Introduction

This is to ensure there is an effective model in place to share and scale innovative practice across a range of providers, locally and nationally, with targeted collaboration to meet subsector needs, expanding reach across the country and maximising the breadth and quality of opportunities and benefits offered to learners. 

The South East region consists of the nine counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex.  

It is the largest region in England, with a land area of 7,364 sq miles and a total population of 9,642,942 (2024).  It encompasses 7 Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIP) areas, 22 FE colleges with construction provision (across over 30 campuses), more than 35 major developments and housebuilding targets of over 70,000 a year.

To ensure that the SECTEC works and can achieve its aims and objectives across the whole region, a fundamental part of the foundation is to establish a SECTEC Regional Partnership.  A partnership of providers and stakeholders from across the South East of England that will come together to collaborate on the development and improvement of construction skills.

It is vital that this partnership approach recognises that each area already has its own structures, forums and plans and that the priorities, needs, funding and opportunities in each will differ. To add real value, therefore, the SECTEC needs to work in a way that strikes the balance between providing central leadership, support and coordination, whilst creating a collaborative sub-regional model that harnesses and shares the good practice and expertise that exists, provides the opportunity to test and apply new approaches that everyone can benefit from and be flexible enough to optimise outcomes.