Select Committee on Education and Employment Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence


APPENDIX 21

Memorandum from the East Midlands Development Agency (JG 27)

CONTEXT

  All RDAs have been tasked with producing a regional economic development strategy, which will be with Ministers by the end of October.

  Emda strongly believes that the region's prosperity will be achieved through its people and that people are the region's most important resource. It also believes that all those who wish to participate should be able to do so—linking with the social inclusion agenda.

  Learning and Skills has been identified by emda as one of the key drivers towards economic success. It is also identified as one of the key components towards helping people enter the workplace and help them retain jobs, in an increasingly changing work environment.

  In drawing together the strategy it became apparent that there was an urgent need for research into a number of related areas—not least the labour market and skills trends of the region, from now until 2010, an audit of voluntary sector capacity and activity and a social inclusion strategy.

  A thorough and accurate analysis of these issues will help identify the most effective ways in which all people in the region can be helped to realise their potential.

IS THERE A JOBS GAP?

  As mentioned above, we need to undertake research into a number of areas in order to enable us to have a clear picture of any disparity in terms of the supply and demand for labour at the regional and local levels.

  However, in general terms there is a definite decrease in the number of job vacancies in manufacturing—in March 1999 there was a reduction of 30-40 per cent. As this region is second only to the West Midlands in terms of the size of the manufacturing industry within the economy, this is obviously a worrying trend. If we consider clerical, administrative and managerial job vacancies, in the same period these have increased by over 80 per cent. This has clear implications in terms of the skills mix that individuals need in order to remain competitive in the region's labour market and also in the perceptions that people have as to the type of work available to them.

  Looking at this in more detail, there are a number of areas that appear to display trends towards a disparity linked to the supply and demand for labour. We will wish to examine these in more detail as part of our programme of research—the areas fall into three categories: Three Cities, Former Coalfields, and Coastal Areas.

THREE CITIES

  This relates to parts of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. Whilst these cities are fairly prosperous overall, each has a higher proportion of ethnic minority residents than other areas in the region. This has resulted in an apparent disparity between the supply and demand of labour, whether due to racial issues or due to the skills base not matching employers' requirements.

FORMER COALFIELDS—NORTH NOTTINGHAMSHIRE AND NORTH DERBYSHIRE

  With the significant decline in traditional industries, deep coal mining and textiles, the area has been left with fairly low skill levels, linked to industries that no longer exist, coupled with a history of low educational achievement levels. There are issues around the type of jobs available and the rates of pay. Many of the jobs are part-time and perceived to be more suitable for women—whereas there is fairly high male unemployment. As with racial issues, this reflects more of a cultural/attitudinal problem rather than purely a skills match problem.

COASTAL AREAS

  Problems here relate to a low skills base, including basic skills and the seasonal nature of the employment. Particularly difficult is the ability for the 18-24 year olds to access New Deal as they tend to be unemployed for periods of less than six months. This exacerbates the low skills issue as the intensive services available through New Deal are not open to them.

EMDA'S ROLE

  As mentioned earlier, we will shortly be producing a Regional Skills Action Plan which will address issues of skills gaps and the changing context of work. This will examine the role of individuals, employers and the learning industry. Whilst at this point in time the plan will be fairly strategic—looking at headline issues—it will be developed, in consultation with partners, over the next 12 months. Over the 12 months we will be commissioning research and we will be looking at specific issues in much more detail and any disparities between the supply and demand for labour will be amongst them.

East Midlands Development Agency

October 1999


 
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