draft bradford district employment and skills strategy 2011- 2015
TRANSCRIPT
DRAFT
Bradford District Employment and Skills Strategy 2011-2015
DRAFT
Contents
Forward by Cllr David Green and Trevor HigginsExecutive Summary1. Our Vision
Bradford 2020Why Develop an Employment and Skills StrategyStructure
2. Challenges and Opportunities Bradford’s Labour MarketChallenges and OpportunitiesCurrent Employment and Skills Support
3. Realising Our Vision: Priorities for ActionUnlocking Enterprise and Employment GrowthRaising Employer Demand and Investment in SkillsBuilding a Stronger Platform of Basic and Intermediate SkillsReducing WorklessnessDeveloping an Integrated System of Support
Appendix A: The Bradford Labour MarketCurrent Demand for Labour and SkillsLabour SupplyAn Assessment of Worklessness in BradfordFuture Growth
Appendix B: Employment and Skills Provision in BradfordEmployment SupportSkillsGap Analysis
Appendix C: Delivery PrioritiesObjective 1Objective 2Objective 3Objective 4Objective 5
iii112233789
11131516171822243034353841434347495354
Boxes
Box 1: National Developments on Employment and Skills
Box 2: Key Facts About Worklessness in Bradford
Box 3: Some Key Facts about Skills in Bradford
3
4
6
DRAFT
Foreword
Councillor David Green, Regeneration and Economy portfolio holder, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Building an innovative, productive and high value economy is one of the most important and urgent challenges facing the District. Addressing the high levels of worklessness and the many people lacking basic skills will be integral to meeting that challenge.
A strong skills base is essential to attract and retain investment and good quality, well paid jobs, to maintain and grow our manufacturing strength and to reduce worklessness. The Local Authority will provide strong leadership, working closely with all partners to make sure that we create the right environment to enable business and enterprise to thrive and to generate employment.
So improving skills is a top priority for the District and this strategy is an important first step towards securing the change that we need, but ultimately we will be judged not on the content of our strategies, but on the delivery of their objectives. It is crucial that we maintain a clear and determined focus on meeting the needs of individuals and employers because this is the key to building the vibrant local economy we all want to see. If we sustain that focus on delivery over the long then we can, and will succeed.
Trevor Higgins BT Partnership Director and Chair of Bradford Employment and Skills Board
At the first meeting of the Employment and Skills Board in December 2008 it was agreed that developing an employer-led ESB in Bradford was the most effective means of ensuring that employers are firmly at the heart of skills planning and provision. Since the inception of the ESB we have strived to achieve this by working closely with our partners from all sectors across Bradford.
This Employment and Skills Strategy provides up to date data on employment and skills to help guide the Board and provide a pathway towards achieving our objectives. It is positioned to inform partner / stakeholder activity and coordinate services and resources to best effect to support a demand led approach to employment and skills in Bradford District.
I believe that careful management of the Employment and Skills Strategy will enable us to deliver the more refined Strategic Objectives presented in the strategy to assist Bradford District to become a more economically vibrant and successful District in partnership with the Colleges, University and other training and education organisations.
We face major structural and political change ahead and the pressure on the public purse will make our task more challenging. Nevertheless I am convinced that the demand led approach is correct and with the help and support of employers and partners around the ESB table. I am confident that we can help the District to better position Bradford to support and attract business.
i
At the Employment and Skills Board’s first meeting that I referred to above, it was also agreed that the core objective of the Employment and Skills Board was to enable employers to shape the future skills that we need for sustainable economic growth. I continue to support this view and am proud to Chair the Board that recommends this strategy to you.
I hope you will join us in our work to deliver the objectives outlined for the District in the coming years.
DRAFT
Executive Summary
This is Bradford’s Employment and Skills Strategy (ESS). The ESS is concerned with adults aged 18-60/65; it complements the Partnership Plan for 14-19 learning.The ESS sets out our vision for a world class labour market in Bradford by 2020 and a clear set of priorities to guide the actions and investment of employers, individuals and funding agencies towards this goal over a three to five year timeframe. We will only achieve this by working together to ensure that
• employers to have the capacity and confidence to create more jobs, more highly skilled jobs and to invest in the skills of their workforce; this is our greatest challenge
• young people entering further or higher education, or indeed entering the labour market, to be able to make more informed career and learning choices
• those in work, or seeking to return to the labour market, recognise the necessity of investing in developing their skills to ensure that they can stay in and progress in work
• the public sector can use public funding more effectively in response to the needs of employers, our workforce, and those not in work.
Challenges
We face some fundamental challenges. Too many young people leave formal education without the skills and attitudes that they will need for the world of work. Too many adults have no qualifications – and this dramatically reduces their chances of gaining employment.
Too many people have disengaged from the labour market, and the longer they remain out of work, the harder it is for them to re-enter it. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we are not creating enough jobs, or enough higher skilled jobs, to meet the needs and aspirations of the working age population either now or in the future.
The organisational landscape for employment and skills is complex and changing. The Employment and Skills Strategy aims to ensure that, whatever the changes to local and national policy and delivery mechanisms, Bradford’s priorities are clearly articulated.
Objectives
The Employment and Skills Strategy sets out five objectives:
1. unlocking enterprise and employment growth in the private sector
2. raising employer demand and investment in skills at all levels, including accelerating employer take-up of apprenticeships
3. building a stronger platform of basic and intermediate skills
4. reducing worklessness
5. developing a more integrated system of employment and skills support
and identifies a number of priorities under each objective; these are summarised in section 3 and set out in more detail in Appendix 3.
ii
DRAFT
1. Our Vision
• We will have unlocked the
potential of the private sector to create new jobs;
• our employment rate matches the GB average
• our BME employment rate is the highest in the north of England
• unemployment has been halved in our most deprived communities
• over 80% of our employers value and invest in workforce skills, including higher level skills
• we have addressed our basic skills deficit;
• adult skills attainment now exceeds the regional average at Levels 1-4
• public sector skills support is focused on Bradford’s economic growth sectors
• employer take up of Apprenticeships exceeds the national average
• we have created a sustainable, employer-funded market for learning; our University and
• Colleges are exemplars in employer engagement
• we have tackled the legacy of youth unemployment caused by the last recession;
• by 2015 all of our young people will be in education, employment or training
• Bradford’s public sector employers are national exemplars in their approach to workforce development and employing those who have been furthest from the labour market.
By 2020… Bradford 2020
• As we emerge from recession and address the challenge of rebalancing the public finances, Bradford’s citizens and their aspirations are our most important asset. Yet at present, many are not realising their potential. Too many young people leave formal education without the skills and attitudes that they will need for the world of work. Too many adults have no qualifications – and this dramatically reduces their chances of gaining employment.
• Too many people have disengaged from the labour market, and the longer they remain out of work, the harder it is for them to re-enter it. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we are not creating enough jobs, or enough higher skilled jobs, to meet the needs and aspirations of the working age population either now or in the future.
• Bradford’s first Employment and Skills Strategy (ESS) sets out our response to these challenges. The ESS is concerned with adults aged 18-60/65; it complements the Council’s Partnership Plan for 14-19 learning. Preparation of the ESS has been led by the Bradford Employment and Skills Board (ESB) on behalf of Bradford Council.
• The ESS sets out our 2020 vision of a world class labour market, where
• employers have the capacity and confidence to create more jobs, more highly skilled jobs and to invest in the skills of their workforce; this is our greatest challenge
• young people entering further or higher education or the labour market are able to make more informed career and learning choices
• our Colleges and Universities are delivering learning and training which fully meets the needs of individual learners, employers and the wider economy
• those in work, or seeking to return to the labour market, are investing in developing their skills to ensure that they can stay in and progress in work
• the public sector uses its resources more effectively than ever before to meet the needs of employers, our workforce, and those not in work
• We must raise our sights, and the ESS sets out some ambitious long-term targets to provide focus for the actions and investment of employers, colleges, universities and training providers and funders of skills and employment support.
1
DRAFT
Why Develop an Employment and Skills Strategy?
• There is strong evidence of the benefits of investing in skills for individuals, businesses and the wider economy. Skills for Growth, notes that ‘skilled people are more productive, they are more innovative and they build stronger businesses.’
• Boosting workforce skills can have a significant impact on productivity; the English regions with the highest levels of productivity per worker are also those with the highest proportion of their workforce qualified to NVQ Level 4 or higher. Typically those economies with high levels of productivity also have high employment rates. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills estimate that every 1% increase in each measure is worth £10 billion per annum to the UK economy, in perpetuity.
• Having low or no skills is also a major cause of unemployment, alongside poor health – and is widely acknowledged as one of the main barriers preventing unemployed people from returning to and remaining in the labour market. The complex inter-relationships between economic growth and productivity; skills, worklessness and deprivation and other issues highlight the need for an integrated and ‘joined up’ response.
• In future, evidence suggests that the majority of jobs will be in intermediate or higher skilled occupations. People will require more flexible/transferable skills to reflect changes in the labour market. There will be fewer lower skilled jobs – and some of the unskilled or less-skilled jobs lost in the recession may not return.
• The ESS sets out Bradford’s response to these challenges, sets out our long-term vision for workforce skills and employment and defines the key actions we need to deliver to make substantive progress towards our ambitious 2020 targets. It also
• identifies the needs of employers and the medium/long-term requirements of the economy (for example in emerging sectors like the low carbon economy or advanced manufacturing) to influence public and private sector investment in skills
• focuses on the needs of particular groups (for example young people, black and minority ethnic residents) who need support to re-enter and remain in the labour market
• provides the framework for more effective, joint commissioning of employment and skills support for both employers and individuals
• highlights the strategic labour market issues which should influence the emerging Leeds City Region Employment and Skills Strategy, which will underpin the City Region’s proposals for devolved powers for employment and skills, and the Integrated Regional Strategy
• informs the Council’s planning and investment process for 14-19 education.
• The ESB brings together key employers, the local authority and key funders of learning and employment support. The ESB will be the ‘custodian’ of the Employment and Skills Strategy, setting the strategic direction and hold our partners to account to deliver the ESS.
Structure
• Section 2 presents an analysis of the Bradford labour market, including an assessment of worklessness across the District.
• Section 3 sets out our objectives for employment and skills in Bradford over the next five years and details the high level priorities which will ensure we make substantial progress towards our vision during the initial, three year timeframe for the strategy. More detailed analyses of the Bradford labour market and current employment and skills support are presented in the appendices.
2
DRAFT
2. Challenges and Opportunities Bradford’s Labour Market
Bradford faces some very significant economic and labour market challenges – but there are also some important opportunities upon which we can build. These are summarised in section 2 of the ESS and a full worklessness assessment is presented in Appendix A. Appendix B includes our assessment of current employment and skills provision.
Challenges and Opportunities• Following a return to growth after emerging from the most damaging economic recession since the 1930s, the UK
economy still faces a number of challenges. The recession has had a major impact on our businesses, people and communities but there are some important building blocks upon which we can base a long-term recovery.
• The decision made in the Comprehensive Spending Review, announced in October 2010, will create a huge challenge for public sector bodies to work together better to achieve improved outcomes on significantly lower budgets.
• Our business services, IT and digital media, retail and healthcare sectors continue to grow. We have a world class design and advanced manufacturing capability in electrical and optical equipment, centred on Airedale. Business start up and self employment rates have proven resilient to the recession.
• We have the youngest, most diverse and fastest growing population in the Region. The University of Bradford is consistently ranked amongst the best Universities in the UK for securing graduate employment. Our exceptional quality of life and cultural offer will also underpin our efforts to create a sustainable and growing economy.
