About Skills North East
Skills North East was formed in June 2004, under the leadership of John Cuthbert, Managing Director of Northumbrian Water, to identify employment and skill needs in the North East and ensure action is taken to address them.
The Partnership’s Vision
'The North East will be a region where employers, individuals, communities and government collectively invest in the development of skills and businesses to contribute to the delivery of sustainable economic growth and social justice’
In previous years Skills North East has developed Skills Action Plans which identified an prioritised actions towards realising this vision and achieving the following set of objectives:
- increase employer demand for, and investment in, skills
- raise individual aspirations and demand for learning and provide individuals with opportunities throughout life to achieve their aspirations and embrace change
- enable those excluded from the labour market to access learning and sustainable employment
- ensure all individuals have the foundations for employability - the attainment of skills for life and a first level 2 qualification
- increase the achievement of intermediate and higher level skills to support growth, innovation and productivity
- enable colleges and learning providers to be more responsive to employers' and learners' needs
- influence national policy and funding to ensure regional skills and employment needs are addressed
Building on Success
Four years on the partnership has been evaluated and a small number of partners are now considering the most approapriate structure to take forward new challenges set out by government. The work of the Design Group is led by John Cuthbert, Managing Director of Northumbrian Water and supported by an executive group. The Design Group expects to have completed their investigations and be ready to set out an infrastructure to take forward partnership work by the end of June 2008.
The partnership wishes to build on the following North East successes which have been prepared by the Skills North East team, from a range of data sources.
The North East index of GVA per head has risen each year since the low point in 2002. Between 2005 and 2006, the North East had the highest annual increase in GVA per head (+5.3%), followed by Scotland (+5.0%) then London (+4.9%). The average increase for the UK was +4.5%.
Net UK internal migration has been positive for the NE since 2002. This positive change was led by both reduced outflows and increased inflows of 15-29 year olds.
Employment rose 36,500 (up 3.5%) in the North East between 2000/1 and 2005/6. This was twice the rate of employment growth in England & Wales over the same period (1.8%).
Based on trends since 1998, the region is on course to hit the RES job creation target (to create at least 61,000 new jobs by 2016). However, given the outlook for public spending, the private sector will need to contribute a greater share of future job growth.
Recent employment growth has been polarised at the higher and lower ends of the skills spectrum (in terms of occupations).
The proportion of jobs in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations has risen from 35.1% in 2004/5 to 37.5% in 2006/7. However, it is still behind the UK average (42.1%).Although the percentage of public sector jobs as a share of total employment is above the national average, it is on a par with Wales and Scotland and well behind Northern Ireland.
The region has closed the gap in the economic activity rate with the UK from 3.4 percentage points in 2004/5 to 2.1 percentage points in 2006/7. To close the gap completely, overall economic activity would need to rise by an estimated 32,000 employees. Economic activity rates are notably lower than average for Males and those aged 50+.
In the North East working population there is an under-representation of people with high-level skills (NVQ level 4+), a 5% gap with England. For all other qualification levels, the region has a similar profile to that of England (a larger proportion at intermediate level). The incidence of skills gaps & shortages is less than the England average.
The number of people from the region participating in higher education in 2005/06 was 70,680, up from 68,650 in 2004/05.
25% of the region’s 18-20 age group are participating in higher education. The female participation rate of 29% is significantly higher than male participation (21%). The percentage of students at University coming from the region’s more deprived areas has increased recently.
In 2005/6 the same proportion of people from the North East were studying (at any of the English Universities) as the average for other regions (3.9%).
The proportion of young people achieving Level 2 qualifications rose from 64% in 2004 to 69% in 2006, with more young people achieving a Level 2 between the ages of 16 and 19 than in any other region.
Achievement by learners at age 19 has increased year on year, however, relatively poor performance at A/AS level still limits the potential numbers who can enter higher education (the average point score is approximately 75 in the NE, but over 80 in England).
In 2005, more employers in the North East had a training plan and a budget for training expenditure, than in any other region. 70% of people working in the North East received training from their employer, more than in other regions, and well above the national average (61%).