Skills Evidence Review

This evidence review summarises skills policy across the UK, focusing on devolution, local skills ecosystems, and the role of higher and further education in supporting skills development. It draws key learnings from several place-based interventions related to skills, highlighting effective strategies for addressing local and regional skills challenges, such as skills shortages and skills underutilisation. Key findings illuminate the importance of aligning skills development with local economic requirements, the impact of fragmented governance and inconsistent devolution across the UK on local policy innovation, and the need for targeted interventions to address spatial disparities.

This report is for the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub which seeks to address nationwide issues through local partnerships and place.

By working with local LPIPs, the Hub aims to understand and solve local challenges around the UK through an innovative and effective service-driven approach to place-based policy-making and public service delivery. The LPIP Hub is designed to lead to a step-change in the quality and impact of the evidence created by universities and their local place partners.

The Hub has £3.6 million from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and Innovate UK. It is a national consortium, led by the University of Birmingham, convening stakeholders across the research and policy ecosystem.