• Yet moving forward, we face some very real challenges. Like many other UK cities, a number of key regeneration projects have stalled. Bradford has seen a significant contraction in manufacturing and other traditional industries over the last decade and this has been exacerbated by the recession.
• Growth in service sector employment in Bradford has been much slower than in Leeds and Manchester and has not been sufficient to counter the loss of manufacturing jobs. Between 1998-2008, Bradford shed over 7,700 jobs in the private sector. In recent years, jobs growth has been driven by the public sector.
• Today, Bradford faces a significant jobs gap. To match the Great Britain employment rate (now 72.9% having remained around 74% for much of this decade) we need to create over 16,000 new jobs. Reforms to the welfare system, combined with forecasted population growth, could increase this number significantly over the next five years.
Working Age Employment Rate (%)
64.0
66.0
68.0
70.0
72.0
74.0
76.0
Q32005
Q42005
Q12006
Q22006
Q32006
Q42006
Q12007
Q22007
Q32007
Q42007
Q12008
Q22008
Q32008
Q42008
Q12009
Q22009
Q32009
% o
f w
ork
ing
ag
e p
op
ula
tio
n
Bradford
UK
Pre-recession gap of around 5.5 percentage points. This represents around 16,000 jobs.
Source: Annual Population Survey, Nomis
• As public sector expenditure tightens in an effort to reduce the public sector borrowing deficit, substantial further job losses are likely. Construction, manufacturing and financial services employers also remain vulnerable.
• Unemployment has increased rapidly during the recession and the Jobseekers Allowance claimant count is now at its highest since May 1997; only Barnsley has a higher unemployment rate in the Leeds City region. Almost 8,000 more Bradford residents are out of work than in November 2007.
• In addition, just under 50,000 Bradford residents are in receipt of one or more working age benefits. A disproportionate number of Bradford’s economically inactive residents are from ethnic minority groups, including the Pakistani and Bangladeshi community. There is a strong correlation between worklessness and other measures of deprivation, most notably poor health and housing.
3
DRAFT
Box 1 – National Developments on Employment and Skills
• Since work on this Strategy began, a lot of developments have occurred at a national level as a result of the change of Government in May 2010 and the plan to reduce the budget deficit over the next five years. In particular, the Comprehensive Spending Review, announced in October 2010, and the National Skills Strategy published one month later, contained a number of reforms which will have significant impacts on the skills and employment landscape, and which present a number of challenges and opportunities for Bradford.
Comprehensive Spending Review
• The cuts to public spending in general will have a large impact on Bradford’s economy. The public sector employs a large number of people in the District and cuts on the scale proposed is likely to result in several thousand people finding themselves out of work. Alternative employment will need to be created in the private sector to fill the gap.
• Some of the most significant savings proposed in the CSR involve reforms to the welfare system. Two key policies are to reassess all claimants of incapacity benefit and to reduce the length of time single parents are allowed to claim income support without the requirement to seek work. Ultimately, these changes will mean a significant number of people will become economically active again after long periods of inactivity. This will create even greater competition for jobs, and increase the need for job creation on a large scale in the District.
• On a more positive note, also announced in the CSR was a proposal to pilot ‘Community Based Budgeting’. Bradford is one of the pilot areas. The idea is that agencies spending money on families with multiple problems should pool resources at source in order to avoid duplication, and make savings that will benefit all agencies. This has the potential to significantly help some of those who are furthest away from the labour market.
National Skills Strategy
• The new Government published it’s national skills strategy “Skills for Sustainable Growth” on 17th Nov 2010, which outlined the direction of travel the Government is looking to take with regards to it’s skills policy over the lifetime of this Parliament. While there will be less resources to go round in future, a number of priorities outlined in the national strategy are aligned with priorities for Bradford.
• More emphasis is to be placed on apprenticeships, with funding for an extra 75,000 apprenticeship places per year by 2014/15. The focus will switch so that Level 3 becomes the level to which learners and employers aspire.
• Free training will continue to be provided for those who left school without basic numeracy and literacy.
• Funding for informal adult and community learning is being protected, and BIS are working up measures to reform the approach to commissioning for informal learning.
• BIS will work with the Department for Education to encourage more widespread teaching of entrepreneurial skills.
4
DRAFT
Box 2 – Key Facts About Worklessness in Bradford 5
• Over 98,000 people of working age in Bradford are out of work (almost 1 in 3).
• Of these, over 50,000 claim 1 or more out of work benefits
• Incapacity Benefit claimants make up the biggest single group of benefit recipients with almost 25,000 people falling into this category
• Unemployment is significantly higher in Bradford than either the regional or national averages
• A disproportionate number of the workless population are women
• Employment rates amongst minority groups in Bradford is significantly below the average
• Pockets of very high worklessness exist within certain areas of Bradford, where more than a third of the adult population claim out of work benefits.
Working Age307,600
In Employment208,900 10,500
Workless98,700 10,500
Economically Active229,200 5,800
Economically Inactive78,400 5,800
Self
-Em
ploy
ed
Empl
oyee
Wan
t a
Job
Don
’t W
ant
a Jo
b
Unem
ploy
ed
30,100200
176,60011,300
20,3004,800
20,7004,600
57,7002,200
Bradford Labour Supply (change September 08 to September 09)
ESA/IB Claimants
24,810
Other benefits
1,840
JSA Claimants
15,490Source: Annual Population Survey (Oct2008-Sept 2009), DWP Key Out of Work Benefits (Aug 2009)
Lone Parents
7,340
JSA Claimant Rate Trends 1995-2010 (June)
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
% o
f w
ork
ing
ag
e p
op
ula
tio
n
Bradford
Yorkshire & Humber
UK
Source: Jobcentre Plus data, Nomis
Over the last 15 years, the JSA claimant rate in Bradford has broadly mirrored the regional and national trend although the rate in Bradford has always been significantly higher.
Male and female worklessness rates Leeds City Region districts
22.0
29.8
30.3
31.1
31.5
35.8
37.2
22.3
22.9
23.5
24.2
24.2
28.1
29.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
York
Wakefield
Calderdale
Kirklees
Leeds
Barnsley
Bradford
Bradford
Kirklees
Calderdale
Wakefield
York
Leeds
Barnsley
wor
kles
ness
s ra
te (%
)
Source: Annual Population Survey, July 2008 to June 2009, NOMIS
Women Men
Bradford’s has the lowest worklessness rate among males in the Leeds City Region. But it has the highest female worklessness rate, and it is worklessness among women in Bradford that pushes up the total.
Employment Rate by Ethnicity - Bradford
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
% o
f w
ork
ing
ag
e p
op
ula
tio
n
White
Indian
Pakistani/Bangledeshi
Black or Black British
Source: Annual Population Survey
While the employment rate amongst the white population of Bradford has consistently been above 75%, ethnic minority employment is significantly lower. In particular, amongst the Pakistani/ Bangladeshi population, the rate is barely above 40%, while for women it may be as low as 20%.
The highest concentrations of unemployment occur in the district’s inner urban areas and in the outlying social housing estates such as Holmewood, Buttershaw, Allerton and Windhill. The pattern of worklessness closely follows the pattern of deprivation.
DRAFT
• Educational attainment at Key Stage 4 (16) is improving, but the ‘attainment gap’ is still wide, particularly for those young people from disadvantaged communities. Although the number of young people not in education, employment and training is falling, youth unemployment has increased by just under 90% since November 2007 and over 28% of 18-24 year olds are now out of work.
• Recent research by the CBI and by Bradford Chamber of Commerce suggests that, despite improving educational attainment, many young people still lack the basic ‘employability’ skills to compete effectively for jobs. Many also lack the right information on local learning and employment opportunities to make informed choices about their future. Whilst a high proportion of Bradford graduates secure employment, many have to leave do so.
• Adult skills attainment rates lag the regional and England average at all levels; over 55,000 working age residents have no qualifications; in order to reduce the proportion of residents with no qualifications to the national average, an additional 12,000 people would need to gain their first qualification.
• Fundamentally, Bradford remains a low wage, low skilled economy. Both resident and workplace wages have grown at a rate below the England average although workplace wages are higher, reflecting the ability of in-commuters to secure higher paid, higher skilled jobs.
• Too few Bradford employers are investing in the skills of their workforce or to creating higher skilled jobs and this disincentives individual learners from acquiring new skills. Attainment of basic, intermediate and higher level skills remains below the regional average.
• Looking forward, the latest Yorkshire Forward forecasts suggest that Bradford will have lost 10,500 jobs between 2007 and the end of 2010 as a result of the recession, and that the economy will not return to pre-recession levels of employment until 2018. The ‘baseline’ forecast suggests that Bradford could generate net employment growth of a further 11,500 jobs between 2018-2026, but this will be insufficient to close the jobs gap. These forecasts assume significant growth in business services, retail and health jobs and a further decline in manufacturing.
• Despite forecasts of slow growth in Bradford’s economy, a large number of people are expected to leave the labour market due to retirement or for other reasons. ‘Replacement demand’ is likely to result in a requirement to replace over 90,000 existing posts over the period to 2017, although this may be insufficient to meet the employment needs arising from the growth in our working age population which is also forecast over the same period.
• Given the current economic uncertainty and the likelihood of significant job losses in the public sector as a result of cuts in public spending we must treat these forecasts with caution. Nonetheless, they are a useful starting point in identifying what our skills needs might be in future.
• Our economy is at a critical turning point. The Employment and Skills Strategy shows how we will unlock the latent potential of Bradford’s most important asset – its people – to create a skilled workforce that will meet the needs of a vibrant, modern economy, and how we will ensure that all Bradford’s residents have the opportunity to benefit from growth.
6
DRAFT
Box 3: Some Key Facts About Skills in Bradford
Around 1 in 6 adults in Bradford have no qualifications
Almost two thirds of those without qualifications are out of work
Around a third of our young people are leaving school without 5 good GCSEs
Bradford also has a large number of highly skilled people, with over 72,000 qualified to level 4 or above
62.5% of the working age population are qualified to level 2 or above, much lower than the national average of 69.4%
In 2008/09, 2,300 people started an apprenticeship in Bradford. 800 of these were advanced apprenticeships and 500 of the starters were aged over 25
The recent Bradford Employer Skills Survey found that 74% of vacancies locally were proving difficult to fill due to a shortage of skills
In 2008/09 15,200 people in Bradford took Skills for Life (basic skills) courses in either literacy, numeracy or ESOL
Bradford’s diverse population means that English as a second language for over 40% of school pupils, which is an indication of the large numbers of bi or multi-lingual Bradford residents
7
DRAFT
Current Employment and Skills Support• There is a wide range of provision for adults seeking support to re-enter the labour market or gain new
skills; and for employers seeking to enhance the skills of their workforce or to employ people who have been unemployed or otherwise become detached from the labour market.
• Adult employment and skills support takes the form of a ‘spine’ of mainstream provision – typically national programmes managed or delivered by Jobcentre Plus (e.g. Flexible New Deal, Pathways to Work) or funded through the new Skills Funding Agency (e.g. Train to Gain, Apprenticeships). Additional resources have been made available to Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council/SFA to address the impact of the recession.
• Jobcentre Plus has extended the range of employment support available as part of efforts to combat the recession, with a particular focus on those facing redundancy and unemployed 18-24 year olds through the Young Persons/Graduate’s guarantee, including the Future Jobs Fund, which will support the delivery of over 1000 jobs in a programme led by Bradford Council.
• The new coalition Government has set out proposals for significant welfare reform, highlighting that the ‘benefits system often provides incentives to stay on benefits rather than take on a job’ and signalling its intention to create a single, streamlined Work Programme which will bring together many of these initiatives as part of wider reform of the welfare and benefits system. They published a white paper in Nov 2010 which proposes to reform the system of benefits into a single ‘universal credit’, in order to both simplify the system and ensure that people are always better off in work.
