Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Skills Improvement Plan 2026-29 / Workforce and Skills Strategy Action Plan
The Roadmap
The following structure outlines the steps required to deliver the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) and the Workforce and Skills Strategy in one cohesive roadmap. It maintains the four pillars from the Workforce and Skills Strategy of Inspire, Innovate, Transform and Thrive with Good Growth and LSIP priorities underpinning the actions to achieve implementation . Designed as one clear roadmap for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, this structure forms a joined-up roadmap that everyone can follow with no conflicting or confusing actions enabling the achievement of mutually agreed end goals for both the LSIP and the Workforce and Skills Strategy.
Summary Table: LSIP Priorities Aligned to Strategic Pillars
Workforce and Skills Strategy
Inspire
Transform
Innovate
Strengthening 16–19 technical pathways; increasing young people’s apprenticeship entry.
Expanding adult skills; growing apprenticeships for 19–24 and adults; boosting higher technical/professional skills.
Tackling skills gaps with modular solutions; expanding employer-based short courses.
Deep employer engagement; supporting Good Growth projects; bringing industry into FE/Apprenticeships.
Our Shared Roadmap (Action Plan)
Each of our strategic pillars are supported by headline outcomes, priorities, actions and activities. These are structured around timescales, delivery owners, partners, outputs and success measures. The following table details the implementation plan for each.
It should also be noted that this roadmap is a live document. It is currently populated with the requirements and desired time frames of the plan. Engagement with the providers and stakeholders has already commenced. As the first element of the delivery stage, specific lead organisation(s) will be agreed and assigned for each activity. The” living” roadmap can then be updated with their detailed plans through the course of delivery. Further versions of this Annex B will be available through the timeline of this CIoS LSIP.
Inspire – Developing the Workforce of Tomorrow (Raising aspirations, strengthening early pathways, supporting young people into clear routes.)
Expected Outcomes (Priorities)
By 2035 Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly will have a healthy, skilled and productive workforce with access to rewarding jobs, career progression and opportunities for all.
Young people have clearer, better-defined pathways into local opportunities.
The number of employees with Level 2+ qualifications
The number of young people not in employment, education and training
The number of Knowledge workers in the economy.
Improve Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) through better data, storytelling and promotion around key sectors
Celebrate and communicate real-world achievements of businesses and industry within wider community to raise visibility of showcase possible career pathways and essential soft skills, bridging gaps in career visibility and skill awareness and influencing students, schools and parents.
Empower sector networks to develop routes for schools and wider workforce to foster curiosity in, and soft skills for, careers in their industries.
Support individuals at all stages of career journey to find and access relevant networks to help them connect to the career path they want.
September 2026 to August 2027
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead) through its Careers Hub & Cornwall Opportunities
Sector Networks
Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS)
Mappa
LSIP
Family Learning
Youth Engagement Project
Sector Networks acting as joint lead with the Careers Hub
Careers Hub
People Hub
Growth Hub
Sector Networks
Increased uptake of technical routes and STEM-related choices, supporting aspiration and attainment.
16–19 technical enrolments in priority sectors
16–19 apprenticeship starts (L2–3)
Progression rates from Level 2 → Level
3 → higher technical routes
Promote higher-level and non-graduate technical careers and industries to primary and secondary schools, students and, crucially, their parents by showcasing apprentice success stories.
Invest in Cornwall Opportunities to provide information around key skills gaps, marketable skills, and inspiring stories around local businesses, providing a gateway to education, training, learning, and networking pathways.
Empower strategic groups of frontline service providers to identify key gaps, and develop shared solutions around enabling workforce participation
September 2026 to August 2027
September 2026 to August 2027
Department for Work & Pensions
Jobs and Careers Service (Lead)
Youth Engagement Project
FE
Cornwall Opportunities
Education Providers
Careers Hub (Lead)
Sector Networks
Cornwall Council/Cornwall Opportunities (Lead)
Local Skills Improvement Plan
Sector Networks
September 2027 to August 2029
Develop better and more granular insight into young people who are at risk of becoming NEET and their journeys post-16, in order to enable more tailored and targeted CEIAG support, integrated between each educational stage.
Utilise informal, modular, or extracurricular means, such as family and community learning, to promote CEIAG, work readiness and soft skills attainment beyond the classroom.
