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News From The Chamber

Welcome to the latest news and updates from the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, your hub for business insights, events, and developments in the Cumbria region.

Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) update from Suzanne Caldwell

Read about work underway to address skills challenges in Cumbria by the LSIP partners.

The 2025 Annual Progress Report is currently in production. This is due to be published, on the LSIP page of our website, at the end of June. It will show significant progress so many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the research and/or been part of implementing actions to address priorities.

We’re currently awaiting guidance from the Department for Education for a new LSIP, which we’ll start working on, with partners and other stakeholders, from October.

In the meantime we’re in an interim period to the end of September in which, alongside producing the Progress Report, partners are continuing to work on various activities. These include for example:

  • The Careers Hub undertaking research on 16-18 apprenticeships.
  • The National College for Nuclear/University of Cumbria undertaking initial work on mapping conversions from other qualifications to address skills needs.
  • Cumbria Tourism continuing to work on a range of activities to support the visitor economy
  • The Land & Nature Skills Service (LANSS) continuing to work on land-based skills needs and promoting opportunities.
  • A range of partners working together on actions to address engineering and construction skills and staffing issues in Cumberland, with a steering group led by ourselves and Cumberland Council.
  • A range of stakeholders participating in Barrow Rising activities and the countywide working age population task group.
  • The CITB’s Cumbria and Lancashire Employer Network Steering group. This is currently looking at digital skills to see how CITB can further support micro businesses to embrace technology and demonstrate how it can support their business and drive efficiencies.
  • CITB and ECITB are working with us, providers and employers on ways of addressing tutor and assessor shortages.
  • A range of partners considering issues and opportunities around AI, robotics and automation including skills needs and how employers can best be supported.

This is by no means an exhaustive list!

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