The principal role of Plymouth’s Employment and Skills Board (ESB) is to engage local employers and sectors, collate labour market needs, scrutinise local provision and inform how best to integrate skills and employment support with the local labour market. The ESB will seek both to influence and ensure coherence with both education and adult skills, and employment plans and policies across the city, particularly as they affect the priority sectors.

In so doing, the ESB will promote a shared understanding of skills and employment demand in the city economy, now and in the future, the related challenges and opportunities, and recommend priority-based solutions which are based on current and future needs. In addition the ESB will also ensure that there is a strong alignment between the Skills Advisory Panel, Heart of the South West LEP (HoSWLEP) strategy, Plymouth Growth Board and joint working with related initiatives.

Key objectives of the Employment and Skills Board:

• to lead interventions required to achieve the Skills 4 Plymouth Strategic Plan outcomes

• to close skills gaps and skills shortages by matching and developing a skilled supply of people to meet the business demand

• to grow a sustainable future talent pipeline to meet demand

• to ensure alignment with the Inclusive Growth agenda for the city

• to identify opportunities to access funding and / or pool budgets and - where feasible - micro-commission services across agencies where a need has been identified

• to act as a focus group or test-bed for the agenda, learning from best practice examples and to research innovative practice and development.

The ESB Chair is Paul Turner, HR Director at Princess Yachts. The ESB Vice-Chair is Ian McFadzen, CEO at Plymouth Science Park.

The ESB Terms of Reference are available for download here.

For further information email: SkillsLaunchpad@plymouth.gov.uk