Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Bucks LEP) and Buckinghamshire Skills Hub are delighted to launch the second annual Buckinghamshire Local Skills Report, which is the ‘go-to’ document for everything skills-related within Buckinghamshire, bringing together evidence, strategy, information on current and planned skills initiatives and great examples of local employer-education collaboration.

The first report, published in March 2021, was the first of its kind, providing an analysis of Buckinghamshire’s skills and employment needs, identifying the priorities for public investment and setting out an action plan for skills development in the county. The report is based on research undertaken by the Buckinghamshire LEP and Buckinghamshire Skills Hub on behalf of the Buckinghamshire Skills Advisory Panel (SAP).

The 2022 Local Skills Report updates the research and charts the progress that has been made since the publication of the 2021 report.

Professor Gavin Brooks, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University and Chair of the Buckinghamshire Skills Advisory Panel (SAP), said: “I am delighted to introduce the 2022 Buckinghamshire Local Skills Report. The report provides a detailed analysis of our county’s skills and employment strengths and challenges, and sets out the actions we believe need to be taken forward to ensure our businesses are able to find the skills they need to grow and compete and our people are able to secure the jobs and careers to which they aspire. I hope the report will be used by all organisations involved with the local skills agenda to help inform their decision making.”

The report highlights key Buckinghamshire skills strengths, which include:

• a strong collaborative culture (between education institutions, and between employers and educators)
• Further and Higher Education institutions with a strong history of business engagement and a focus on applied learning and employability
• significant job growth underway in the construction and film and TV sectors
• higher than average Level 2 and 3 attainment by young people aged 19, and high levels of qualifications amongst residents
• world-class talent in industries such as high-performance engineering, film and TV, space and MedTech
• clear long-term economic growth aspirations set out in Bucks LEP’s Local Industrial Strategy

Current challenges include the need to:

• address recruitment difficulties causing problems for employers in many sectors and hampering economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic
• develop initiatives to deal with the growing mismatch between the demand for skills and labour within the local economy and the skills and jobs sought by local residents
• ensure strong local talent pipelines for growing sectors (including life sciences, health and social care; creative industries; construction; high performance engineering; space)
• ensure a strong talent pipeline of green skills (including digital and engineering skills) to enable the shift towards a net zero economy

The report also highlights the need to continue improving and expanding initiatives to prepare young people for work and to increase the number of apprenticeships available in the county.

Download the 2022 Buckinghamshire Local Skills Report >