The Cardiff Capital Region has spent years building a stronger skills partnership. We now have industry, education, training providers and government around the same table – but bringing people together is only worthwhile when it changes what happens on the ground.
That is the thinking behind Prosperity through Partnership, the principle at the centre of our latest Skills Plan. We use the word collaboration frequently in Wales, yet organisations can still find themselves competing when decisions move from discussion into delivery. A genuine partnership requires each party to recognise what others bring, and work towards an outcome that benefits the whole region.
For the Cardiff Capital Region Skills Partnership, that means starting with what employers need. Our approach is demand-led, with businesses helping to identify the skills and qualifications required across the region’s sectors. Colleges, universities and training providers can then consider how provision should respond, while Welsh Government and other public bodies provide the policy and support needed to help make that change possible.
I see that relationship as an equilateral triangle between demand, supply and the organisations able to act as catalysts. All three sides need to work together, and all three should benefit. The aim is not to advance one institution or sector at the expense of another, but to create clearer routes into employment and support growth and prosperity across the region.
A demand-led system also has to be data-driven. The Partnership works through priority sector groups and draws on labour market intelligence from Data Cymru and other sources to understand where employment demand is moving, which occupations are growing and where provision may need to change.
We have also developed a regional skills data observatory, bringing that information together so employers, colleges, universities, training providers and policymakers can examine the picture at regional, local authority and sector level.
Data does not remove the need for judgement. The same figures can be interpreted in different ways, particularly when organisations view them through the lens of their own priorities. The value of the observatory is that it gives everyone a consistent evidence base from which to begin.
The four Regional Skills Partnerships across Wales now produce data in a common way, giving Welsh Government a more coherent national picture while preserving the ability to understand regional differences. That can help inform decisions about where provision should expand, where it may need to reduce and where new qualifications are required.
This is increasingly important as demand grows in areas such as renewable energy, artificial intelligence, cyber, FinTech, MedTech and other technology-led industries. These sectors can develop quickly, so employers and providers need current information rather than relying only on historic patterns of demand.
Horizon scanning cannot begin when somebody turns 16. Although the Partnership’s formal remit is focused on post-16 skills, the foundations of workforce readiness are laid much earlier.
Primary and secondary schools need access to information about the direction in which industries are moving. That intelligence can help shape careers advice, work-related learning and the choices young people make through GCSEs, A-levels, apprenticeships and other routes.
We cannot expect the post-16 system suddenly to fill every emerging skills gap. Employers, schools and colleges need to share knowledge earlier, particularly in sectors where technology and working practices are changing quickly.
Apprenticeships are an important part of that pathway. Wales has developed a broader vocational route, ranging from young or cadet apprenticeships through to higher and degree apprenticeships.
That gives people the opportunity to progress through vocational learning to higher levels of skill, rather than seeing an apprenticeship as a single qualification with a fixed end point. It also helps create greater parity between academic and vocational routes by making career progression more visible.
The same principle applies to people already in work. Employers have been clear that existing and ageing workforces cannot be left behind as digital technology and greener working practices become part of everyday business.
Personal Learning Accounts have helped widen access to in-work learning, allowing employees to develop new skills while continuing in their jobs. This supports progression and helps businesses keep pace with changes affecting roles across the organisation.
Partnership also means listening directly to the people the system is intended to support. Through engagement sessions across colleges in the region, young people told us they did not always feel ready to enter the workplace or confident that they could add value.
That feedback was not gathered through a conventional survey or filtered through other organisations. We wanted to hear the young person’s voice directly, which led to the creation of a young person’s committee and further discussion about work readiness, qualifications, travel and access to employment.
One practical response is to expand work experience. Employers want it, young people want it and families value it, but timetables and travel can make it difficult to arrange. Greater flexibility could open more workplaces to young people for periods ranging from a few days to several weeks.
The competition for talent is becoming more intense, and businesses are beginning to engage with people at a younger age. That makes it even more important to widen participation and challenge the assumptions that continue to shape who enters particular sectors.
The Cardiff Capital Region has some of Wales’ fastest-growing and most globally connected industries. A demand-led, data-driven skills system can help ensure that growth reaches more people, but only where the organisations involved are prepared to work as genuine partners with a common purpose.
Prosperity through Partnership is therefore a practical commitment: to use evidence, listen to employers and learners, and align the institutions that shape skills around a shared regional direction.
Leigh talks about this and more on the People and Skills podcast. Listen here:
