Skills audit summary report

Introduction

The Skills Audit Report provides a detailed assessment of the opportunities and challenges shaping Bassetlaw’s local labour market. It highlights where the district’s current skills system is working well, where gaps are emerging, and what this means for residents, employers, and our future growth potential.

At the heart of the analysis is the relationship between labour supply—the people available and ready to work—and labour demand—the jobs and opportunities provided by employers. This relationship is brought together in Figure 22‑1: Supply and Demand, which shows how factors like education, health, transport, and local job quality combine to determine who can access good employment and who risks being left behind.

A Mixed Picture: Strengths and Gaps

While Bassetlaw has a resilient workforce and several high‑quality training providers, the Audit identifies a number of challenges that currently restrict access to jobs and limit opportunities for progression:

• Participation barriers persist in parts of the district, driven by poor health, deprivation and an ageing population which collectively reduce the number of residents available for work.
• Transport and digital connectivity present a real obstacle, particularly in rural communities where access to training and employment is constrained by limited public transport and gaps in digital infrastructure.
• Educational outcomes—especially in English and Maths—are below average in some areas, limiting young people’s progression into further education, apprenticeships, and higher‑skilled roles.
• Local job opportunities remain concentrated in lower‑wage, lower‑skill sectors, which reduces incentives for both employers and residents to invest in skills development.
• Mismatch between employer needs and available skills is clear, with many businesses reporting difficulties recruiting for technical or intermediate‑level roles.

Emerging Employment Growth

Despite these challenges, the Audit also highlights a period of significant opportunity. Major developments—including those linked to clean energy, professional services, advanced manufacturing and logistics—are expected to create thousands of new jobs over the next five years. However, without improvements in local skills, connectivity, and training provision, many residents may struggle to access these roles.

A System That Needs Greater Alignment

The evidence shows that Bassetlaw’s skills system is fragmented, with limited coordination between employers, training providers, and community organisations. Smaller businesses in particular can find it difficult to identify suitable training or help shape local provision. As a result, training does not always reflect the skills employers need, while employers do not always have the capacity to invest in staff development.

The relationship between employer demand for high skills and the local supply of high-skilled labour is therefore key. Bassetlaw as noted in Figure 2-5 above sits in the low skills equilibrium quadrant, where both demand and supply of high-level skills are low. This is marked by low-wage, low-productivity jobs and limited incentives for either existing employers to upgrade roles or workers to invest in skills, creating a self-reinforcing cycle.

The Opportunity Ahead

If these gaps are addressed, Bassetlaw can shift towards a more dynamic, higher‑skilled, and inclusive local economy. Strengthening access to training, improving collaboration across institutions, and preparing residents for future growth sectors will be critical. With major investments on the horizon, the district is well placed to reshape its labour market and ensure that local people and local businesses benefit from the opportunities ahead.

Prioritisation and Recommendations

Prioritisation 

Skills and employment policy decisions in Bassetlaw requires balancing competing priorities within limited resources, from choices between adult upskilling and early intervention for young people to decisions about sector-specific training versus broader foundational learning. Policymakers must also navigate the tension between short-term initiatives that deliver quick results and longer-term system change that relies on sustained collaboration between employers and training providers. If factors such as rural access, digital exclusion, and the needs of harder-to-reach groups are not considered, policies can have unintended consequences, while further challenges arise in balancing support for foundational sectors like health and care with investment in high-growth industries offering higher wages and productivity. Making these competing priorities explicit and engaging stakeholders transparently can help ensure resources are used effectively to deliver the greatest long-term benefit for local communities and the economy.

Recommendations

Bassetlaw has opportunity now to align its workforce development strategy with the demands of a rapidly evolving economy, particularly given the development of major infrastructure and growth opportunities such as STEP and the East Midlands Investment Zone and other growth opportunities in and outside of Bassetlaw (e.g. Doncaster-Sheffield Airport). 

