotland.

Fast forward nine months, and the Glasgow board is now three meetings in, and as demand has risen across Scotland, an additional board in Edinburgh has been established with the first meeting held on 13th November.

What are Local Skills Accountability Boards?

Local Skills Accountability Boards (LSABs) bring together local employers, education providers, health commissioners, local authorities, business representatives, employment support agencies and community groups, to identify the skills gaps and recruitment challenges in those areas, ensuring specific local needs are met.

Each board will create a sport and physical activity sector local skills plan, which will inform decision making and ensure local education institutions offers training that matches what employers need, provides employers with a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the local community, and give those who work in the sector great career pathways.

A spotlight on Scotland

As we know, Scotland have devolved powers, in which the Scottish Parliament has the power to make laws on a range of issues – including education and training. This is to ensure that decisions are made closer to the local people, communities and businesses they affect.

The Local Skills Accountability Boards are aiming to work on a hyper-local level, for similar reasons – each local area in Scotland will have different needs for sport and physical activity, depending on its population profile and other factors such as transport links and geographical location.

Megan Richardson is the CIMSPA Skills Hub Manager for Scotland:

“The one thing that Scotland does have as a home nation, is our ability to connect not just locally, but nationally as well. There is such a want to share learning, to share the best practice, to collaborate across the whole country.

“The picture that Scotland’s creating at the moment is ‘let’s build really strong connections, local skills plans within areas but then let’s share that across the country, because if it’s working well for us, then this could work in Aberdeen, this could work in The Highlands, this could be great in Dundee.'”

Bringing the Glasgow Board to life

Already three meetings in, those in attendance had a chance to get to know each other, and discuss the three W’s:

What we (the LSAB) are there to do
Why those individuals/organisations are in the room
How we are going to bring it to life

Common themes have been discussed, as well as having the opportunity to split into employers and training providers to have more in-depth conversations around common challenges in the locality.

The LSAB board members at a meeting Megan Richardson has been discussing the enthusiasm that organisations in Glasgow expressed:

“The response from people in Glasgow was ‘when is this happening and we can’t wait to be a part of it’ ahead of the first meeting.

“Local organisations have been asking for this and have been needing this, and we’re so happy that the board has now been brought together so that we can start to fill the insight gap and collate data, so that we can get a really clear picture of what the landscape of the workforce looks like in Glasgow and the surrounding areas.”

Local organisations are already aware that incorporating employer needs into local curriculums is an effective action that can be taken, a conduit such as the LSAB has been needed to make that link. Mia Burleigh, Senior Lecturer Sport and Exercise at the University of the West of Scotland said:

“It is essential that our degrees remain closely aligned with industry needs, ensuring that our graduates are not only academically able but truly work-ready. The LSABs in Scotland play a pivotal role in this process, serving as a critical bridge between us, employers, the third sector, and CIMSPA – our professional development body.

“The creation of these boards is a crucial step in guaranteeing that the skills our students develop in the classroom translate seamlessly into the workplace.”

Edinburgh LSAB: next in line

According to real time data from CIMSPA’s Data Lens, over 500 organisations in the sport and physical activity sector are situated in the City of Edinburgh, with nearly 4000 members of our workforce working in the Scottish capital city.

In this past year, there was over 850 job postings for sport and physical activity roles in the City of Edinburgh, from 184 employers, showing that there is an abundance of opportunities for those seeking to enter the sector.

Megan Richardson discusses the choice to have Edinburgh as the second board to be established:

“With this already happening in Glasgow, other areas of the country have seen what’s been brought to life and have said we need this in our area as well.

“Edinburgh seemed like the next natural step due to it being the home of a number of our already established employer partners, higher education partners and training provider partners.”

As expected, the Edinburgh LSAB has attracted different kinds of stakeholders compared to the Glasgow LSAB, truly highlighting the importance of focusing on local areas and their specific needs. Megan continued:

“There is a real mix of stakeholders that are coming to the first meeting. People from different backgrounds, experiences and governing bodies have got in touch to have a seat round the table after seeing what has been happening.”

Looking forward

CIMSPA Training Provider Partner the University of Edinburgh will play host to the first meeting. Cameron Ritchie, Deputy Director and Head of Operations at the University of Edinburgh has expressed their excitement to get involved in local skills development, with important aims they are striving for through the LSAB:

“We look forward to sharing our insights, experiences and challenges with fellow CIMSPA members as well as developing new relationships with the group. We want to work to build a stronger regulated sport and physical activity sector by giving staff and students an opportunity to gain valuable training and development.”

With over 30 Local Skills Accountability Boards already established across the UK, and a handful of sport and physical activity local skills plans published, Scotland has a clear path to follow suit. Megan concludes with her optimistic outlook:

“It’s all about being able to produce a plan that is created by the people who make those areas, and giving them a chance to be heard.

“They will be able to shape a plan that is actually going to work, and that national organisations like ourselves, like sportscotland, like Public Health Scotland are behind them, and I want them to feel more supported.

“The reason we’re doing this is to help our sector be the best version of itself, and we will do our utmost to make that happen. We’ve only just scraped the surface – and we’re just getting started.”

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