• The ‘national spine’ is augmented by local programmes including for example those supported through the Council’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund allocation or personal and community development learning (adult education) programmes. Much of this support complements national programmes by focusing on the needs of individuals in deprived communities or ‘hard to reach’ groups and often with complex, multiple barriers to re-entering and remaining in the labour market. There is a diverse range of support available for both individuals and employers.
• Nonetheless, some continue to find accessing the system particularly complex, with different programmes (often delivered by different contractors) targeting the same clients, and some gaps in provision remain at the local level, including programmes targeting:
• economically inactive residents from ethnic minority, particularly Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds;
• linked to this, those Bradford residents requiring support to develop English as a second language (ESOL), particularly new arrivals without any English language skills;
• long-term Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance claimants who do have limited engagement with Jobcentre Plus;
• people with mental health issues – who make up an increasing proportion of Incapacity Benefit and other working age benefits claimants;
• people who have recently been made redundant and may not be eligible to claim Jobseekers Allowance, or to engage with more intensive support available through Jobcentre Plus (for example the Young Persons Guarantee or Flexible New Deal) which tend to have a 6 or 12 month lead-in.
8
In addition:• there are too many adults with no qualifications who have disengaged from learning;• the proportion of young people leaving education at 19 with a Level 2 qualification is now near the
national average, but too many young people are still leaving school or College without the effective ‘employability’ skills and attitudes that employers are seeking;
• too much level 2 provision is focused on the accreditation of existing skills;• too few Bradford employers are willing or able to take on apprentices and this impacts on the learning/
employment opportunities available to young people;• there is a lack of progression opportunities between level 2 and intermediate/higher level skills
programmes and between 14-19 learning, adult skills provision and sustainable employment.• There is a need for a more consistent and joined up approach to adult information, advice and
guidance. • As part of efforts to reduce expenditure, Bradford Council has been forced to make significant cuts in Working
Neighbourhoods Fund and Local Enterprise Growth Initiative spending for 2010/11, alongside reductions in the 14-19 education budget. Some of these changes will impact on our ability to meet the needs of the groups identified above.
• Moving forward, the Employment and Skills Board will play a vital role in coordinating public and private sector investment in employment and skills to ensure that scare resources are prioritised and target areas of identified need.
DRAFT
9
3. Realising our Vision: Priorities for Action
Introduction• The evidence presented in section 2 of the ESS highlights the critical employment and skills challenges that we face
moving forward. Our vision – set out on page 1 of the strategy – demonstrates the ambition of the Employment and Skills Board to address these challenges and to raise the bar on participation and attainment in adult skills and work at all levels.
• To realise our vision of a world class labour market in 2020, we must drive change now. The ESS sets out five strategic objectives for employment and skills in Bradford to guide the actions and investment of employers, Colleges, Universities and other training organisations, and the public and voluntary sector, and these are outlined in the table below.
• Priorities for action under each of these objectives are summarised in the section below and set out in more detail in Appendix 3. The table below details the ‘logic chain’ for the ESS, summarising the linkage between each component of our vision; our strategic objectives; and priorities for action. The diagram sets out the high level actions flowing from the ESS and will provide the basis for more detailed action plans, to be developed through the ESB, the Council and other stakeholders.
Vision Objectives Priorities Milestones (to 2015) Lead Roles
We have unlocked the potential of the private sector to create new jobs; our employment rate matches the GB average
Employer take-up of apprenticeships exceeds the national average
Over 80% of our employers value and are investing in workforce skills
Public sector skills support is focused on Bradford’s economic growth sectors
We have created a sustainable, employer-funded market for learning: our University and Colleges are exemplars in employer engagement
1. Unlocking enterprise and employment growth in the private sector
1.1 Ensure business infrastructure and support is fit for purpose.
1.2 Drive innovation and high level skills
1.3 Align future skills provision to meet the needs of the local economy
1.4 Accelerate take-up of apprenticeships by launching a tailored, local marketing campaign
2. Raising employer demand and investment in skills at all levels
2.1 Commission more flexible training, less ‘qualification driven
2.2 Simplify the employer offer – single gateway for employer engagement
2.3 Develop more tailored engagement and support for BME employers
• Achieve a 1% p.a. increase in the employment rate (currently 67.9%)
• Investment in the replacement to Train to Gain and apprenticeships in priority sectors increases year on year
• Increase in number of jobs in private sector outstrips decline in public sector employment
1.1 Bradford Council
1.2 University of Bradford
1.3 Colleges/WBL/Vol & Comm/Private Sector
1.4 Bradford Council /Colleges
• Increase in employers undertaking training to 67% from 57% by 2015
2.1 SFA/Leeds City Region
2.2 Business Link/JCP/Bradford Council
2.3 Bradford Council/Kickstart
DRAFT
10
Objective 1: Unlocking Enterprise and Employment Growth in the Private Sector
• Section 2 and Appendix A indicate that although Bradford has some important economic assets upon which it can build, much of the jobs growth over the last decade has been driven by the public sector. The coalition Government has signalled its intention to reduce the current deficit in public sector borrowing by achieving cuts in public spending which will result in significant reduction in public sector employment.
• At present, Bradford has a large jobs gap – over 16,000 additional jobs would need to be created to match GB employment rates – and unemployment is expected to rise further in 2010/11.
• As we highlight in section 2, it is clear that low employment growth and a continued dependence on public sector jobs are the most fundamental challenges facing Bradford’s labour market.
• Thus we must place unlocking the potential of the private sector to create jobs and wealth at the very heart of our economic strategy for Bradford, an approach which fits ‘hand in glove’ with the Employment and Skills Strategy.
Vision Objectives Priorities Milestones (to 2015) Lead Roles
We have addressed our basic skills deficit; adult skills attainment now exceeds the regional average at levels 1-2
We have tackled the legacy of youth unemployment caused by the last recession
Unemployment halved in our most deprived communities
Bradford’s public sector employers are national exemplars in their approach to workforce development
3. Building a stronger platform of basic and intermediate skills
3.1 Improve employer engagement in 14-19 planning & provision
3.2 Establish IACL sub group to inform planning for Informal Adult & Community Learning
4. Reducing worklessness
4.1 Establish a group to progress on Co-Design/CBB work in Bradford
4.2 Create a model for tackling worklessness which can be used across agencies
4.3 Pilot the new approach on specific targeted areas of the District
• Proportion of adults qualified to level 2 increases by 1% p.a. (currently 57%)
• % increase in Council employees qualified to level 2
• % increase in learners receiving ESOL provision at pre-entry and entry-level
3.1 ESB/Bradford Council
3.2 Bradford Council
• 18-24 unemployment is reduced from 28.4% to 23%
• Reduction in unemployment in the five most deprived wards by 0.7% p.a.
4.1 Bradford Council
4.2 Bradford Council/New group membership
4.3 Bradford Council/Stakeholders District-wide
5. Cross cutting objective: Developing a more integrated system of employment and skills support
DRAFT
11
Business Infrastructure and Support
• Local enabling work goes on with Invest in Bradford, Bradford Kickstart and other programmes. Moving forward, this local ‘enabling role’ will be even more critical in future with the proposed closure of Yorkshire Forward and Business Link and their replacement with Local Enterprise Partnerships. Priorities for action will include
• reviewing the long-term support for encouraging enterprise and start up businesses in light of potential changes to the regional business support regime and the cessation of LEGI funding from April 2011
• keeping under regular review the priority sectors supported by Invest in Bradford (currently professional and financial services, creative and digital industries, food and drink, healthcare technologies and advanced engineering and metals)
• reviewing access to business finance (for both start up and SME expansion) in light of the tightening of commercial lending and credit lines during the recession.
• the Council and its partners will seek to sustain investment in enhancing the district’s quality of place to reinforce its attractiveness as a business location.
• ensuring that support for businesses remains simple, cost effective and fit for purpose.
Driving Innovation and Higher Level Skills• Innovation is, and will continue to be a key driver of the Bradford economy in the future. Bradford’s
innovative, high technology businesses need sustained support to unlock their potential to bring innovative products to market and to create more high skilled employment opportunities.
• We will work with the University of Bradford to further strengthen its activities around employer engagement and support for innovation. Priorities include:
• further development of technology transfer programmes in creative and digital industries, healthcare/biotechnology and advanced manufacturing;
• further alignment of its research interests with the needs of the local economy ;• increasing the supply of highly skilled graduates and post-graduates with relevant skills.
Aligning Skills Provision with the Long Term Needs of the Economy
• As we highlight in section 1, we recognise that skills is a key driver of Bradford’s economic competitiveness. Developing Bradford’s skills base will support the growth of existing firms as well as playing a pivotal role in attracting and retaining private investment across the District.
• Where possible, we will seek to influence future skills investment by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), Higher Education Funding Council for England and by working in partnership with our Universities and Colleges to increase the proportion of adult learner responsive and employer responsive learning provision which is targeted to meet the needs of Bradford’s growth sectors. These are those sectors with the potential to generate a significant increase in their economic output or employment over the next ten years, and include:
• Advanced engineering and materials• Creative and digital industries• Professional and financial services• Healthcare• Food and drink• Retail and wholesale/distribution• The low carbon economy as a cross cutting sector.
• For each of these sectors, we will:
• undertake research with key employers to create a more detailed understanding of their future skills and recruitment needs
• develop a sector skills plan which identifies the priority skills/qualifications sought by employers and sets out clear progression pathways (for example from 14-19 learning into Apprenticeships, or from further education to higher education)
• work with FE/HE providers to ensure that people with vocational qualifications have much clearer progression routes towards Higher Education and that the vocational qualifications required to enter HE courses are made explicit.
DRAFT
12
Objective 2: Raising Employer Demand and Investment in Skills at all Levels
• Many employers in Bradford – across the public, private and voluntary sectors – are already investing in the skills of their workforce. Often employers invest their own resources to meet short-term needs although take up of Train to Gain and the Enhancement Fund was also increasing prior to the recession.
• Equally, many employers state that College and University provision is often not tailored to meet their needs – and public-sector funded learning is driven by the acquisition or accreditation of qualifications rather than a more ‘modular’ approach which meets business needs. Small firms in particular find it difficult to access support for their training needs and find the plethora of different programmes confusing.
• Raising employer demand and investment in skills is pivotal to achieving long-term sustainable growth and our vision for a world class labour market – but remains a difficult task as the recession continues to impact on business confidence and growth. At the same time, public sector investment in some learning activities is already being cut, placing additional pressures on Universities, Colleges and other learning providers to seek additional sources of income.
• These factors reinforce our view that, in future, employers will need to invest more of their own resources in workforce development – but that in return, they should expect training providers to be more responsive to their needs. In effect, we need to build an employer-driven market for training in Bradford and to address the market failures – often a lack of information on the range of provision available, a lack of competition between providers and the effect of public sector-funded provision on demand.
• The Employment and Skills Board has a critical role in: • defining and helping to remove some of the major barriers to learning for employers;• ensuring that training is more aligned to the emerging needs of the Bradford economy;• advocating and championing employer investment in skills.
More Flexible Learning
• Employers often need more flexible, short and bespoke courses rather than the traditional, qualifications-led approach which has driven provision and funding in recent years. Previously, much of the available funding has not support more flexible learning of this type. We will:
• continue to lobby the Skills Funding Agency on the importance of developing more tailored, modular approaches to training;
• influence the Leeds City Region local enterprise partnership to place this issue at the core of its work to address the skills needs of the Leeds City Region.