This Audit has identified barriers to skills attainment, limited access to training, and the need for better employer engagement and curriculum alignment. To address these challenges and leverage real and sizeable opportunities, the following recommendations are grouped under key strategic themes: 

Strategic Governance & System Coordination

• Work with EMCCA to adapt or invest in transport and digital connectivity to improve access to jobs, training, and services.
• Develop a comprehensive Skills Strategy tailored to local and regional needs.
• Influence forthcoming LSIPs with strong, evidence-based research.
  Coordinate with regional HE and FE institutions to align curricula with priority sectors (e.g. advanced manufacturing, health, green energy, logistics).
• Continue to work closely with STEP to explore how new provision at STEP could align with local provision, workforce demands and existing ambitions.
• Work with Anchor Institution around their broad levers to enable public sector bodies (e.g. NHS, council, police) to share workforce development goal, undertake inclusive recruitment and lead the recruitment and skills progression agenda.
• Explore a coordinated and centralised responses to key issues (e.g. an Apprenticeship Hub or sector specific Careers Hub).

Data-Driven Insights & Labour Market Intelligence

• Data & Intelligence-Driven Interventions: Use dashboards to identify sector trends, training needs, and vacancy hotspots.
• Build upon the BID and Bassetlaw Business Alliance (BBA) to ensure employer voice shapes responsive training and lifelong learning strategies.

Education & Employer Engagement

• Explore how FE and Private Training Provision can be expanded locally to improve accessibility and breadth of provision available to businesses.
• Promote higher education pathways through local HE outreach, including digital access initiatives and progression agreements.
• Strengthen partnerships between employers/industry bodies and schools to improve English and Maths GCSE outcomes.
• Support school-to-work transitions via employer engagement networks.
• Enhanced careers advice and exposure to local growth sectors through schools and community engagement.
• Careers hub focused on sectoral opportunities (e.g. STEP or construction) to promote clear pathways.
• Enhanced youth voice, such as Youth Skills Advisory Panels, to co-design local training offers.
• Embed essential skills learning in schools, e.g. via the Skills Builder Partnership.

Pathways and Progression

• Incentivise local employers to offer entry-level apprenticeships and workplace learning, especially for young people.
• Apprenticeship support services to improve awareness, take-up, and quality of experience.
• Develop a formal relationship with a local HE provider, ideally offering innovative delivery models (virtual, sector-specific).
• Mentorship and CPD for teaching staff to deliver high-quality instruction and guidance.
• Engage private training providers strategically to meet gaps and deliver responsive provision.

Inclusive Growth & Community Development

• Champion cross-cutting inclusion policies by aligning health, housing, and skills in deprived areas.
• Use planning and procurement levers (e.g. Section 106 agreements, social value policies) to promote local hiring and training.
• Develop targeted adult upskilling programmes focusing on digital, green, and care sectors.

While local systems cannot determine global or national economic trajectories, they can strengthen their capacity to respond, adapt, and exert influence. There are three ways in which Bassetlaw may wish to consider positioning itself strategically in relation to macroeconomic developments:

• First, by developing and deploying strong local evidence, such as this Skills Audit, the district can present a clear, grounded picture of its challenges and opportunities. This evidence can shape how national and regional policymakers understand the needs of post-industrial and rural areas.
• Second, Bassetlaw can work collaboratively with regional partners to shape the implementation of devolved funding streams and programmes. By aligning local delivery with wider strategic priorities, it can maximise its influence over how national policy lands in the district.
• Third, local partners can strengthen their collective voice in national debates by building a shared narrative around skills, inclusion, and economic resilience. The more clearly Bassetlaw articulates its vision, and the more cohesively it acts across institutions, the more likely it is to secure investment and policy flexibility.

If you would like to view the full version of the Bassetlaw Skills Audit - Insights and Recommendations, please email employmentandskills@bassetlaw.gov.uk.

---

Last Updated on Tuesday, January 20, 2026