North West Commissioning Plan 2008-09

We are pleased to publish our draft regional commissioning plan for 2008/09. Our commissioning plan is the vehicle through which we will share intelligence on current supply and future demand. It identifies, at a broad level, the range of provision needed to create the right market environment for supply to meet demand. It identifies the changes to negotiated provision that we require from providers and the areas for which we will tender. It is based on a thorough strategic analysis across the region. We expect our providers to respond to these changes in the context of their own markets and customers and would welcome comments and feedback from partners. Please contact Claire Humphrey, Planning and Policy Manager.

By ‘commissioning’ we mean all our planning and purchasing activity across the sector, including purchasing through both negotiation and competitive tendering. It applies equally to grant in aid agreements and contracts as we move towards a ‘provider neutral’ approach to tendering for provision.

Note: profile of numbers are draft and subject to final national office approval in April and June 2008.

North West Commissioning Plan 2008-09

Supporting Information

Please find below the links to supporting documents for the North West Commissioning Plan. All the documents contain further information and analyses which, in addition to the Regional Commissioning Plan, make clear the rationale and purpose of our approach to commissioning.

The first link is to the Regional Strategic Analysis which was published in November 2007. The Strategic Analysis was prepared on behalf of the Regional Skills Partnership and is the quantitative evidence base that underlies both the North West Statement of Skills Priorities 2007-2010 and the Regional Commissioning Plan 2008-09.

The second link links to the 5 sub-regional analysis reports.

The third link opens a summary of key issues identified by a North West LSC analysis of demand and supply of skills by Sector Subject Area.

The fourth link provides a list of qualifications produced from information provided by a number of sector skills councils and is provided to help colleagues and our partners focus provision on qualifications required by employers.