Transparency data

Summary of the board meeting held on 21 January 2026

Published 8 April 2026

Applies to England

Protective marking

Official

Attendees and presenters

Board members present

• Phil Smith CBE (Chair)
• Sir David Bell (Vice Chair) - via teleconference
• Dr Fiona Aldridge
• Dr Fazal Dad CBE
• Sian Elliott
• Nicki Hay MBE
• Brian Holliday (items 1 to 4 only)
• Anthony Impey MBE
• Dame Fiona Kendrick
• Zoe Lewis CBE
• Sara Todd
• Andy Westwood (items 1 to 4 only) - via teleconference
• Helen Woodward Davies
• Tessa Griffiths CBE (CEO)
• Sarah Maclean CBE (CEO)
• Gemma Marsh (Deputy CEO)

Skills England officials present

• Lucy Rigler, Deputy Director Governance, Performance & Strategy - via teleconference
• Christopher Gray, Deputy Director Inward Investment and Infrastructure (Item 6 only) - via teleconference
• Nick Rashley, Deputy Director, Regions (Item 6 only) - via teleconference
• Frank Bowley, Deputy Director Insight & Analysis (Item 7 only) - via teleconference
• Board Secretary
• Governance Manager - via teleconference

Other stakeholders present

• Alex Fitxpatrick, Director of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Joint Skills Strategy and Young People Directorate (Items 1-4 only) - via teleconference

Apologies

• none

Item 1: welcome, introductions and declarations of conflict of interest

Lead: Skills England Chair - Phil Smith

1. Phil Smith, (the Chair) welcomed board members and participating officials to the board meeting being held at Middlesbrough College. He thanked Zoe Lewis, as Chief Executive of the College for hosting the previous evening’s dinner for board members and for the tour of the college facilities.

2. The Chair welcomed Alex Fitzpatrick explaining her role as the DWP Director with responsibility for oversight of sponsorship of Skills England.

3. The Chair asked board members whether they had any new declarations of conflict of interest to make. All board members recognised that should a potential or actual conflict arise (outlined in the declaration of interests) then it must be raised at the outset of the relevant meeting.

Item 2: Minutes and actions from the last board meeting

Lead: Skills England Chair - Phil Smith

1. Board members approved the minutes from the meeting held on 19 November 2025.

2. The Chair summarised the list of actions, agreeing to close the action relating to follow on activity from the strategy day and prompting board members regarding items for future agendas.

Item 3: CEO report

Lead: CEOs Sarah Maclean and Tessa Griffiths

1. Tessa highlighted key parts of the report and reflected on some of Skills England’s key priorities for the year ahead. The first was continuing to build on Skills England’s use of data and analysis to develop the insight function and therefore the authoritative voice on the skills system. Secondly, communication and stakeholder engagement, and thirdly highlighting the opportunities which exist as Skills England fully transitions into DWP. To support this work, Helen Slater has joined the organisation to take on the insight portfolio and Christopher Gray has joined for a three-month period to lead on developing the inward investment and infrastructure service.

2. Tessa highlighted two key future announcements, one on apprenticeship reform and the second on artificial intelligence (AI). On AI, Skills England had led on developing an AI framework with employers such as Microsoft and Google to benchmark and badge free training as part of the government initiative to upskill the population on AI.

3. Board members were keen to understand the work which had been undertaken on testing the apprenticeship reforms with users. Gemma Marsh confirmed Skills England’s role in the reforms and acknowledged this had to be a collective piece of work with DWP, who were responsible for the policy following the machinery of government change. Skills England had fed back to DWP on the messages it had received from employers and other stakeholders. Board members highlighted the potential negative feedback from employers on the changes but agreed that feedback was mixed with some employers welcoming the reforms.

Item 4: Board Strategy Day follow on

1. Lucy Rigler updated the board on activity following the Board Strategy Day in November. Lucy highlighted two key products that had been developed, the strategic plan for 2025 to 2029 and the annual delivery plan. These documents had been shared with staff and externally via the website and social media. Feedback externally and internally was positive with staff keen to be involved in future developments.

