Construction procurement and contracts specialist, Adwoa Owusu-Banahene, has previously spoken out about the need for an integrated approach to ensure the successful implementation of the government’s key skills gap legislation, the Skills and Post-16 Education Act. Sitting down on The Leaders Council Podcast, Adwoa elaborates on why a joined-up approach is needed.
Referring to the government’s blueprint for Local Skills Improvement Plans [LSIPs] in the legislation - which are intended to place employers back at the heart of skills provision at a local level by establishing what the priority areas of skills shortage are and mobilising education to deliver on them – Adwoa emphasised the need for all stakeholders to come together and co-operate to make them effective.
She said: “The cohesive and collaborative approach we need is based on years of experience and learning in the contracts and procurements space. As a specialist in this area within the construction industry, I know very well the importance of transitioning procurement education to contract delivery. Very often, the realisation of beneficial outcomes from the procurement process to contract delivery are lost.
“Issues with the delivery and with that, the breakdown of professional relationships, are borne out of a lack of understanding and clarity of scope, key deliverables, and the importance clauses within contracts. This is usually down to contracts being executed and thrown over the fence from procurement to delivery without the integration and collaboration taking place between procurement teams and contract delivery teams. When delivery teams don’t understand the basis for the contract and the intended benefits of procurement, this is all lost during the delivery process. So, cohesion and collaboration will be crucial.”
Adwoa then went on to talk about the development process for the LSIPs, which will involve numerous stakeholders with a plethora of different interests and ambitions coming together to discuss exactly what local needs are. All of these will have a say in how the LSIP is practically applied to start delivering on skills demands in different areas.
Adwoa explained: “LSIPs will be developed by employers and employer representative bodies that are nominated by the secretary of state. They’ll need to work with other employers, providers, stakeholder groups like local authorities, net-zero groups and local enterprise partners. These are all different organisations with competing priorities that are coming together to develop LSIPs. That is a lot of different views coming to the table, a lot of approaches. Yet, with all those different voices, the mission is to ensure this plan works and delivers on the government’s intentions. To enable that, we need engagement and collaboration from all of those stakeholders to ensure the intended benefits are delivered.
“So, employers’ representatives that are nominated need the buy-in of employers and education providers across further education. In doing that, they’ll be able to ensure that the LSIPs are providing key levelling-up opportunities as part of the government’s wider development agenda.”
Even if the multitude of stakeholders involved can effectively come together to draft a plan that properly identifies local skills needs, Adwoa raised concern that the next obstacle would be to ensure that the education sector was properly resourced in order to provide adequate training to deliver those skills.
“While the priority skills areas are being identified, we then need to ensure that education has both the funding and capacity to be able to provide the skills that are needed in shortage professions.
“At the end of the LSIP development phase, there’ll be a report drafted up which determines what the local needs are. This report will highlight key actionable priorities that education providers have to deliver on. But to deliver, they need to understand what it will entail and consolidate their resources to ensure their teams are developed enough and ready to take on board the scale of actionable priorities. If education isn’t properly resourced, it won’t deliver on the needs outlined in the LSIPs.
“It is no mean feat. All areas, all elements, all organisations need to be joined up. This will ensure the issues and the needs, and the approach are understood and we can ensure education providers are ready to deliver on it. An integrated approach is undoubtedly needed.”
The full interview with Adwoa Owusu-Banahene on The Leaders Council Podcast can be accessed below.
Photo by Emma Houghton on Unsplash