Simplifying the Offer
• In recent years the Government has had a strong focus on simplifying the business support and training offer to businesses. Despite this, employers continue to find the array of different delivery organisations confusing, particularly where employment support for individuals sits alongside employer-focused training.
• In the Tees Valley, Gloucester and a number of other locations, Business Link and Jobcentre Plus have developed a single ‘business gateway’ to simplify access to business and employment support under a joint/unified brand. We will:
• work with Bradford Council, Kickstart, Business Link Yorkshire, Jobcentre Plus and relevant training providers to agree streamlined business engagement and referral arrangements and to simplify access to support for employers;
• work with these partners to assemble improved market intelligence on the skills needs of Bradford businesses and to utilise this to influence local skills and employment policy, drawing together ‘coalface’ data held by Business Link, the Council, Kickstart, Jobcentre Plus and others.
DRAFT
13
More Tailored Support for BME Businesses
• Consultations with stakeholders during the development of the ESS highlighted the need for providers of business support and training to engage more directly with black and minority ethnic-owned businesses to develop a greater understanding of their skills development needs. We will
• commission more detailed research into the skills needs of BME businesses and test the feasibility of more tailored support through Kickstart and/or its successor programme.
Accelerating Take up of Apprenticeships
• The UKCES highlight the increasing shortage of people with technical or craft (Level 3) skills at national level and proposes a significant increase in investment in Apprenticeships for both young people and adults. The coalition Government has also reinforced its commitment to accelerating take up of Apprenticeships and increasing the level of investment devoted to the programme. The National Skills Strategy seeks to reshape apprenticeships so that technician level – Level 3 – becomes the level to which learners and employers aspire. There is provision in the national strategy to fund an additional 75,000 adult apprenticeship places by 2014-15. This focus is shared by the Employment and Skills Board, which has identified the creation of an additional 1,000 Apprenticeships in Bradford – in key sectors including advanced manufacturing, construction and financial and business services – as a key priority for the ESB.
• Employers still face a number of barriers to participation with Apprenticeships including the complexity of the programme, business risk and cost. There is a need to undertake significant awareness raising to engage Bradford’s business community with the Apprenticeships programme.
• In Bradford, the Accent Group has developed a successful Apprenticeships programme for the construction sector, reducing the burden on individual employers. Elsewhere, covering a wider range of sectors, the London Apprenticeships Company has been established as a host employer, removing the burden of administering the programme for small businesses and voluntary sector organisations. We will:
• consider the potential for those organisations represented by ESB members to increase their commitment to the Apprenticeships programme;
• develop its advocacy role for Apprenticeships and consider the feasibility of a tailored, local marketing programme, in association with the Skills Funding Agency/National Apprenticeships Service;
• test the feasibility of establishing further, sector-based ‘‘Apprenticeships Companies’ to encourage employer take-up
• lobby the SFA to achieve a shift in Apprenticeships investment of between 5-10% p.a. towards advanced manufacturing, creative and digital, financial and business services, retail/wholesale/distribution and the low carbon economy.
• Bradford Council has made a significant commitment to recruiting Apprentices and currently over 180 Apprenticeships are being hosted by the Council. We will:
• monitor the success of the Council, Primary Care Trust and other key public sector organisations in developing their Apprenticeships programmes.
Developing our Advocacy Role
• Members of the Bradford Employment and Skills Board have a critical role as advocates for/champions of training and workforce development. There is considerable scope for members to develop this role within their own organisations – and also within their wider networks. We will:
• develop a more formal ‘ambassadorial’ approach to skills and workforce development and identify the support needs of members in taking this forward.
DRAFT
14
Objective 3: Building a Stronger Platform of Basic and Intermediate Skills
Influencing 14-19 Learning
• There are inextricable links between the educational performance of our young people and our deficit in adult skills. Bradford Council and Education Bradford have developed a 14-19 Partnership Plan for the district which has the overarching aim of creating a strong learning culture in Bradford which values lifelong learning, enterprise and employability. To achieve this the plan seeks to address a number of fundamental challenges including:
• broadening the curriculum offer to ensure that it is stimulating, attractive and responsive to all young people at all levels;
• supporting progression in further learning and sustainable employment;• providing appropriate places in learning for all young people that reflect their aims and aspirations;• improving the quality of provision for those young people who face complex and deep-rooted barriers to
learning;• providing personalised guidance for young people to improve their likelihood of remaining in learning.
informal adult and community Learning
• informal adult and community learning can play a vital role in supporting and sustaining economic and social wellbeing. It remains a critical activity for re-engaging learners, equipping them with basic skills and generating the confidence and self-esteem to acquire even more economically valuable qualifications. With more than 55,000 residents without a formal qualification, informal adult and community learning which can support progression towards return to work is a key priority for the Employment and Skills Strategy.
• Whilst the encouragement of informal learning by those adults who are already fully engaged in or indeed retired from the labour market is not in itself a priority for the Employment and Skills Board, we recognise the value that this brings to both individuals and communities by building social networks and self-esteem. For some low skilled or unemployed adults, informal adult and community learning is an important stepping stone towards the acquisition of more economically valuable skills.
• Bradford Council is well placed to coordinate and integrate informal adult and community and community learning activity to ensure existing resources are optimised. We will:
• We aspire to be a world class labour market. To achieve this, we must build a solid platform of basic and intermediate skills to achieve a step change in the number of Bradford citizens lacking basic numeracy, literacy and other basic skills and to ensure that all of our residents have the English language skills to compete in a modern, flexible labour market.
• We know that those young people leaving school with no qualifications or lacking in basic literacy or numeracy skills will find it much harder to equip themselves with basic life and ‘employability’ skills in later life. In addition, despite the provision of careers advice, some young people can lack information on the range of employment opportunities available within their travel to work area; or seek careers which are not suited to their skills, qualifications or experience. This can result in high demand for some College courses which are not strongly linked to the economic strengths or growth prospects of the area.
• We will develop an ‘Unlocking Talent for the Future Economy’ work plan which will set out detailed proposals to
• actively engage employers in the development and delivery of all learning pathways, including diplomas;
• identify how the teaching of basic ‘employability’ and enterprise skills and competencies can be strengthened across the curriculum;
• strengthen the commitment of individual employers to provide work placements and raising awareness of the world of work, through the Education Business Partnership.
DRAFT
15
Information, Advice and Guidance
• Information, advice and guidance (IAG) for adults remains a key strand of the approach to delivering effective careers and learning advice. Effective IAG increases the likelihood that individuals will enter learning, and that they will achieve a qualification from their study. There are currently more than 20 IAG providers across Bradford.
• The new Adult Advancement and Careers Service under the Next step brand was be rolled out across England in August 2010. Addressing the historic inconsistency of IAG provision in some communities, the new service aims to provide a single, coherent mechanism to access support online, via the telephone or face to face.
• Building on this, the National Skills Strategy outlines plans to establish a new, all-age careers service to provide clear and transparent information to all learners.
• The transition to a new, national system of Information, Advice and Guidance may create a number of challenges for people seeking support in Bradford. It will be vital to ensure that access to face to face support, delivered in a community setting, remains an integral part of the IAG offer. We will
• support the Bradford IAG network to develop a strategic approach to manage the transition to the new Adult Advancement and Careers Service;
• lobby the AACS to ensure that local IAG provision, delivered in a community setting, is wrapped around mainstream support and to secure appropriate funding.
Improving Basic Skills
• Whilst there has been continued investment in Skills for Life by the LSC and others, too many Bradford residents still lack basic literacy or numeracy skills. Yet many stakeholders argue that too little Skills for Life provision is tailored to meet the learning needs of the individual, particularly those from BME communities or those needing enhanced language skills. Often Skills for Life provision is delivered in a ‘formal’ educational setting rather than in the community. We will:
• champion Skills for Life and informal learning within their own organisations and networks;• working with the three Colleges, Education Bradford and other partners, undertake a ‘mini-
review’ of the delivery of Skills for Life to establish how this can be delivered more effectively in the community, including in a family learning setting;
• working with the Council, explore the feasibility and economic impact of creating a network of local community learning champions, embedded in voluntary and community sector organisations, to promote and facilitate informal adult and community learning.
• provide vision and leadership to create a strong local partnership that will put in place a diverse offer to meet local needs;
• develop an annual, jointly-agreed delivery plan as the basis for the funding agreement with the SFA; where possible, the local plan will seek to lever in additional resources from fees and in-kind service.
Improving Access to ESOL
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is an important element of provision. Bradford is one of 31 ‘Pathfinder’ authorities charged with taking forward a new, more localised approach to delivering ESOL.
• A range of attitudinal, cultural and information barriers prevent some groups from accessing appropriate support. Some employers remain unwilling to engage in ESOL programmes; there is a shortfall in ESOL teachers (particularly those with foreign language skills) and mainstream LSC/SFA funded programmes are often focused on more intensive support towards entering work, which may not be appropriate for all ESOL clients. Residency criteria limit provision for some groups, particularly new arrivals, who need most support.
DRAFT
16
Objective 4: Reducing Worklessness• Section 2 and the Appendices highlight the significant impact of economic inactivity, or worklessness,
on Bradford’s economy and communities. There are also strong links between low skills levels and worklessness – and between worklessness and poor health.
• The recession has changed the nature of unemployment in Bradford, with many young people becoming unemployed for the first time. As competition for jobs intensified, this has had the effect of shifting many long-term workless residents even further from the labour market.
Review of Employment Support Programmes
• The coalition Government is proposing to make significant changes to the welfare to work system, including the simplification and streamlining of existing Jobcentre Plus support programmes and the removal of some of the eligibility constraints for some programmes. It is proposing to create a single, national ‘Work Programme’ and has cancelled a number of other Jobcentre Plus programmes as well as further rounds of the Future Jobs Fund.
• The ESS provides an important opportunity to take stock of current priorities and activities in light of significant changes in both the national spine of provision and the likely reduction in the availability of discretionary funding for skills and employment projects in future.
• We will adopt a ‘Total Place’ approach to review the efficiency and cost effectiveness of existing provision and to reduce any duplication of mainstream and local resources. The priorities for future support are likely to include:
• the need for more tailored and focused support for BME residents, and in particular from Bradford’s Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities and those requiring ESOL support;
• long-term Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance claimants who do have limited engagement with Jobcentre Plus;
• people with mental health issues – who make up an increasing proportion of Incapacity Benefit and other working age benefits claimants - building on the work of the Strategic Disability Partnership and other key organisations;
• the need for more aftercare support for employers seeking to recruit from key client groups;• building the capacity of voluntary/community sector organisations to extend outreach activity.
Developing the role of the Public Sector
• The Council, Primary Care Trust and other key public sector organisations have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that Bradford’s workforce has the basic skills required to compete in the labour market. Opportunities include:
• implementing the Skills Pledge to ensure that all employees are working towards a first Level 2 qualification;
• implementing the ‘Leading by Example’ approach;• developing the role of the trade unions through mentoring and facilitating learning;• opening up learning resources to facilitate wider access;• using procurement policies to purchase training from local providers where this meets employer needs.
• We will:
• monitor progress on the development of basic skills by Bradford’s key public sector employers.
• We will:
• champion ESOL within their own organisations and networks;• monitor progress on the delivery of the Council’s ESOL strategy with a particular focus on:
• achieving an increase in the number of ESOL tutors, including bi-lingual tutors;• improving the coordination of existing ESOL funding streams;• developing outreach activity to facilitate improved access for hard to reach groups.
DRAFT
17
Objective 5: Developing an Integrated System of Employment and Skills Support – A Cross Cutting Theme
• The Government continues to encourage local authorities, Jobcentre Plus and a wide range of other partners to work together to develop more streamlined, joined up and effective employment and skills support. The influential Houghton Review highlighted the need for local authorities to play a pivotal role in this process.
• Influencing and aligning the commissioning of all employment and skills services is fundamental to achieving the objectives of the ESS. There are significant benefits to be gained from a more coherent and integrated approach to the commissioning of employment and skills services, including:
• establishing a more transparent and coherent approach to pricing of employment and skills support across markets driving better value for money;
• developing the supply chain – particularly the voluntary and community sector;• ensuring better fit and wraparound of mainstream service delivery and thus maximum value from local
resources;• achieving economies of scale from areas such as shared performance management, improved
alignment and co-ordination of services and learning from best practice.
Strengthening an Neighbourhood Based Approach
• Appendix B highlights the strong links between worklessness, poor housing, health and other causes of deprivation. Worklessness is concentrated in a number of neighbourhoods across the district and a neighbourhoods-based approach to tackling this issue has been a key feature of the Council’s approach, supported through the Working Neighbourhoods Fund and engaging key voluntary/community sector organisations where possible.
• Moving forward, it is clear that whilst there is likely to be less ‘discretionary’ funding for the Council to undertake this activity, we must continue to strengthen the links between employment support and health, housing, social care and children’s services. We will work with Incommunities and other Registered Social Landlords:
• improve information and advice on housing benefit to ensure that fear of losing benefits does not deter tenants from seeking low paid or part-time work;
• provide more integrated and personalised housing and employment support;• generate local employment through housing and neighbourhood investment programmes;• ensure that employment and mobility criteria feature prominently in housing allocation decisions and as
part of choice-based lettings policies.
• We will work with Jobcentre Plus, the Skills Funding Agency and other key stakeholders to:
• influence the design and development of the new national Work Programme;• develop a co-design approach to worklessness;• where appropriate, develop joint commissioning arrangements for any new programmes which
address gaps in provision;• develop a joint labour market information system.
DRAFT
Appendix A: The Bradford Labour Market
Summary
• Whilst Bradford has seen a significant contraction in manufacturing and other traditional industries over the last decade, growth in service sector employment has been much slower than in Leeds and Manchester; in recent years jobs growth has been driven by the public sector
• Bradford remains a low-wage economy; both resident and workplace wages have grown at a rate below the England average although workplace wages are higher reflecting the ability of in-commuters to secure higher paid, higher skilled jobs
• adult skills attainment rates lag the regional and England average at all levels, in part a legacy of low levels of educational attainment at Key Stage 4 in Bradford schools; over 55,000 working age residents have no qualifications; if Bradford mirrored the England average over 22,000 additional residents would have qualifications at each of NVQ Levels 1 to 4
• unemployment has increased rapidly during the recession although the JSA claimant count appears to have peaked; only Barnsley has a higher unemployment rate in the Leeds City Region; youth unemployment has increased rapidly but is below the regional average although the number of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training is above average
• employment rates for black and
minority ethnic residents remain significantly lower than the regional or local average – this is a key challenge for the ESS
• almost 60,000 Bradford residents are economically inactive and on non-JSA benefits; the number of residents in receipt of Incapacity Benefit has remained static for much of this decade
• the Regional Econometric Model forecasts net employment growth for Bradford of between 19,000-35,000 jobs to 2031 assuming significant growth in business services and public sector jobs and further decline in manufacturing
• in addition, it is estimated that there will be ‘replacement demand’ through retirements and other reasons for leaving the labour market for some 92,000 jobs over the period to 2017; replacement demand and ‘net’ jobs growth is forecast to outstrip the growth in the working age population over the next decade, highlighting the vital importance of efforts to re-engage the economically inactive with work.
18
DRAFT
1. Current Demand for Labour and Skills
Industrial Structure
• Bradford’s current industrial structure is set out in the table below. In 2008 Bradford was over-represented in public sector, wholesale/retail and manufacturing employment compared to the regional and England average and an under-represented in sectors including financial intermediation; real estate, renting and business activities (in effect business services) and construction. The number of employees in employment in Bradford has demonstrated only a negligible increase since the mid-1990s, increasing from just over 190,000 in 1997 to a peak of 196,500 in 2004.
• Although there was no ‘net increase’ in employment in Bradford over the ten years from 1998, the number of part-time jobs has increased by over 3,500 over this period. The proportion of part-time jobs increased from 32% to 34% during this period. The regional average was 32.8% in 2008.
• Between 1998-2008 Bradford lost 16,570 manufacturing jobs – some 36% of total manufacturing employment. 35% of the job losses were in textiles.
• Whilst other major northern cities have succeeded in diversifying their economic base and growing both public and private sector services employment to counter the loss of manufacturing jobs, Bradford has witnessed only modest growth in these sectors.
• The majority of the growth in employees in employment in the ten years from 1998 took place in the public sector; over 4,970 additional jobs were created in health and social care, a further 2,120 jobs in public administration and 1,790 in education. Growth in public sector jobs outstripped the regional and England average.
• Employment in the wholesale and retail sector also grew by just under 2,175 jobs (+6.5%) between 1998-2008. However, since then the recession has had a significant impact on Bradford’s retail sector with the closure of the Stylo retail group – headquartered at Apperley Bridge – and large scale redundancies at Grattan and Empire Stores whilst Westfield’s major city centre retail development has also stalled.
• Bradford continues to be an important location for digital media businesses with key employers including PACE (a leading digital TV developer) and BTL (engaged in e-learning and assessment); as traditional media continues to converge employment in this sector cuts across a number of different industries; the Annual Business Inquiry shows that there were over 1,500 jobs in employment in ‘computer and related activities’ alone in Bradford in 2008.
• Bradford was announced as the world's first official UNESCO City of Film in June 2009. Supported by National Media Museum, Screen Yorkshire and Bradford Council, the City of Film programme sets out a range of initiatives to develop new enterprise, stimulate new learning opportunities and develop new audiences for film over the period to March 2011.
• Between 1998 and 2008 there was a net reduction in financial service employment of over 900 jobs (11.5% of jobs in this sector). More recently there have been over 300 redundancies at Bradford and Bingley although the Yorkshire Building Society, also headquartered in Bradford, has expanded its mortgage business. In addition, Friends Provident is to relocate its headquarters to the Southgate site in Bradford City Centre, safeguarding 700 jobs and creating a further 200.
• These changes are also reflected in the structure of Bradford’s business base. In 2008 there were just over 15,700 ‘workplaces’ in Bradford – including both public and private sector employers. Over 83% employed fewer than 10 people and a further 12.5% employed fewer than 50 staff. The Just 0.8% had more than 200 employees, reinforcing the critical importance of small businesses to the Bradford economy. 25% of workplaces were in the wholesale/retail sector and 24% were in business services.
• A wide range of measures are in place to help Bradford businesses combat the recession. In recent months Bradford Kickstart, the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, has seen a significant shift in its activity to support established businesses combat the recession, access new markets and improve access to loan funding. The Council has also introduced a number of measures to provide business rate relief.
19
DRAFT
Table 1: Employees in Employment, 2008
Industry Bradford No.
% Y& H % England %
A: Agriculture, Hunting & Forestry 526 0.3 0.8 0.9
B: Fishing 0 - - -
C: Mining & Quarrying 60 0.03 0.1 0.1
D: Manufacturing 29,102 15.1 13.0 10.1
E: Electricity, Gas & Water Supply 1,381 0.7 0.4 3.8
F: Construction 6,482 3.4 5.2 4.6
G: Wholesale & Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles and Personal & Household Goods
39,537 20.5 17.2 16.8
H: Hotels & Restaurants 9,249 4.8 6.3 6.7
I: Transport, Storage & Communication 8,175 4.2 5.5 6.0
J: Financial Intermediation 7,372 3.8 3.9 4.1
K: Real Estate, Renting & Business Activities 22,707 11.8 14.5 18.7
L: Public Administration & Defence; Compulsory Social Security
10,476 5.4 5.4 5.2
M: Education 22,710 11.8 10.5 9.4
N: Health & Social Work 27,088 14.1 12.7 11.8
O: Other Community, Social & Personal Service Activities
8,060 4.2 4.4 5.3
Total 192,965 100.0 100.0 100.0
20
DRAFT
Economic Output and Productivity• In 2007, Bradford’s economic output or GVA was
estimated to be just over £6.7 billion. Bradford’s GVA grew by 19% between 1997-2007, lagging the regional (+29%) and national (+35%) average. Over 9.6% of the region’s population reside in Bradford but the district generated just 7.8% to regional GVA in 2007.
• Industrial structure, workforce skills and productivity and business investment all have a significant impact on economic output. Bradford’s dependency on comparatively low output sectors (e.g. retail, public sector); the decline of the manufacturing sector (an important contributor to GVA) and low levels of growth in financial and business services have impacted on the district’s economic output.
• Most significantly, levels of workforce productivity are amongst the lowest in the region: GVA per head in Bradford was just £15,679 in 2007. Yorkshire and the Humber had the lowest level of GVA per hour worked of all of the English regions in 2007 – more than 40% lower than London.
• UKCES argue that the differences in productivity between regions are primarily a result of the variation in performance of the same sectors in different regions, which is in turn strongly influenced by workforce skills levels. The English regions with the highest levels of productivity per worker are also those with the highest proportion of their workforce qualified to NVQ Level 4 or better. There is a significant intermediate and higher level skills gap in Bradford.
New Businesses and Self Employment• New business start ups and the expansion of new firms
can also be an important driver of demand for skills. The number of new VAT registered businesses increased year-on-year from 1,025 in 1999 to 1,270 in 2007. After taking into account VAT de-registrations, the net increase in VAT registered stock averaged just under 173 per annum.
• Self employment rates in Bradford were below the regional and national average for much of the last decade but have increased significantly during the recession. There were 31,400 self-employed residents of Bradford in September 2009 (9.8%, well above the regional average of 8.3% and GB average of 9.1%). Self-employment in Bradford increased by 1,000 (or 3.3%) in the year from September 2008, compared to a decrease at national and regional levels over the same period.
• In 2008, the Office for National Statistics introduced a more comprehensive basis for measuring business start ups, in effect combining both VAT-registered and non-registered firms. Using the new measure there were 1,765 ‘business births’ in Bradford in 2008 and 1,520 ‘business deaths.’
• An increasing proportion of the new business start ups supported via the Bradford Kickstart programme are being generated by people made redundant during the recession. More than 1,100 new start up businesses have been supported by the programme since 2006.
Vacancies• The number of vacancies in the economy is an
important barometer of business growth. Typically Jobcentre Plus manages between 30-40% of vacancies within the local labour market at any one time.
• The number of Jobcentre Plus vacancies in Bradford declined by over 70% between March 2006 and February 2010, when there were just 1,409 reported vacancies.
• In February 2010 there were 11.6 Jobseekers Allowance claimants for every vacancy held by Jobcentre Plus in Bradford. Only Kirklees, with 11.8 claimants per vacancy, has a higher ratio in the Leeds City Region. Whilst Jobcentre Plus typically manages no more than 30-35% of total vacancies at any one time, this highlights the competition for jobs currently present in the labour market.
Average Earnings• The gross median weekly earnings of Bradford
residents was just £409.90 is 2009 – 91% of the regional average but just 82% of the England average. Relative to the England average, male resident earnings are marginally higher than those of women. The gross weekly earnings of Bradford residents increased by 20% between 2002 and 2009, compared to 25% for England as a whole.
• Workplace-based earnings are higher – averaging £423.30 in 2009 – suggesting that those commuting into Bradford – particularly women - generate higher earnings than Bradford residents.
