Skills and Employment Support
In 2024, the employment rate in Hampshire and the Solent stood at 78.5%, closely aligned with the South East average and notably higher than the England average of 75.6%. However, our overall employment rate covers a variation from 72.6% – 81.4% across the region. Hampshire and the Solent faces skills shortages in key sectors like health, engineering, digital, construction and logistics, making it hard for local employers to find qualified staff. Some communities have lower participation in adult education and training, which limits job opportunities. As the economy and technology change, many people need to retrain or gain new skills to stay employable.
Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) help by bringing employers and education providers together to make training more relevant to business needs. The Get Britain Working plans have a focus on helping more people into work, especially those in deprived areas or facing barriers such as health issues, disability or age. The region supports skills development through programmes like Skills Bootcamps, Apprenticeships, and Free Courses for Jobs, and prioritises preparing young people for work. Efforts are also being made to reduce unemployment and support well-being through secure, skilled jobs.
Improving skills is also seen to support better health and well-being, as secure, skilled employment is linked to higher quality of life.
Skills and Employment: What will be devolved to Hampshire and the Solent?
The Mayor and Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority (HSCCA) will be instrumental in shaping future skills and employment support in the region. By integrating responsibility for adult education and job training, the HSCCA aims to ensure local courses and funding are better matched to the needs of residents and employers.
From August 2027, subject to meeting the government’s Adult Skills Funding devolution readiness assessment, the HSCCA will have local commissioning responsibility for adult skills training, meaning decisions and funding can be tailored to the specific needs of Hampshire and the Solent. Examples of the HSCCA’s powers and duties will include:
- Adult Education: the HSCCA will oversee adult education and training for those aged 19 and over (excluding apprenticeships), ensuring provision meets the region’s needs.
- Skills and Employment Support: from 2027-28, funding streams such as the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), Free Courses for Jobs, and Skills Bootcamps will be combined into the Consolidated Adult Skills Fund. In 2027/28 DWP have confirmed that Bootcamp and Free Courses for Jobs funding streams will remain ringfenced. In 2028/29, when a mayor is elected, the full fund will be un-ringfenced for a more joined-up approach aligned to HSCCA priorities for the region.
- Strategic Skills and Employment Plans: ASF Strategic Skills Plans will provide local priorities for spending the combined adult skills fund. The HSCCA will bring the Get Hampshire Working Plan and the Get Solent Working Plan together to create one regional plan for increasing economic activity and coordinating the work supporting employment (see Further Reading section below). The HSCCA will also jointly develop and maintain Local Skills Improvement Plans alongside employer representative bodies, ensuring alignment with employer requirements.
Opportunities of devolution
With local control over funding and decision-making, the HSCCA could adapt education and training programmes to the region’s needs, potentially allowing it to:
- Direct resources towards closing skills gaps in key sectors such as health, advanced manufacturing and engineering, defence, digital technologies, and construction.
- Increase opportunities for adults to upskill or retrain, improving employment prospects and incomes.
- Support businesses in recruiting qualified staff which will boost local economic growth.
- Encourage greater participation in learning, particularly in communities with historically lower levels of adult education and training.
Further reading
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026
English Devolution White Paper
The statutory functions of Mayoral Strategic Authorities, as set out in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill and other legislation. Mayoral Combined County Authorities are a form of Mayoral Strategic Authority for areas with county and district councils.