On Friday at lunchtime, the Sussex Chamber of Commerce were able to publish a series of documents under the theme of the Local Skills Improvement Plan Trailblazer which is referred to as LSIP. The location is on their website here. It was sourced back in October when the Government had reviewed as significant number of locations that were considering the LSIP approach and Sussex was one of 8 successful groups. The LSIP schemes are intended to direct the Government in the way it will enable training and education for people in communities moving forward over the next 3-5 years and indeed it will make issues much more suitable for businesses than have ever been in the recent past. I have had the privilege of sitting in the LSIP board for Sussex Chamber of Commerce and there are a very significant number of contributors which include businesses and educational settings across Sussex. It was clear that along with the theme of LSIP that STEM issues are a vital part of what is being proposed.

All of us who were taking part in the discussions were very grateful for the hard work has been carried out by three people listed below and indeed they will have been working alongside a significant number of people who are less named but have also worked incredibly hard. However these three people have worked extremely hard and deserve to be endorsed.

Ana Christie is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce and she stated that she is “delighted that the Sussex Chamber of Commerce was given the opportunity to develop the Sussex LSIP project, working closely with partners, employer networks and local business leaders across the area to investigate and articulate the skills needed to support these organisations, improve the skills of local people and increase the productivity of the local economy”

Along with Ana there are two other people who have worked very significantly. Claire Witz is the Skills Project Director within the Chamber of Commerce and she is the person who has made the LSIP get achieved. Along with Claire an external member of the Chamber of Commerce Board is Dan Shelley who has been the Chair of the Sussex LSIP Board. I am very proud to have worked alongside Claire, Dan and Ana.