September 2026 to August 2028
DWP
Cornwall Council (Lead)
People Hub Careers Hub
Growth Hub
Risk of NEET (RONI)
Startwell
Jobs & Careers Service
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Startwell
RONI
Careers Hub
Youth Engagement Project
2027-2028
Cornwall Council Adult Skills Fund (Lead)
FE
Family Learning Careers Hub
Devon and Cornwall Training Providers Network (DCTPN)
Education Providers
Sector Networks
Duke of Edinburgh Scheme
Strengthening training and education through deeper cooperation, understanding and co-design between providers, employers, and communities including via sector groups
Strengthening training and education through deeper cooperation, understanding and co-design between providers, employers, and communities including via sector groups
Empower sector networks to drive flexible and modular education and training (training, apprenticeships, and skills bootcamps) around industry needs, co-designing courses with education and training providers, and sector frontline services networks.
September 2027 to August 2028
People Hub RONI
Sector networks (Lead)
Devon & Cornwall Training
Provider Network (DCTPN)
Education Providers
Department for Work & Pensions
Growth Hub
Careers Hub
National Careers Service
Family Learning
Coordinate training and education providers in order to manage and distribute who does what in line with changing needs and their location across CIoS geography, avoiding duplication and facilitating training in place including in offcampus settings.
Exploit the opportunity of new flexible and shortterm ‘foundation’ apprenticeships to offer project-based work opportunities for cohorts of young people in industries with a strong and predictable pipeline of business
Develop large-cohort foundation courses focused on a broad-based introduction to key soft and hard skills appropriate to different sectors, from which greater specialism can follow
Develop a specific Education workforce and skills strategy to address issues in recruitment and retention of educators, teachers and trainers, and in Foundational sectors such as Construction and Health and Social Care
Find creative ways to attract people from industry, who have a strong working knowledge
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Education and Training Providers DCTPN
September 2027 to August 2028
Sector Networks Careers Hub
Cornwall Opportunities
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers Growth Hub Careers Hub
September 2027 to August 2029
Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
September 2027 to August 2029
LSIP (Lead)
Sector Networks
of the local industrial landscape to teach and train the CIOS workers of tomorrow
FE colleges and Sector Networks to encourage small and medium enterprises to group together on apprenticeship and training schemes to ensure sufficient scale in cohort sizes for provision to run on a viable and cost-effective basis
Partner with colleges and providers outside CIoS where necessary in order to achieve necessary scale required to run courses addressing priority skills needs
2027-2028
Revolutionize workforce planning and pathway mapping through alignment with the data-led approach advocated in the emerging national policy agenda
Strengthen the capacity to understand Cornwall’s changing labour market through a data-led approach that builds on good practice already in place, and produces labour market forecasts and foresight, through a labour market dashboard or observatory function.
Train and improve teams in industry, frontline services, and training providers to be better at gathering qualitative and quantitative data and intelligence
September 2026 to August 2028
Education and Training Providers Careers Hub
Sector Networks
Apprenticeship Providers (Lead)
Boost employer participation in national level surveys like the Annual Labour Force Survey and other Office of National Statistics initiatives
Develop, upgrade and update Cornwall Opportunities to realise its promise as a key resource for those charting pathways through the labour market. Clear communications strategy to continue to promote the website
September 2027 to August 2029
Cornwall Council Adult Skills Commissioning (Lead) DCTPN
National Careers Service
Education and Training Providers
Sector Networks
Sector Networks
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead) LSIP
September 2027 to August 2028
Sector Networks RONI
Careers Hub
Growth Hub
People Hub (Lead)
Department for Work & Pensions ICS
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead) Cornwall Opportunities
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Cornwall Opportunities
Careers Hub
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
People Hub
Strengthen 16–19 pathways into high-demand occupations
Commit resource to the development of the Local Growth Plan, Local Skills Plan and Back to Work Plan, and situate this Workforce & Skills Strategy and existing LSIP work within these expectations
Develop and introduce destination tracking by sector and occupation for 16–19 cohorts to strengthen progression into apprenticeships and higher-level technical routes.
Expand participation in high-quality technical pathways that reflect the needs of the regional economy.
Ensure FE provision is closely aligned with current and emerging labour-market evidence.
September 2026 to August 2028 LSIP
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Build early interest and entry into apprenticeships
Strengthen progression routes into employment and higher-level technical and professional programmes.
Embed digital user skills, AI user competencies, green content and essential employability skills across all 16–19 technical programmes.
