Employment & Skills Board

"To raise the skills, aspirations and productivity of the Torbay and South Devon workforce to support the growth of a vibrant and successful local economy."

Established in early 2009 by Torbay Development Agency, the Torbay and South Devon Employment and Skills Board (ESB) is an important initiative which has been set up with a vision to raise the skills, aspirations and productivity of the Torbay and South Devon workforce and to support the growth of a vibrant and successful local economy.

The ESB is an employer led, employer focussed strategic body designed to help ensure that employers are ideally positioned to guide and influence the skills priorities for the area.

The area of focus for the Board consists of Torbay, Teignbridge and the South Hams, a geographical area with a population of over 345,000, a working population of 200,000 and a business base of more than 15,000.

An area of contrasts not only physically and economically but also because of its mix of both urban and rural character. The geographical area has a number of requirements to success including the desire to build a stronger more vibrant economy with successful businesses, increased average wages, a higher skilled workforce and increased and sustained employment levels.

Working with key partner agencies it acts as a focus for co-ordinated activity to optimise the marketing and delivery of relevant services.

The ESB seeks to prioritise the development of particular skills amongst the workforce, namely:

To raise the level of leadership and management, customer care and enterprise skills
To increase the number of apprenticeships in the workforce and the number of new apprenticeship places
Raising levels of basic literacy and numeracy skills

The ESB will work to help employers remain competitive by providing a focus for employers and public sector partners to work together to:

Provide a strategic skills forum for interested partners to come together and set skills priorities for the area
Articulate and clarify the specific skills needs and training requirements of employers
Promote and advocate the benefits of investing in skills
Provide a forum for partners to work together to deliver skills solutions that meet the needs of employers
Contribute to the wider skills agenda and programmes and strategies to reduce rising unemployment

The ESB will play a role in responding to the slowdown and help employers remain competitive, by:

Encouraging partners to offer skills programmes that are relevant and are delivered at a time, and cost to encourage employers to use them
Encouraging partners to help employers sharpen their business skills, to help them prepare for the upturn