Local skills and devolution research

Devolution in England: A new skills system (2025)

The Devolution of England: A new skills system report by North West-based consultancy Think, commissioned by AoC, sets out a national and local skills strategy, and says strategic authorities should have greater control over skills funding and policy decisions, moving away from the ‘Whitehall knows best’ model.

With targeted devolved funding, the report says, colleges can tailor their adult skills programmes to meet the specific needs of their local labour markets, empowering them and the communities they serve. For instance, a college in a region with a growing tech industry could develop specialised IT and coding courses, directly aligning education with local job opportunities.

Key recommendations:

• Shift to a plan-based skills system
• Move from a competitive to a collaborative funding model.
• Devolve funding while maintaining current programme structures (adult 19+, apprenticeships, 16-19, higher education).
• Strengthen local collaboration and accountability
• Implement a plan-led approach to adult skills, 16-19 education, and apprenticeships.
• Require accountability statements approved by strategic authorities to shape curriculum offers.
• Develop a national and local skills strategy
• Establish a national vision for technical education linked to local ‘actionable’ skills plans.
• Ensure alignment with the Industrial Strategy, national skills strategy, local growth plans, and LSIPs.
• Improve funding and oversight mechanisms
• Introduce three-year local skills plans informed by national priorities.
• Implement three-year funding settlements for providers based on accountability statements.
• Reduce bureaucracy and compliance burdens
• Use Skills England to streamline funding rules and audits.
• Minimise overlapping local skills strategies that create confusion for employers and providers.
• Enhance system leadership capacity
• Support strategic authorities, employer representative bodies, and college leaders in managing a plan-led system.
• Provide data and occupational tracking for better-informed decision-making.

Read the report Read the AoC press release

Local skills improvement plans: a review of their impact and opportunities for the future (2024)

Based on interviews with senior college leaders and employer representative bodies across the country, and input from across the further education (FE) sector, mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) and local authorities (LAs) and business groups, this report makes several recommendations on how LSIPs need to change for the future, grouped into four key areas.

• The first is the focus on building genuinely place-based partnerships, ensuring that LSIPs act as a partnership between all the key stakeholders, and that they cohere with other local or regional planning processes, rather than adding layers of complexity to an already complex system.
  
• The second is ensuring effective, strategic employer relationships which are a ‘two-way street’, ensuring that the focus reflects the broad range of employers within a place, is on the long-term priorities rather than simply current vacancies, and involves reflecting on how employers will have to change too.
  
• The third is the funding context, recognising the impact of both the level of funding going into the system and the funding approach, as either enabling or undermining ability to deliver on the plan.
  
• The fourth is ensuring a clear and coherent approach to accountability, so that everyone is clear on their roles and responsibilities in developing and delivering on LSIPs.

Read the report