Increase T Level volumes in digital and engineering maintenance; extend work experience to the full range of courses.
Significantly increase entry into Level 2–3 apprenticeships for 16–19-year-olds, ensuring young people can access clear and supported vocational pathways, promote sector success stories to learners and parents
September 2027 to August 2028
Post 16 Statutory providers/FE Colleges
Careers Hub
Cornwall Council (Lead)
September 2027 to August 2029 LSIP
Workforce and Skills Board
Sector Networks
Learning Providers (Lead)
September 2026 to August 2027 (ongoing)
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2029
FE Colleges (Lead)
LSIP
Workforce and Skills Board
Sector Networks
LSIP
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks
Post 16 Statutory Providers (Lead) Cornwall Council
Sector Networks
September 2027 to August 2029 FE Providers (Lead)
Cornwall Council
Sector Networks
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE
Learning Providers
LSIP
Workforce and Skills Board
Sector Networks
Cornwall Opportunities
Promote priority-sector apprenticeship opportunities as credible and aspirational career routes.
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Opportunities (Lead) LSIP
Workforce and Skills Board
Sector Networks
Transform - Strengthening Talent Pipelines for a Future-Ready Economy (Aligning provision, increasing supply, creating long-term commissioning models.)
Expected Outcomes (Priorities)
By 2035 overall productivity levels will be at least 85% of the English average
A strengthened talent pipeline that supports current and future labour-market needs.
Improved progression into higher-level and specialist technical roles.
GVA per hour worked
Median gross annual pay for fulltime workers
Business formation rate
Business survival rate
Adult Level 2/3 completions linked to priority sectors
Adult apprenticeship starts (L2–6)
Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) and professional
Connect stakeholders and align supporting infrastructure through closer collaboration within and between sectors
Maximise the impact of existing workforce development initiatives by situating the Workforce and Skills Board as a central hub for sharing best practices, aligning cross-sector efforts and expanding access to innovative training solutions.
Empower businesses to understand, evidence and articulate, drive and lead a clear vision of their future workforce needs through Sector Networks and the Workforce and Skills Board
Ensure that sector networks are visible and accessible to the wider business community
Establish employer forums organised around industries with common core skillsets and shared labour pools, such as Digital, Green Skills, and Culture and Heritage.
Advise and assist employers, employees and providers with understanding of the details and opportunities of the new policy landscape emerging from central government.
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Hub
Hub
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks
LSIP
Sector Networks (Lead)
Sector Networks (Lead)
Support sector collaboration and leadership to develop Skills Bootcamps, shared apprenticeship
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Workforce and Skills Board
Sector Networks
Federation of Small Business
Cornwall Chamber of Commerce
Growth Hub
Education and training providers
Sector Networks (Lead)
Cornwall Council
schemes and cohorts, and similar training opportunities.
Embed experts from Council teams with and within industry to foster contact knowledge exchange between sectors and trainers/educators and align the relationship between local/national strategies and skills provision.
Develop a language and story to communicate our business strengths, institutional structures and ways of working under a coherent brand to outside partners.
Cascade relevant information to all businesses by working with Business Regulatory Services to include additional information on emails.
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Education and training providers LSIP
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Careers Hub
People Hub
Growth Hub
Education and Training Providers
Cornwall Council (Lead) Mappa (ICS)
September 2026 to August 2027
Support and sustain skills development through a more strategic approach to funding, levy transfer and the use of planning and procurement levers
Continue to bid for funding and make funding available to meet the skills needs most strategic to the future of the CIoS economy
Respond to future funding calls with joined-up, coherent programmes, involving industry, educators, and front-line service delivery.
Raise awareness of the current facility offered for the transfer of levy underspend between employers
Shape inward investment in the form of donations of unspent levy
Engage individuals, groups and communities in a longer-term and consistent way in order to develop horizontal networks and increase awareness, uptake and scale for workforce and skills development.
