Summary
Sport Structures were commissioned to undertake the development of workforce strategies for the five County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) in the East Midlands; a project funded by Sport England in partnership with SkillsActive and sports coach UK (scUK). The main objectives of the project were to:
Support the five CSPs in the planning process of developing sub-regional/ county level workforce development plans.
Develop five sub-regional/ county level workforce development plans which identify the training, development and educational needs of the local workforce, setting out priorities for the next three years.
Approach
Training needs analysis surveys were designed for all five CSPs and data collated was analysed through the Sport Structures Measure for Leisure toolbox. Existing information from the CSPs and/ or from partners was also incorporated where possible. Each CSP received a detailed audit report consolidating all of the data collated and this formed the basis for the development of the CSP workforce development plans themselves. The plans incorporated relevant information as laid out in templates provided by Skills Active alongside costed action plans.
Sport Structures supported the CSPs in consulting with their partners and facilitated a number of sessions to establish the final Workforce Development Plans. The plans will help the Partnerships with a coordinated approach to workforce development and enable partners to share resources, benefit from external public investment and to be more effective in developing the workforce through more informed decision-making in the future.
Outcome
The key findings from the projects were:
- The need to introduce new initiatives to increase the number of appropriately skilled volunteers within the CSPs; particularly within coaching, sports officials and club administrator roles.
- To increase the number of qualified coaches in paid and volunteer positions; specific increases in the number of qualified level 2 coaches.
- To upskill the operational workforce within public and not-for-profit organisations specifically in fitness professional and sports development roles.
Each of the Partnerships was provided with a two-year workforce development plan that allowed them to identify priority areas for investment in skills needs and training requirements.