A Local Skills Improvement Plan – or LSIP for short – is a tool produced on a locality-by-locality basis to help educators respond to the needs of local businesses.

Further Education establishments must consider the LSIP when planning their curriculum. It has been commissioned by Government, with 38 plans being delivered across England. The LSIP for our area covers all of Leicester and Leicestershire. The plan will be produced for summer 2023 and will contain recommendations for improvements in how the educators and employers in Leicester and Leicestershire interact. This may involve what the curriculum offers, how this is communicated or how businesses can better engage educators.

The work is captured as part of the Collective Intelligence Skills Observatory: www.insight-unlocked.co.uk

How can I get involved?
The LSIP will be working with businesses from early 2023 to get new intelligence on what attributes you need to have in your people to succeed. If you want to take part, please fill in this form: bit.ly/LSIPRegister

You'll receive a couple of questions per day (Monday-Friday) via a Digital App between February and April 2023. Many of these will be multiple-choice or YES/NO questions. They will ask for your feedback on five topics related to your people needs: Confidence, Investment, Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours.

The Job Club in Lutterworth will continue in the new year starting on Friday 3 February 2023 and then running the first Friday of every second month.

The Job Club, co-ordinated by Harborough District Council, aims to support local job seekers in preparing and searching for work. As part of this, we aim to connect local employers with job seekers. The Job Club can be used as a space for you as an employer to share information about your sector, promote your roles and have informal conversations and interviews with job seekers.

If you would like to get involved in future Job Clubs, please email business@harborough.gov.uk

Job Club dates 2023:

• Friday 3 February
• Friday 14 April
• Friday 2 June
• Friday 4 August
• Friday 6 October
• Friday 1 December

Are you the maker or producer of a product?

Do you spend most of your days trying to resolve reoccurring issues such as machine downtime, meeting customer demand or manual tasks that cause delays? Can you not get the data you need to support decisions on how to make your processes more efficient?

Or would you like to accelerate the growth of your business, but you’re struggling to understand the best route forward?

Made Smarter can help with skills support, training and grant funding as you go through your journey to digitalisation – whatever stage you are currently at.

The programme will give you independent advice from subject matter experts who will help you to choose and implement what are called ‘Industrial Digital Technologies’ (IDTs) to solve productivity and competitiveness issues and deliver a measurable return on your investment.

As part of the programme, you will be able to secure grant funding of up to £20,000 with a 50% match from your side. You will also work with a specialist to devise a tailored roadmap for your business which will set you up for the journey to get further support later. This support could include leadership and management training. It will also support you to develop and appraise future solution options. Finally, it will help you create effective specifications and plan for successful implementation.

DMU’s Leicester Castle Business School is running its fifth cohort under the Government’s Help to Grow: Management programme, a 12-week course providing tailored support to SMEs.

The next cohort will start in January 2023 and is aimed at senior leaders in small and medium businesses. It aims to unlock the potential of companies by ensuring they have access to a team of industry experts to learn the latest in management and business strategies. The course covers strategies for growth and innovation, with a focus on sustainability, resilience and productivity.

The course is worth around £7,000 per participant, but the Government funds 90% of the cost, enabling businesses to sign up for £750. To be eligible, SMEs must have been in operation for at least one year and have between five and 249 employees.

Is your Food and Drink business working towards net zero?

The Food & Drink Forum is currently offering a fully funded opportunity for small businesses within Leicester City and Leicestershire County to delve deep into what changes can be realistically made across your business, to reduce your environmental impact. This support will include a consultative audit and a bespoke Action Plan with a range of suggested actions put forward to benefit both your business and the environment.

Please note that there is limited funding available for this service. It will run on a first-come, first-served basis until the funding has been allocated.

VASL is a local charity based in Market Harborough and one of the services VASL offer is a car scheme for people who have no transport of their own, have difficulty using public transport and/or have no access to public transport. The catchment area for the scheme is the part of Harborough district east of the A5199, with a population of around 56,000.

Their volunteers take clients to hospital appointments, GP appointments, visiting & leisure centre, etc.

Does it sound like something you would enjoy doing? You would need to have your own car, fully comprehensive insurance, telephone and of course a bit of free time. All drivers are paid out of pocket expenses. Training and ongoing support will be provided. 

If you like the sound of it or would like more information, give the team a call on 01858 468499 or email transport@vasl.org.uk