Ongoing
Ongoing
September 2026 to August 2027
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Careers Hub
Growth Hub
People Hub
Sector Networks
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Workforce and Skills Board
Education and Training Providers
Cornwall Council (Lead)
LSIP
Sector Networks
Workforce and Skills Board
Education and Training Providers
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Family Learning
Careers Hub
People Hub & Growth Hub
Invest in the right mix of transferable skills and specific provision matched to the challenges of particular sectors
Exploit the available procurement levers for a more robust and accountable approach to embedding social value in Cornwall Council contracts
Deploy planning levers to incorporate on-site skills academies into major housebuilding and infrastructure projects
Invest in transferable skills and trades core to several industries, building resilience to change and uncertainty
Tailor flexible training provision like Skills Bootcamps to meet rapid demands for staff in sectors like construction owing to housebuilding targets
September 2026 to August 2027
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2026 to August 2027
Sector Networks
Growth Hub
People Hub
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Education and Training Providers
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Education and Training Providers
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
Sector Networks
Growth Hub
Department for Work & Pensions
National Careers Service
People Hub
Develop a Soft Skills accreditation
Develop workers and business support to address under-employment
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
Cornwall Council Digital Badges (Lead)
Employers and trainers
Cornwall Council
People Hub (Lead)
Growth Hub
Sector Networks
DWP Jobs and Carers Service
Address Health and Social Care
Support Tech Cornwall, informed by their new digital skills deep dive
Develop digital foundations training that is up-todate and delivered by those familiar with the coalface and the cutting-edge
Consider specific ways to address skills needs within CIoS creative and cultural industries, and within areas of high self-employment more broadly
Connect to Work delivery plan informed by this Strategy and other accompanying initiatives such
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2027
Tech Cornwall (Lead)
Digital Futures Cornwall
Tech Cornwall, all providers of digital Education and Training (Lead)
Heritage, Creative and Built Environment,
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
WorkWell
People Hub (Lead)
gaps and systemic blockages, and reasonable adjustments in the workforce.
Enhance Adult Skills Pathways into priority sectors
as the forthcoming Work & Health Strategy and Get Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Working Plan.
Develop specific intelligence and support for young people at risk of NEET
September 2026 to August 2028
Grow apprenticeship participation across all age groups
Ensure a balanced offer that meets the needs of employees, jobseekers and adults seeking career change.
Increase progression from adult provision into Level 2/3 vocational roles aligned with employer demand.
Grow Bootcamps and similar L2/3 provision for unemployed/inactive and career changers (construction retrofit, marine welding/composites, care entry, digital foundations)
Increase Level 2–6 apprenticeship starts for 19–24-year-olds, enabling accelerated entry into technical and professional roles.
Substantially increase L2–6 apprenticeship entry for 19–24-year-olds and adults across priority sectors; pilot shared apprentice agency models where SME scale is a constraint.
Expand apprenticeship supply across priority sectors for both unemployed adults and the existing workforce.
Introduce and scale “apprenticeship units” to enable modular upskilling and conversion to full frameworks where appropriate.
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
WorkWell People Hub RONI
Cornwall Council (Lead)Startwell
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE HE
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE
Training Providers DWP Jobs and Careers Service
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE Training providers
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE & HE Providers
Employers
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE HE
Employers
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE HE
Employers
Cornwall Council
Learning Providers (Lead) HE
Employers
Expand higher-level technical and professional skills
Increase participation in technical/professional programmes that support the region’s growth sectors
Strengthen alignment between higher-level provision and labour-market needs.
Improve progression into skilled employment and specialist technical roles.
Approve and deliver a CIoS HTQ development programme (L4/5) aligned with occupational shortages (engineering, digital/software, renewables); review HTQ offer annually.
September 2027 to August 2029
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE
Employers
September 2027 to August 2029
Cornwall Council FE & HE Providers (Lead)
Employers
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
Employers (Lead)
Council
& HE Providers (Lead)
Employers
Innovate - Responding to Change and Building a Dynamic Skills System (New models, industry collaboration, responsive provision.) Expected Outcomes (Priorities)
By 2035 CIoS will be recognised for excellence in innovation and creativity and with networks of businesses with national and global profiles, known as the place where
Employees in knowledge-intensive services or high-tech manufacturing
Employment in science, research, engineering and technology
Revise and review Strategy and actions in light of the upstream factors that shape workforce and skills supply and demand
Review and revise the Workforce & Skills Strategy action plan on an annual basis informed by a data-led and outcomes-oriented appraisal
Hardwire workforce and skills into upstream economic decision-making and thinking
Build stronger value chains between sectors that in turn strengthen our labour markets
Ongoing annually Workforce and Skills Board (Lead) People Hub
Careers Hub, Growth Hub
Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP)
Ongoing
September 2027 to August 2029
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks (Lead)
Workforce and Skills Board
outstanding businesses compete within a range of sectors in the UK and global markets.