• Earnings data reinforces the perception of Bradford as a low wage economy. It is estimated that just under 50% of the population have an annual income of less than £15,000 per annum.
21
DRAFT
Skills Gaps and Skills Shortages
• The initial findings from 2009 National Employer Skills Survey were published by the UKCES in March 2010. At the time of writing, detailed regional or local level findings have yet to be released, although the high level national analysis indicates that:
• the percentage of employers reporting ‘hard to fill vacancies’ reduced from 7% in 2007 to just 3% in 2009, in part as a consequence of the increased competition for jobs arising from the recession; the percentage of ‘skills shortage’ vacancies also halved from 6% to 3%
• the number of employers identifying employees who were not fully proficient in their current role increased from 15% to 19% between 2007 and 2009, and the number of staff described as having a skills gap increased from 1.4m to 1.7m
• the percentage of staff receiving training fell from 63% in 2007 to just 56% in 2009.
• The Bradford ESB recently commissioned the Bradford Chamber of Commerce to undertake a skills and recruitment survey of 5,000 local employers. Based on a response rate of 174 firms at the end of April 2010 (of which 38% employed fewer than 10 staff), the key messages included:
• employers considered that over 60% of the 16 year olds that they had recruited direct from school were poorly prepared for work, compared to 45% of college leavers and just 13% of graduates
• 26% of employers had current vacancies; of those 72% were considered ‘hard to fill’ as a result of a lack of candidates in general, and/or a shortage of candidates with the right skills or attitudes
• employers cited customer handling, problem solving, written communications, various technical skills and IT skills as the most significant skills lacking in their existing workforce
• 68% of respondents had undertaken training in the last 12 months, although only 41% had used a local provider; 64% cited a lack of local courses as a barrier
• looking forward, employers highlighted IT skills; leadership and management; operational supervision and customer handling as the focus for training in the future, although 40% of respondents were not planning to undertake any training in the year ahead, largely because of cost or difficulties in making a business case.
22
DRAFT
2. Labour Supply
Population
• In 2008 Bradford’s population stood at 501,700 (ONS midyear population estimates). Bradford’s population fluctuated in the 1980s and 1990s but increased rapidly from 2003 to 2008 at a rate (1% p.a.) higher than the regional (0.7%) or England (0.6%) averages. This is largely a result of natural change – births have exceeded deaths every year since 1991 – and more recent in-migration to Bradford.
• Bradford’s working age population was estimated to be 308,500 in 2008, or 61.5% of the total population; Leeds, York and Wakefield all have a greater proportion of residents of working age although Bradford’s working age population is forecast to increase significantly over the next decade.
• Bradford has the most diverse population in Yorkshire and the Humber. In 2007, ONS estimated that 71% of the resident population were ‘White British’ compared to 88% for the region as a whole. 21% of Bradford’s population was Asian or Asian British in 2007, over three quarters of whom were of Pakistani origin. The Pakistani community makes up over half the population of wards including Toller, University, Little Horton and Bradford Moor.
Population of Bradford (1986-2009)
430000
440000
450000
460000
470000
480000
490000
500000
510000
520000
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Source: ONS
Occupational Structure
• Analysis of Bradford’s occupational structure shows that the district has a significant under-representation of higher skilled managers, professional and associate professional occupations compared to the regional and England average, but a higher proportion of skilled trades occupations – only Hull has a higher percentage of skilled trades occupations in Yorkshire and the Humber. Semi-skilled and unskilled process/plant and elementary occupations are also over-represented in Bradford compared to the regional and England average.
Employment by Occupation (Oct 08-Sep 09)
Bradford No.
Bradford %
Y & H % England %
Soc 2000 major group 1-3 81,000 37.2 39.8 44.4
1 Manager and Senior Officials 30,000 13.8 14.5 16.1
2 Professional Occupations 22,500 10.3 11.6 13.5
3 Associate Professional & Tech. 28,500 13.1 13.7 14.8
Soc 2000 major group 4-5 51,700 23.7 21.9 21.6
4 Administrative and Secretarial 22,000 10.1 11.2 11.3
5 Skilled Trades 29,700 13.6 10.7 10.3
Soc 2000 major group 6-7 38,500 17.6 17.0 15.7
6 Personal Service Occupations 22,100 10.1 9.2 8.4
7 Sales and customer service occs
16,400 7.5 7.8 7.3
Soc 2000 major group 8-9 45,900 21.0 20.8 17.9
8 Process, Plant & Machine Operatives
19,000 8.7 8.2 6.7
9 Elementary Occupations 26,900 12.3 12.6 11.2
Source: Annual Population Survey, Oct 08-Sep 09, Nomis
23
DRAFT
Educational Attainment
• The skills and qualifications achieved by adults are strongly related to the educational attainment of young people. In 2009, 41.6% of Bradford pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades A-C including English and Maths, compared to 49.8% for England as a whole. Whilst the gap with the national average has narrowed since 2006, in the Leeds City Region only Barnsley has a lower level of Key Stage 4 attainment than Bradford.
Adult Skills Attainment
• The table opposite shows that the lack of basic skills in the adult workforce remains a significant challenge. 55,000 Bradford residents of working age have no qualifications and whilst the proportion fell from 22.6% in 2002 to 17.9% in 2008 the gap in performance with the regional average widened over this period.
• With Barnsley, Bradford has the highest percentage of its working age population with no qualifications in the City Region. The ‘qualifications gap’ is widest for those residents aged 25-49, where 16.9% have no qualifications compared to the Great Britain average of 9.8%.
• The rate of improvement in adult skills attainment for England has increased more rapidly than that of Bradford since 1999, and thus the attainment gap has widened over this period. To achieve parity with the England average for adult skills attainment an additional 23,750 residents would require to achieve a Level 1 qualification. A further 23,500 residents would require to achieve a qualification at Level 2 and Level 3 and 22,500 at Level 4.
Adult Skills Attainment Dec 2009
% with NVQ Level 4+
% with NVQ Level 3+
% with NVQ Level 2+
% with NVQ Level 1+
Bradford 22.3 41.7 57.4 72.9
Yorkshire & Humber 26.6 47.0 63.5 78.6
England 29.8 49.3 65.3 78.7
Source: Annual Population Survey Jan 09 – Dec 09, Nomis
24
DRAFT
3. An Assessment of Worklessness in Bradford
Working Age307,600
In Employment208,900 10,500
Workless98,700 10,500
Economically Active229,200 5,800
Economically Inactive78,400 5,800
Self
-Em
ploy
ed
Empl
oyee
Wan
t a
Job
Don
’t W
ant
a Jo
b
Unem
ploy
ed
30,100200
176,60011,300
20,3004,800
20,7004,600
57,7002,200
Bradford Labour Supply (change September 08 to September 09)
ESA/IB Claimants
24,810
Other benefits
1,840
JSA Claimants
15,490Source: Annual Population Survey (Oct2008-Sept 2009), DWP Key Out of Work Benefits (Aug 2009)
Lone Parents
7,340
Summary• Levels of employment in Bradford remain below regional and national levels. Increases in employment in recent years
can be accounted for by the rise in numbers of self-employed, and to an increase in part-time work.
• At the same time, claimants of out of work benefits have been increasing.
• In September 2009, there were over 98,000 workless people in Bradford, up by 10,500 since September 2008.
• At 32.1%, Bradford’s worklessness rate is above both the regional average of 28.8% and a national average of 27.2%.
• In Bradford there are significantly more women out of work than men. Conversely, men are more likely than women to be claiming an unemployment benefit.
• Worklessness rates vary by age but are higher within the younger population, with 42% of 16 to 24 year olds out of work.
• Disability or illness is a significant reason for worklessness. Almost 25,000 people in Bradford are on sickness related benefits.
• Worklessness is much higher amongst ethnic minority groups in Bradford. The worklessness rate for white resident is 24.8% compared to 53.7% for ethnic minority residents.
• Low skills are a major barrier to employment. In Bradford almost 38% of the workless population have no qualifications - significantly higher than the regional (28%) and national (25%) averages.
• Levels of worklessness vary markedly across the district, with higher concentrations found in the most deprived areas, particularly in inner urban areas and outer lying estates.
Defining Worklessness• The working age population can be divided into those who
are in employment, and those who are not in work.
• People in employment are either employees working for an employer or self-employed.
• People not in work (workless) are either:
• unemployed – defined as actively seeking and able to take up employment; or
• economically inactive – not seeking or not able to take up employment.
• Workless individuals may or may not be claiming unemployment or other out of work benefits such Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
• The chart opposite shows how these components fit together and also indicates the broad trends over the year to September 2009.
Unemployment Rate Trends
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
Sep
-05
Nov
-05
Jan-
06
Mar
-06
May
-06
Jul-0
6
Sep
-06
Nov
-06
Jan-
07
Mar
-07
May
-07
Jul-0
7
Sep
-07
Nov
-07
Jan-
08
Mar
-08
May
-08
Jul-0
8
Sep
-08
Nov
-08
Jan-
09
Mar
-09
May
-09
Jul-0
9
Sep
-09
% o
f eco
nom
ical
ly a
ctiv
e po
p.
Bradford
Yorkshire & Humber
UK
Source: Annual Population Survey, Nomis Unemployment
• There are now over 20,000 unemployed people in Bradford, including around 15,500 claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance. This equates to an unemployment rate of around 9% as of September 2009.
• Although the unemployment rate increased rapidly during the recession, unemployment had actually been increasing since 2005.
25
DRAFT
Economic Inactivity, Worklessness and Benefit Claimants - Total
Economic Inactivity• Those who are economically
inactive are either not wanting or not able to take up employment. Reasons for economic inactivity vary, but include health issues, the need or desire to bring up a family, or being a full time student. Only around a fifth of this group would actually like a job.
• Economic inactivity rates amongst Asian women in Bradford are particularly high. This could be because of a cultural factors or language barriers. Many of those who are economically inactive are not claiming benefits.
• In Bradford there are over 78,000 economically inactive people, a rate of 25.5% of the working age population, and higher than the regional (22.2%) or national (21.3%) averages.
Worklessness• The current workless population of Bradford totals 98,700, including 78,400
who are economically inactive and 20,300 who are economically active but unemployed.
• At 32.1%, Bradford’s workless population is the second highest in the Leeds City Region, behind only Barnsley, and is also well above the regional and national averages.
• Worklessness had been falling in Bradford since December 2007, but rose sharply again during the quarter to Sept 2009.
Jobseeker’s Allowance• In June 2010, there were 14,572 claimants of JSA in
Bradford, or 5.2% of the working age population. This is higher than both the regional (4.4%) and national (3.8%) averages.
• Following the onset of recession, claimant unemployment increased rapidly and remains high, although it appears to have peaked in Feb 2010 and has fallen every month since then.
Worklessness Rate for Leeds City Region
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
Ba
rns
ley
Bra
dfo
rd
Cra
ve
n
Yo
rks
hir
e a
nd
Th
e H
um
be
r
Le
ed
s
Kir
kle
es
Gre
at
Bri
tain
Wa
ke
fie
ld
Ca
lde
rda
le
Se
lby
Yo
rk
Ha
rro
ga
te
% o
f w
ork
ing
ag
e p
op
ula
tio
n
Source: Annual Population Survey, Oct 2008 - Sept 2009
JSA Claimant Rate Trends
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5.0
5.2
5.4
5.6
Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-10 Jun-10
% o
f wor
king
age
pop
ulat
ion
Bradford
UK
Yorkshire & Humber
Source: Jobcentre Plus data, NomisKey Out of Work Benefit Claimant Trends
8.0
9.0
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
16.0
17.0
Feb-
05
May
-05
Aug
-05
Nov
-05
Feb-
06
May
-06
Aug
-06
Nov
-06
Feb-
07
May
-07
Aug
-07
Nov
-07
Feb-
08
May
-08
Aug
-08
Nov
-08
Feb-
09
May
-09
Aug
-09
Nov
-09
% o
f wor
king
age
pop
ulat
ion
Bradford
Great Britain
Yorkshire and Humber
Source: DWP, Nomis
Out of Work Benefits• Out of work benefits include JSA, sickness benefits and
lone parent benefits.
