Unpacking the tensions between local and national skills policy: employers, colleges and Local Enterprise Partnerships as collaborative anchors

Inherent tensions exist in skills policies that aim to combine national economic growth and productivity with localised implementation for education training. This is particularly apparent the over-emphasis on employer engagement training policy, where localisation of formation envisioned through engagement. Yet further colleges have acted as anchors within local ecosystems working successfully employers, often Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), providing key bridging mechanism between policy enactment. We unpack by presenting a case study ecosystem. Through interviews stakeholders – representatives from college, LEP, employers we deploy Stephen J. Ball’s approach enactment map complex processes involved translation into systems. Our findings highlight critical role anchor institutions ecosystems, LEPs ‘collaborative anchors’ cycle. present concept ‘local collaborative heuristic device understanding