Reflecting on national ambition and local reality – skills strategy in action

At first glance, talk of skills policy can feel pretty abstract with vocabulary like representative bodies, roadmaps, targets and consultative letters. But if you dig a little deeper – especially through the work CIMSPA is championing across the country – what emerges is hugely practical, inspiring and deeply rooted in the needs of local communities. 

Across England, Scotland and Wales, our sector’s workforce is already showing what skills development looks like in action. This change is happening – not just in boardrooms but on the pitches, in leisure centres, in classrooms and at community hubs where people’s lives are being transformed through movement. 

The big picture of the national skills agenda 

Over the past year, the skills system in England has been reshaped by the arrival of Skills England, a new executive agency tasked with making skills training and provision more responsive, data led and employer driven. Officially established in June 2025, Skills England is working to better understand future skill needs across sectors and regions and to co-create solutions with employers and educators to meet those needs.   

This shift isn’t just bureaucratic – it’s designed to tackle real issues impacting the economy. Between 2017 and 2022, skills shortages in the UK doubled to more than half a million, contributing to a third of all job vacancies. In response, Skills England and government policy now emphasise the next generation of local skills improvement plans (LSIPs). Built from employer insight and grounded in the real economy, they link national priorities like economic growth, social inclusion and productivity to local workforce actions.   

For the sport and physical activity sector, this means being part of a national conversation that recognises our workforce as essential, from boosting community health to supporting economic participation and providing careers young people can see themselves in. 

What local skills plans are achieving on the ground 

Local skills plans, led by CIMSPA with support from Sport England and the National Lottery, are where national ambition becomes personal and practical. These plans are created by local skills accountability boards (LSABs), made up of employers, training providers, councils, health partners and community organisations. They start with data: local skills diagnostics that identify where employers struggle to find the right talent, where training is missing and where opportunity exists.   

Take Greater Manchester, for example. Its plan has three core priorities: widening access to career opportunities, upskilling the existing workforce, and enhancing impact through ethical and data-led practice. In a region which is often ranked with some of the lowest key prosperity indicators, this isn’t abstract strategy. It’s about shaping a workforce that can help tackle inequality and enable healthier lives. 

In the West of England, where over one million people live across diverse communities, the local plan is driving action on education pathways, career progression and workforce diversity, all underpinned by the goal to improve health and wellbeing.   

Lancashire’s plan takes a similarly holistic view, with recommendations emphasising collaboration between employers, providers and community partners to boost both economic prosperity and health outcomes across the county.   

Other plans reflect equally tailored priorities: 

• In Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, there is a clear focus on data-led practice to better match workforce skills with community health needs.   

• Oxfordshire’s plan explicitly tackles health and inequality challenges, for example, low swimming ability in deprived areas and growing loneliness among older adults, by connecting education and employment pathways to wellbeing outcomes.   

• The Cheshire and Warrington plan aims to raise awareness of careers in the sector and build inclusive pathways that better reflect local populations.   

What ties these places together isn’t a plan document but an outcome-focused mission to ensure local systems deliver on the needs of people and communities where they are. 

Outcomes worth celebrating and building on 

So, what does local action actually look like? 

Filling workforce gaps 

Plans are reshaping training offers so that education providers deliver exactly the skills employers need, from entry-level practitioner qualifications to specialist CPD.   

Strengthening careers 

Clear career pathways help local residents see how they can enter and progress in the workforce, closing the gap between aspiration and opportunity.   

Inclusivity and diversity 

Many regions are setting targets to ensure workforces reflect their communities (which is essential to increasing participation in diverse communities). This is challenging long-standing disparities seen nationally, for example, disabled people are under-represented in the sector at around 13%, compared to the broader labour market (16%).   

Health and wellbeing impact 

By aligning skills with local health priorities such as reducing inactivity or supporting older adults, local plans position sport and physical activity as a public health partner, not just a leisure service.   

These local-to-national links matter because the sector as a whole is significant in scale and impact. As of 2022, the sport and physical activity workforce accounted for an estimated 586,000 jobs in the UK, supported by millions of volunteers. Ensuring this workforce is well-skilled, professionally recognised and valued helps deliver both local wellbeing and national economic resilience. 

Moving to the next chapter 

The national skills agenda and local plans are different levels of the same story: a story about people, pathways and potential. 

National policy sets strategic direction with the call for data-driven planning, employer co-design of training and skills systems that respond to economic and social change. Local plans make it real, shaped by the communities and organisations that live the work every day. When these align, we see a multiplier effect where local workforce investment helps address national priorities like employment, health, inclusion and productivity. 

For those of us in the sport and physical activity sector, this is an exciting moment. Our role in national skills discussions is stronger than ever, and our local plans are proving what happens when ambition meets action. 

The work is far from finished and we need more data, more collaboration and more voices at the table. However, what I believe is clear is that by connecting national policy to local realities, we are building skills systems that are fairer, fitter and more future focused.