A system that is agile and responsive to technological and sectoral change.
Increased innovation in training delivery, building future-ready skills solutions.
Employment in export intensive industries. Volume of modular/short-course completions
Number of employers purchasing or commissioning short courses
Demonstrated reduction in identified skills shortages in priority sectors
Empower Sector Networks, further education, and frontline service delivery provision to match address employer needs for different kinds of skills and training, and link with talent pipeline
Review and address health barriers to workforce participation, through a Work and Health Strategy, commissioned in line with Government Guidance.
Enable the greater scale and volume that underpin progression and investment by advising and supporting companies seeking to sell, merge and acquire
Position CIoS’s digital economy as a potential AI Growth Zone under the government scheme
Understand and plan for the workforce and skills implications of increased defence spending and a rebuilding of the defence industrial base for CIoS
Foster collaboration between businesses, education providers, and industry leaders in the co-design of training in order to create more effective and accessible systems and solutions
Develop talent pipelines by fostering interest and curiosity in key industries and sectors
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks
LSIP
Work and Health Partnership
Workforce and Skills Board
Sector Networks
Cornwall Council & Growth Hub (Lead)
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks
Tech Cornwall
Digital Futures Cornwall
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks Careers Hub
Prioritise support according to the different needs of sectors. Recognise the importance of foundational sectors such as construction and health and social care.
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Sector Networks (Lead)
Education and Training Providers
People Hub
FE
Sector Networks Careers Hub (Lead)
Cornwall Opportunities
Family Learning
People Hub
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
Work and Health Partnership
Create clearer guidelines about what leadership and management skills mean in practice and the qualifications needed to evidence them
Create a dashboard capturing school, FE and HE participation in STEM subjects
Commission a green skills deep dive refresh akin to that being done for digital skills
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
Cornwall Council
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
Careers Hub
Cornwall Opportunities
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Cornwall Opportunities
Careers Hub
Workforce and Skills Board
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Local Nature Partnership
Cornerstone Employers Group
Heritage
Culture and Built Environment
Renewable Sector Leads
Construction
Encourage the expansion of workplace-based skills training and education
Trial new approaches using the freedom afforded by the Adult Skills Fund to reshape the model of traditional vocational education
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
LSIP
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
LSIP,
People Hub
Careers Hub
Growth Hub
Encourage FE institutions to be more agile and flexible in terms of the location and timing of provision and attendance
Recognise and empower the contribution private providers can make to more flexible and responsive modes of training and education
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
LSIP Employer Steering Group (Lead)
Education and Training Providers
Devon & Cornwall Training Provider Network (DCTPN) (Lead)
People Hub
Careers Hub
DWP
Pioneer new approaches to overcome demographic, seasonal and technological barriers to a wellfunctioning labour market
Avoid duplication of provision across fragmented skills terrain, and between different schemes and providers
Consider strategies for unlocking potential of our aging population
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Education and Training Providers
DCTPN
Cornwall Council & ICB (Joint Lead)
Cornwall Opportunities
People Hub
WorkWell
Department for Work & Pensions
Jobs and Careers Service
Harness the seasonal character of the Cornish economy as an enabler rather than a limit so that high winter unemployment provides the opportunity to ramp up bootcamps and other courses to get people closer to sustainable careers
Address labour shortages (such as in the visitor economy) through opportunities for those economically inactive due to health barriers
Foster a spirit of innovation and experimentation with technological solutions for labour and skills shortages and demographic shifts in certain sectors
September 2026 to August 2027
September 2026 to August 2027
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
Sector Networks
People Hub
Department for Work & Pensions
Jobs and Careers Service
Growth Hub
Department for Work & Pensions (Lead)
People Hub
WorkWell
Long Sector Networks
People Hub
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
Create a responsive system to address skills gaps
Establish a coordinated approach to identifying skills gaps and emerging needs using evidence from employers and labour-market data.
Expand the development and uptake of short, modular skills solutions— such as “apprenticeship units” and sector-specific training packages—to enable rapid upskilling and reskilling.
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council (Lead)
LSIP
HE FE
Cornwall Council
LSIP
HE & FE Providers (Lead)
Strengthen the market for flexible and employer-led training
Create a CIoS skills-gap cycle: bi-annual evidence review with sector groups producing short commissioning notes for ASF, Bootcamps, Apprenticeships, HTQs.
Support the development of a sustainable ecosystem of employer-based and commercial short-course provision.