2. The board then received an update from Fiona Aldridge, as the board lead for skills passports on the activity undertaken to date. The board discussed the differing objectives behind skills passports as passports exist in several sectors for differing purposes. Board members agreed that the concept of a passport needed to have validation from employers to ensure it had currency and support.

3. The board also received an update from Anthony Impey, as the board lead for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The board identified that SMEs are acutely aware of the skills needs for their businesses and how skills development can support them to grow, but, in general, they have constrained capacity to put that knowledge into action. The board heard that any communications out to business need to be clear and concise and tailored to an SME audience.

4. Board members noted that a number of SME skills initiatives are underway and that the learning to date has been that communications need to be frequent and in different forms to reach the widest possible audience to encourage investment. The Board also noted that an SME/Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) brokerage pilot had been successful, and it was noted that rolling out lessons from pilots was important. Skills England was working with DWP and will update on Skills England role at a future board meeting.

5. Board members questioned how the employer investment packages had been received and whether Skills England’s role had been recognised. Alex Fitzpatrick explained that these had moved to DWP as part of the machinery of government changes. DWP was currently reviewing progress and was pleased to report good progress on construction, defence and digital. Alex acknowledged that Skills England had played a central role in the progress made to date. Board members highlighted that Skills England could do more to raise awareness of the good work it has been doing and had achieved to external stakeholders, citing examples of the AI framework and welding.

6. Lucy confirmed that the board would receive an update on Skills England deliverables for 2026 to 2027 at its meeting in March and ended by thanking those board members who are supporting the cross-cutting themes.

Item 5: Stakeholder Engagement Strategy

1. Gemma Marsh set out the intent behind the strategy and the approach which is for Skills England to extend its engagement to develop those insights, feeding them into policy to develop Skills England as the authoritative and credible voice on the skills system.

2. Board members welcomed the strategy and approach. They were keen to understand what stakeholder and audience insight was telling us already. They were also keen to ensure Skills England’s approach to communications was balanced in that communications should be frequent but clear and concise. Board members agreed that Skills England should be the organisation which provides the links between government departments on skills.

3. Gemma confirmed now that the foundations were in place, the organisation was in a settled state to drive forward the messaging using tailored approaches to reach different stakeholder groups. This would enable Skills England to further develop its insight function. As part of the insight development, board members requested a regular one-page insight summary to be circulated.

Item 6: Inward investment and infrastructure service

1. Nick Rashley gave a brief overview of the aims and objectives of the service. The intent is for Skills England to coordinate responses on major infrastructure projects which meet certain criteria and will work closely with the Office for Investment, the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority and strategic authorities.

2. Chris Gray set out the approach and timeline to getting the service into operation and highlighted that, in using an account management model, one of the elements will be to ensure the account managers have a relevant skillset.

3. Board members wanted to understand how and what support and expertise Skills England could offer, the potential projects, and how it would balance demands of the service with the available resource. Chris set out potential project sources which would need some gate-keeping and Nick confirmed the selection criteria and prioritisation were part the development sprint. Board members welcomed the briefing and asked for a further update in due course.

Item 7: Board sub-group updates

1. Sara Todd, as Chair of the Place sub-group, set out the progress made to date. She confirmed membership of the sub-group had been agreed with a good cross-section of stakeholders. Sub-group members had agreed a forward look of agenda items on a range of relevant topics. Sara took the opportunity to thank Nick Rashley and Sarah Morris for their support in getting the sub-group established.

2. Frank Bowley gave an update on the expert analytical sub-group. Frank explained the purpose of the sub-group is to provide accountability and peer review to Skills England’s research. The sub-group will next consider a forward look of research proposals Skills England may undertake during 2026 to 2027 which will also be considered by the Board.

Item 8: Any other business (AOB)

1. There was no AOB. The Chair asked board members to raise any items for discussion so these could be considered at future meetings. He thanked those attending for their contributions and confirmed the next meeting would be on 18 March.