Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to evaluate the effectiveness of Local Skills Improvement Plans trailblazers and Development Fund pilot areas in advance of the full roll out of Local Skills Improvement Plans.

We have commissioned an independent external evaluation of the Skills Accelerator pilots to explore how employer representative bodies are leading local partners to develop Local Skills Improvement Plans, and how the Strategic Development Fund is being delivered. This will contribute to the evidence base on how the Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazers and Strategic Development Fund pilots are being implemented, and inform the development of statutory guidance on Local Skills Improvement Plans and their national rollout.