• The were 48,840 out of work benefit claimants in Bradford as of Nov 2009. The benefit claimant rate was 15.8%, above the regional (14.2%) and national (13.4%) averages.
• The numbers of out of work benefits increased sharply by nearly 7,000 between Nov 07 and Aug 09, before falling back slightly in the quarter to Nov 09.
26
DRAFT
Characteristics of the Workless Population – Gender and Age
Gender
• There are 36,000 workless males and 54,800 workless females in Bradford.
• Females make up 60% of the total workless. Over 37% of women in Bradford are out of work compared to 22% of men.
• The workless rate for females in Bradford is significantly higher than the regional and national rates. For males, however, workless rates are below regional and national averages.
• Workless females are most likely to be economically inactive rather than actively seeking work, with the majority stating they do not want a job. Of those who want a job but are not looking for work, a significant number look after family or home.
• Males are more likely than females to be actively seeking work or state that they want a job.
• In terms of claiming benefits, men are more likely than women to be claiming Jobseekers Allowance.
• Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit are the largest group of claimants for both men and women. 14,460 men (or 9% of working age males) and 10,210 women (7%) are on ESA/IB.
Age
• Worklessness rates vary by age. The highest rates of worklessness are seen within the younger population, with 28,300 or 46.3% of 16 to 24 year olds out of work. However, this figure is lower than the regional (46.4%) and national averages (46.5%).
• 25,400, or 34.3% of people in Bradford aged 50 to retirement age are workless. This is higher than the regional (31.4%) and national averages (29.0%).
• Overall, 50.5% of out of work benefit claimants fall into the ESA/IB client group. However, this increases to 77% for those aged 55 and above. Only 18% of the 16-24 age group claim ESA/IB. Within this younger age group, 51% claim JSA and a further 24% claim a Lone Parent benefit.
• Youth claimants of JSA and other out of work benefits have increased significantly more than other age groups since the start of the recession. In November 2009 there were 8,380 16-24 year olds claiming an out of work benefit, an increase of 16% on the previous year, compared to a 9% increase overall for all ages. While this was lower than the regional and national increases, youth unemployment remains a growing concern both locally and nationally.
Gender Profile
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Employed
Total Workless
EconomicallyInactive
Unemployed
Males Females
Source: Annual Population Survey, Oct 08 - Sep 09
Age Profile
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Employed
Total Workless
EconomicallyInactive
Unemployed
16-24 25-49 50-59/64
Source: Annual Population Survey, Oct 08 - Sept 09
27
DRAFT
Ethnicity
• There are 41,900 workless people from ethnic minorities in Bradford. Although around 23% of the working age population in Bradford is ethnic minority, these groups make up 43% of the total workless population.
• The worklessness rate for white residents is 24.8% compared to 53.7% for ethnic minority groups.
• Worklessness among the white population in Bradford is below regional and national averages. For the ethnic minority population overall, the worklessness rate exceeds regional and national levels.
• The highest worklessness rates are seen within the Pakistani/Bangladeshi population, with more than 57% out of work.
• Although detailed data is not available from ONS, it is probable that women comprise at least 64% of Bradford’s ethnic minority workless population. Research done by the JRF suggests that Pakistani and Bangladeshi women in particular face specific barriers to accessing work including ‘factors such as religion, traditional gender roles, childcare and caring for older partners or relatives’; these effects were exacerbated by lower than average levels of educational attainment and residing in deprived areas with few employment opportunities.
Ethnicity Profile
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Employed
Total Workless
EconomicallyInactive
Unemployed
White Ethnic Minority
Source: Annual Population Survey Oct 08 - Sept 09, Nomis
Characteristics of the Workless Population – Ethnicity and Disability
• Despite these barriers, research from JRF’s Bradford programme, indicates many Muslim women have high aspirations for themselves:
“all the women (interviewed as part of the research) had aspirations for themselves and their families, with many expressing an interest in opening up their own business….it did not matter what background they were from or what level of education they had.”
Disability Profile
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Employed
Total Workless
EconomicallyInactive
Unemployed
Not Disabled Disabled
Source: Annual Population Survey Oct 08 - Sept 09, Nomis
28
Disability• There are around 66,700 working age people in Bradford who
have classified themselves as disabled. This is 21% of the working age population, slightly above regional and national levels.
• Disability or illness is a significant reason for worklessness. Around 36% of the workless population in Bradford are classed as disabled. For men, the situation is worse, with 44% of men out of work being disabled. Among workless females, 31% are disabled.
• Those with a disability are less likely to be in work. Nearly half of all disabled people in Bradford are out of work, although this is slightly lower than the regional and national levels.
• In November 2009 there were 24,670 working age residents claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or Incapacity Benefit (IB). These residents have been assessed as having limited capability for work due to a mental or physical condition.
• IB/SDA data can be analysed by condition (this data is not available for ESA claimants yet). 44% of IB/SDA claimants have a mental or behavioural disorder which is affecting their ability to work. Another 17% have a disease of the musculoskeletal system.
• Mental health is the most significant reason for claiming among 16-24 year olds – with 60% of young claimants suffering from mental health conditions.
• ‘Working for a healthier tomorrow’ – Dame Carol Black’s review of
the health of Britain’s working population – highlighted some of the specific barriers and challenges associated with health, disability and worklessness, noting: “tackling stigma around ill-health and disability will be key to enabling more people with health conditions find work and stay in work. This is particularly true for those with mental ill-health.”
• The Carol Black Review further notes that a lack of appropriate information and advice is a significant barrier for employers in employing or retaining workers with health issues, although more direct discrimination can also be a factor. The Review also suggests that GP’s feel ill-equipped to offer advice to their patients on remaining in or returning to work, arguing that many employment support programmes fail to identify existing or emerging health conditions at an early stage and highlights the need to integrate specialist mental health provision into the Government’s employment support programmes.
DRAFT
Characteristics of the Workless Population – Qualifications & Occupation
Qualifications• People with low or no qualification levels
are more severely affected by worklessness. In Bradford 34,600 (63%) of people without any qualification are out of work. This compares to 57% regionally and 53% nationally.
• Nearly 38% of the workless population in Bradford have no qualifications, compared to just 9% of those in employment. This is significantly higher than the regional (28%) and national (25%) averages because Bradford has a higher proportion of people without qualifications overall.
• In Bradford, those with higher level qualifications (NVQ 4 and above) are less likely to be workless than the regional or national average.
Occupation• Worklessness data split by occupation is not
available from the Annual Population Survey. JSA Claimants, which form part of the unemployed group within worklessness, can be analysed by previous occupation. The above chart shows the number of JSA claimants by gender and usual occupation in Bradford District.
• As at June 2010 there were 14,572 people claiming JSA of which 10,634 (73%) were men and 3,938 (27%) were women.
• It can be seen that the usual occupations of the majority of claimants are those which would be classed as low skilled. 36% of claimants were previously employed in elementary occupations, with the majority of these being men.
Qualifications Profile
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Employed
Total Workless
EconomicallyInactive
No quals Other qualsNVQ 1 only NVQ 2 onlyTrade Apprenticeships NVQ 3 onlyNVQ 4+
Source: Annual Population Survey Jan 08 - Dec 08, Nomis
JSA Claimants by Usual Occupation
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
Occ
upat
ion
unkn
own
Man
ager
s an
dSe
nior
Offi
cial
s
Prof
essi
onal
Occ
upat
ions
Ass
ocia
tePr
ofes
sion
alan
d Te
chni
cal
Occ
upat
ions
Adm
inis
trat
ive
and
Secr
etar
ial
Occ
upat
ions
Skill
ed T
rade
sO
ccup
atio
ns
Pers
onal
Serv
ice
Occ
upat
ions
Sale
s an
dC
usto
mer
Serv
ice
occu
patio
nsPr
oces
s, P
lant
and
Mac
hine
Ope
rativ
es
Elem
enta
ryO
ccup
atio
ns
Num
ber o
f cla
iman
ts
Male
Female
Source: Jobcentre Plus data, Nomis
29
DRAFT
Geographical Analysis of Bradford’s Workless Population
• The geography of worklessness in Bradford highlights the strong correlation between worklessness and other forms of deprivation. Bradford ranked 32nd out of 354 local authorities in the Index of Deprivation 2007, placing the area within the most deprived 10% of local authorities nationally. 206,000 people – or 42% of Bradford’s population – live in wards ranked in the worst 20% for deprivation in England, and 20,000 live in the worst 1% of wards. In 2004, Bradford had 30.3% of its Super Output Areas in the bottom IMD 10% deprived nationally, and by 2007 this had declined marginally to 29.3%.
• Mapping of out of work benefits claimant data (below) shows that levels of worklessness vary markedly across the district, with high concentrations found in the most deprived areas, particularly in Keighley and central wards such as Bowling & Barkerend and Little Horton, as well as some outlying estates such as Ravenscliffe, Holmewood, Buttershaw and Allerton.
• Worklessness is strongly linked to poor health or disability – as explored in the preceding paragraphs – but also to out-migration and the ‘sorting effect’ of the housing market. Economically active residents often move out of deprived communities, leaving a residual population who are often more likely to be workless and in some cases, older. In 2001, Tong (53%), Little Horton (46.5%) and Bradford Moor (35.8%) all had levels of social and private rented housing that were well above the Bradford average of 28.2%.
• At the same time, areas of low-cost housing can be attractive to a more transient, workless population who may in turn move elsewhere if their circumstances improve.
• Typically, worklessness in Bradford is concentrated in those areas with a high proportion of ethnic minority residents. Of those wards with the highest proportion of residents in receipt of working age benefits, in 2001 Little Horton (43.6%); Bradford Moor (40.5%) and Bowling and Barkerend (33.8%) all had a proportion of Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi residents well above the average for Bradford average (18.3%). This is not always the case however. Just 2.7% of Tong residents were from one of these ethnic minority groups in 2001 yet in 2009 just over 29% of residents were economically inactive.
30
DRAFT
4. Future Growth
Regional Economic Forecasts
• Yorkshire Forward has developed the Regional Econometric Model (REM) to generate future forecasts of employment and output growth. The baseline forecast reflects the loss of almost 10,500 jobs in Bradford between 2007 and 2010 but forecasts an increase of just over 22,000 jobs from 2010-2026. The forecast net increase in employment over this period is 11,500 jobs – which, when compared with the slight contraction in employment in Bradford between 1998-2008, would represent a notable step change in its performance.
• The latest (Spring 2010) baseline forecasts assume further, significant contraction of Bradford’s manufacturing sector with over 8,000 jobs lost over the period to 2026.
• Whereas public sector employment in public administration and defence (-2,400 jobs) and education (-1,146 jobs) is also forecast to decline, the forecasts assume an increase in health employment of over 5,800 jobs over the period from 2007-2026. These forecasts pre-dated the most recent budget which saw the Government propose a reduction in public expenditure of some £113bn over the next five years; it has been estimated by the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development that this could result in the loss of up to 725,000 public sector jobs over the next five years; the Office for Budget Responsibility suggests that this figure may be nearer to 600,000. What is clear is that, following a decade of substantial growth, large scale public sector job losses seem inevitable in Bradford.