Build a functioning market for employer-based commercial short courses (pricing models, QA, CPD credits), prioritising Marine, Renewables, Digital, Construction and Care.
Encourage innovation in delivery (e.g., bite-sized technical training, hybrid learning models) to widen access.
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council (Lead)
LSIP
HE FE
Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council
LSIP
HE & FE Providers (Lead)
Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council
FSB / ERB
Learning Providers (Lead)
Employers
September 2027 to August 2029
Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council
FSB / ERB
Learning Providers (Lead)
Employers
Thrive - Enabling an Inclusive and Resilient Skills Ecosystem (Partnership, employer engagement, suppor ng strategic investment, enabling good growth.) Expected Outcomes (Priorities)
By 2035 CIoS will be a place where every household and community both contributes to and benefits from our Employment and Participation Employment rate (overall and by age group) Connect commissioning with strategic priorities in order to create a coordinated,
Ensure that formal and informal training programmes are flexible, modular, accessible, and designed to meet individual needs and requirements at every stage of their learning journey
September 2026 to August 2027
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
DCTPN
Family Learning
growing economy and economic life.
A fully engaged employer community shaping and co-designing delivery.
Skills provision that underpins strategic investments and supports a resilient, inclusive economy.
Economic inactivity rate, including breakdowns by:
Long-term sickness
Caring responsibilities
Early retirement
Unemployment rate
Transitions and Progression
Number of people moving from benefits into work
Sustained employment outcomes (e.g. 6month and 12-month retention)
Progression in work (e.g. increased hours, pay, or responsibilities)
Youth and Education
NEET rate (Not in Education, Employment or Training)
coherent programme of support for work readiness throughout the life-course
Further research to understand better individual career journeys, and experiences of finding work in specific sectors.
Evaluate how best to target resources and investment to the needs of different individuals and groups
Collaboration around data sharing to provide a greater level of data analysis to understand supply and demand for skills, such as needs analysis and delivery plans for the Adult Skills Fund
Explore the use of micro credentials to develop a local award which recognises and accredits core employability skills
Strike collaborative agreements and memorandums of understanding between schools, colleges and universities that formalize existing bilateral relationships
Put in place support structures to anticipate the ‘career shock’ that could accompany the transitions that follow peaks and troughs of employment in particular sectors and resource economies
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
September 2027 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead)
People Hub
Careers Hub
Growth Hub
Sector Networks
Cornwall Council (Lead)
People Hub
RONI
Sector Networks
Growth Hub
Department for Work & Pensions
Jobs and Careers Service
Cornwall Council – Digital Badges (Lead)
Sector Networks
People Hub
Family Learning
RONI
Youth Engagement Project
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
Higher Education and Further Education (Lead)
People Hub (Lead)
Department for Work & Pensions
Jobs & Careers Service
Participation in post-16 education and training
Apprenticeship starts and completions
Skills and Learning
Participation in adult learning
Completion of Skills Bootcamps and other short courses
Attainment of Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications
Digital and green skills acquisition
Employer Engagement
Employer-reported recruitment difficulties
Employer investment in training
Use of apprenticeships and work placements
Health and Work
Address the barriers to achieving the workforce and skills of the future by tailoring transport, housing and childcare to the needs of learners and employees
Target gaps in skilled labour with provision aimed at mid-career adults seeking to retrain with the routines and rhythms of work and family
Consider the broader ecosystem of factors beyond technical skills that prevent labour market participation and career progression
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council
People Hub
Education and Training Providers (Lead)
September 2027 to August 2029
Exploit the options available to subsidise and overcome transport barriers for young people and other key user groups
Rethink housing in line with workforce and skills needs, and embed this in the planning process
Thread workforce and skills through other areas of strategic decision-making such as housing and transport
Support companies in priority sectors to secure agreements for non-cash benefits that can be used to recruit and retain the right skilled staff
Develop a specific post-16 settlement for the Isles of Scilly attuned to its particular geographical challenges
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2028 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead)
People Hub
NCS
WorkWell
Startwell
Family Learning
Department for Work & Pensions
Work and Health Partnership
Cornwall Council Local Transport Partnership (Lead)
Youth Engagement Project
RONI
Department for Work & Pensions
Cornwall Council - Housing Partnership (Lead)
Sector Networks
People Hub
Growth Hub
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Transport Partnership
Housing Partnerships
Sector Networks
Work and Health Partnership
Workforce and Skills Board (Lead)
Sector Networks
Council of the Isles of Scilly (Lead)
Sector Networks
Education and Training Providers
Workforce participation among people with health conditions
Access to occupational health and employment support services
Referrals to and outcomes from Work and Health programmes
Inclusion and Equality
Employment outcomes by gender, ethnicity, disability, and age
Pay progression and job quality indicators
Access to flexible and secure work
Number of active employer sector groups
Employer participation in governance and curriculum co-design
Number of industry experts teaching in
Assist employees and employers in adapting to new legislative, technological and industrial challenges and opportunities by leveraging a Good Work Charter and aligning with statutory expectations
Finalise and launch a Good Work Charter as part of a forthcoming Good Business Charter being developed by the Economic Growth team, showcasing CIoS existing ecology of organisations promoting ‘good work’ and supporting companies in the most challenging sectors to adapt to the new legislative context around employment.
Consider appropriate forms of conditionality around workforce and skills that could be applied to planning, procurement, inward investment or business support of a strategic character
Incorporate the worker voice in decision-making around Workforce & Skills (including on the Board) via inclusion of trade union representatives – in line with social partnership approach integral to government policy agenda
Utilise the Living Wage Place campaign to support and advise businesses with the Real Living Wage reforms introduced in the Employment Rights Bill
Understand the opportunities and threats of AI for the Cornish workforce, and intervene to shape its consequences, collaborating with businesses and workers to improve readiness for adaptation to technological disruption.
September 2026 to August 2027
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Workforce & Skills Board
CIoS Economic Forum
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Workforce & Skills Board (Lead)
Trade Unions (e.g. GMB, Unison, Unite)
South West Trades Union Congress
September 2026 to August 2028
September 2027 to August 2029
Living Wage Place Action Group and its members (Lead)
Workforce & Skills Board
Tech Cornwall and wider digital cluster/sector in CIoS (Lead)
FE/apprenticeship settings
Skills fulfilment rates for major investment projects
Address health inequalities impacting workforce participation
Develop a local Back to Work Plan in line with government expectations
Review and address health barriers to workforce participation, through a Work and Health Strategy and Local Get Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly Working Plan, commissioned in line with Government Guidance.
Work with NHS Cornwall to develop innovative solutions around illness and sick leave.
Signpost businesses to off-the-shelf workplace wellbeing and HR tools such as the World Wellbeing Movement Playbook
Build deep and sustained employer engagement to shape skills delivery
Maintain and enhance sector-led employer governance groups to guide skills planning and commissioning.
Coordinate employer engagement across the system, sharing effective practice and promoting active participation in workforce development.
Maintain sector-led employer governance groups (e.g., Cornwall Marine Network, Cornwall Space Cluster, Cornwall Mining Alliance, Tech Cornwall).
September 2026 to August 2027
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council &NHS ICB (including Work & Health Partnership) (Lead) Department for Work & Pensions
Cornwall Council & Work and Health Partnership (Lead)
NHS Cornwall Sector Networks
September 2027 to August 2028
September 2026 to August 2027
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2028
WorkWell
NHS Cornwall (Lead) Sector Networks
Sector Networks
WorkWell
Work & Health Partnership (Lead)
NHS Cornwall People Hub
CIoS Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council (Lead)
September 2027 to August 2029
CIoS Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council (Lead)
Economic Forum (Lead)
CIoS Workforce and Skills Board
Cornwall Council
Support Good Growth Plan investments with the skills they need
Ensure that major investment and growth projects can secure the skilled workforce required to deliver planned outcomes
September 2027 to August 2029
September 2027 to August 2029
Economic Forum
Economic Forum
Bring industry expertise into teaching and training
CIoS Workforce and Skills Board (Lead) Cornwall Council Ensure Good Growth Plan projects can access skills: publish project-level workforce plans and training pipelines (e.g., grid connections, marine facilities, geothermal, construction pipeline).
Develop a region-wide initiative that supports experienced industry professionals to teach or train part-time in FE and apprenticeship settings, strengthening the relevance and quality of delivery.
Bring industry experts into teaching and training via a CIoS “Industry into Teaching” initiative (recruitment, induction, CPD, incentives).
September 2026 to August 2028
CIoS Workforce and Skills Board (Lead) Cornwall Council
September 2026 to August 2028
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE
Cornwall Council (Lead) FE