• In the private sector, three sectors of the Bradford economy are forecast to demonstrate significant growth – retail (+6,500 jobs between 2007 and 2026); business services (+4,500); and ‘other’ services (+2,400).
• These sectors are likely to create demand for skills across the spectrum of skills levels. Growth of the retail sector is likely to generate entry and intermediate level employment opportunities for local residents, whereas business services will require people with a mix of Level 3 and primarily Level 4 skills.
• The UKCES publishes a series of projections of future demand for labour as part of its ‘Working Futures’ research programme. Working Futures considers both changes in ‘net employment’ or new jobs created (considered in the preceding paragraphs) but also ‘replacement demand’ – changes resulting from retirements and other reasons for leaving the labour market. The most recent research covers the period from 2007-2017 and was published in December 2008.
• UKCES forecast a significant shift in the occupational structure of the UK economy, with significant increases in managerial (+18%), professional (+16%), associate professional and technical occupations (+15%) and a corresponding decline in skilled trades (-7%), machine/transport operatives (-5%) and elementary occupations (-0.8%) between 2007-2017.
• A degree of caution must of course be exercised in applying standardised, UK-level growth assumptions in a Bradford context. With this caveat, applying the growth assumptions set out in the Working Futures report suggests that the Bradford economy could generate demand for up to 17,300 ‘new jobs’ over the period 2007-2017 – given the pre-recession timing of the Working Futures forecasts, they are understandably more optimistic than those produced more recently by Yorkshire Futures - alongside up to a further 92,700 ‘replacement’ jobs through retirements etc.
• Working Futures also presents detailed sectoral and occupational forecasts of both new employment and replacement demand; these provide a useful proxy for future skills requirements. For the purposes of the Employment and Skills Strategy, we consider the implications of the Working Futures forecasts for the following sectors:
• Publishing, Printing & Reproduction of Recorded Media• Manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified• Retailing• Hotels and restaurants• Construction• Financial services• Business services
31
DRAFT
32
• These sectors are all either significant current employers – including the two largest manufacturing sub-sectors in Bradford accounting for just under 30% of Bradford’s manufacturing jobs in 2007 – or forecast to demonstrate significant employment growth in future; with this important caveat, the table below presents forecasts of net jobs growth and replacement demand over the period to 2017 and an analysis of the associated occupations/skills levels.
2007 Jobs
Change in net employment 2007-2017
Change in replacement demand 2007-2017
Net Change
% of new jobs in SOC 1-3
% of new jobs in SOC 5
Publishing printing 5,120 -422 +1,780 +1,358 66% 12%
Machinery manufacture
3,136 -652 +1,060 +408 54% 11%
Retailing 26,170 +1,782 +9,887 +11,669 40% 5%
Hotels & restaurants 8,909 +945 +3,466 +4,411 36% 6%
Construction 7,142 +571 +2,309 +2,880 33% 44%
Financial services 7,612 +611 +2,840 +3,451 46% 2%
Business services 17,858 +3,922 +6,503 +10,451 61% 3%
• Although Bradford’s key manufacturing sub-sectors are forecast to shrink further over the period to 2017 in terms of overall employment, both will generate a requirement for ‘replacement demand’ through retirements etc, particularly in managerial and professional/associate professional occupations (Standard Occupational Codes 1-3 in the above table).
• Business services and retailing are also expected to generate high levels of replacement demand. However over 60% of forecast jobs in the former – seen by many economists as the key sector driving growth out of the recession – are likely to require higher level skills. The occupational profile in retail, hotels and restaurants and construction is forecast to be more evenly distributed, suggesting that both sectors could create large numbers of low or semi-skilled entry level employment opportunities. In financial services, over 40% of new employment opportunities are forecast to be created in administrative, clerical, sales and customer service occupations.
DRAFT• Although Bradford’s key manufacturing sub-sectors are forecast to shrink further over the period to 2017 in terms of overall employment, both will generate a requirement for ‘replacement demand’ through retirements etc, particularly in managerial and professional/associate professional occupations (Standard Occupational Codes 1-3 in the above table).
• Business services and retailing are also expected to generate high levels of replacement demand. However over 60% of forecast jobs in the former – seen by many economists as the key sector driving growth out of the recession – are likely to require higher level skills. The occupational profile in retail, hotels and restaurants and construction is forecast to be more evenly distributed, suggesting that both sectors could create large numbers of low or semi-skilled entry level employment opportunities. In financial services, over 40% of new employment opportunities are forecast to be created in administrative, clerical, sales and customer service occupations.
Future Skills
• The UKCES’s first National Skills Audit, published in 2010, highlights some important messages on the future skills needs of the UK economy, many of which are also relevant to Bradford. Looking forward, the key areas of employer skills needs include:
• management and leadership skills, and especially corporate managers across a wide range of sectors;
• professional skills in the computing and software sector, in parts of health and social care, in pharmaceutical and medical technology, in manufacturing (i.e. traditional and advanced), especially for STEM skills, and in teaching and research;
• technician and equivalent skills across many sectors, such as health and social care, utilities, chemicals, life sciences and pharmaceuticals, automotive engineering and broadcasting;
• intermediate vocational skills within sectors such as manufacturing, engineering, processing and construction associated with skilled trades as the current ageing workforce retires and emerging opportunities develop in some sectors and to support future demand at technician level;
• the ageing population will lead to increased demand for care services with particularly significant volumes of staff in care assistant roles, that will need greater understanding of ICT to support care users with assisted living technologies;
• customer service and employability skills will be of growing importance to the service sector, including retailing as well as with after-service and maintenance roles in manufacturing and the digital economy;
• demand for some low skilled jobs is expected to persist and these jobs are important as a labour market entry point for many groups; however, many of these jobs will be in need of up-skilling in order to make improvements in service/product quality and to meet changes in consumer demand.
33
Population Growth
• The most recent (2008) Subnational Population Projections forecast that Bradford’s population will increase to just over 640,000 by 2033 – an increase of 139,000 or 28%, considerably in excess of the regional (+21%) and England growth rates(+18%). The working age population is expected to increase from 308,100 in 2008 to 337,100 in 2018 and to 376,600 by 2033. This assumes no change to the pension age however, so it is likely the actual working age population will be larger than currently projected.
• The growth in the number of people of pension age (52%) is forecast is forecast to outstrip both growth in the working age population (22%) and the 0-15 population (26%).
DRAFT
Population Projections for Bradford by Age Group (thousands)
2008 2018 2028 2033 Change % Change
0-4 39.4 44.5 45.6 46.4 7.0 17.8%
5-14 66.8 79.7 86.5 87.5 20.7 31.0%
15-19 34.7 33.0 40.5 41.7 7.0 20.2%
20-24 39.5 38.3 41.2 43.9 4.4 11.1%
25-34 70.8 91.9 87.5 89.6 18.8 26.6%
35-44 69.6 70.3 89.6 88.5 18.9 27.2%
45-59 88.5 97.5 98.1 106.6 18.1 20.5%
60-69 42.2 48.2 56.2 57.0 14.8 35.1%
70-84 40.9 45.6 54.7 59.0 18.1 44.3%
85+ 9.0 11.6 16.1 20.2 11.2 124.4%
ALL AGES 501.4 560.9 616.0 640.4 139.0 27.7%
0-15 113.1 131.1 140.3 142.4 29.3 25.9%
Working Age* 308.1 337.1 363.8 376.6 68.5 22.2%
Pension Age * 80.1 92.6 111.9 121.4 41.3 51.6%
* The cut-off point between working age and pension age remains constant throughout the projection
Source: 2008 Subnational Population Projections, ONS
34
DRAFT
Appendix B: Employment and Skills Provision in Bradford
Introduction
• Section 3 of the Employment and Skills Strategy presents an overview of current employment and skills provision in Bradford and compares provision with the emerging needs/demands of individuals and businesses to identify gaps and/or duplication of activity. There is a wide range of provision for adults seeking support to re-enter the labour market or gain new skills; and for employers seeking to enhance the skills of their workforce or to employ people who have been unemployed or otherwise become detached from the labour market.
• Adult employment and skills support takes the form of a ‘spine’ of mainstream provision – typically national programmes managed or delivered by Jobcentre Plus (e.g. New Deal, Pathways to Work) or funded through the new Skills Funding Agency (e.g. Train to Gain, Apprenticeships). Additional resources have been made available to Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council/SFA to address the impact of the recession. The ‘national spine’ is augmented by local programmes including for example those supported through the Council’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund allocation or personal and community development learning (adult education) programmes. Much of this support complements national programmes by focusing on the needs of individuals in deprived communities or ‘hard to reach’ groups and often with complex, multiple barriers to re-entering and remaining in the labour market.
• Since 2008 there have been significant changes to the national ‘infrastructure’ for employment and skills; the Skills Funding Agency has now replaced the Learning and Skills Council and will have responsibility for provision for adult learners and employers. Responsibility for funding 16-19 learning is to revert to the Young People’s Learning Agency although local authorities will retain a strategic role.
• At the same time, there have been significant reforms to the welfare system including:
• the introduction of a new Employment and Support Allowance, replacing Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance for new claimants and with a stronger focus on creating routes back to employment for those who can work;
• improved access to training for those Jobseekers Allowance claimants who need to improve their skills;
• improved support for young people including the Future Jobs Fund, a £1 billion programme to enable unemployed 18-24 year olds gain access to employment by supporting the creation of new jobs for a period of at least 6 months which provide ‘community benefit’;
• proposals for a more streamlined and integrated employment and skills system, building on the Houghton Review of Worklessness which highlighted its complexity for both individuals and employers and set out the need for more joined-up commissioning;
• the Skills Investment Strategy, published in Autumn 2009, proposed the creation of a ‘single purse’ for programmes for the unemployed.
35
DRAFT
1. Employment Support
Jobcentre Plus Programmes
• Mainstream Jobcentre Plus support for Jobseekers provides the basic platform for employment support in Bradford. There are Jobcentre Plus offices in Bradford, Keighley and Shipley. A number of additional support programmes have been introduced for JSA claimants in response to the recession.
• In addition, at present, there are a number of national employment support programmes targeting particular client groups, including:
• the Newly Unemployed Offer, which provides support including group and one to one job search support, and the six month offer available to those unemployed for between 6-12 months including support from a personal advisor and the availability of recruitment subsidies for employers alongside Train to Gain provision;
• the Young Person’s Guarantee, part of the Backing Young Britain campaign which aims to increase the number of young people in work, apprenticeships or work placements and provides all Jobseekers aged 18-24 who have been unemployed for at least 6 months a guarantee of an offer of a job, training or work experience; the key elements include the opportunity to apply for new jobs created through the Future Jobs Fund; Routes into work (a sector based programme) and work-focused training, both delivered through the LSC; help with self-employment; internships or a place on a Community Task Force; the Graduate’s Guarantee provides a similar package of support for graduates who are unemployed after six months; from April 2010 young people will be required to take up one of the YPG or Six Month offers by the end of the 10-month point of their claim;
• the New Deal programme which has underpinned efforts to reduce long-term unemployment, combining mandatory job search activity and support with training and work experience for jobseekers; this will now be replaced by the new Work Programme;
• the Rapid Response Service which provides redundancy support for employees including job search, skills analysis, job focused training and a flexible action fund to overcome individual barriers to accessing employment;
• Pathways to Work, a programme supporting new Employment and Support Allowance/Incapacity Benefit claimants through a Condition Management Programme and a series of mandatory interviews to provide support for clients to regain their health and return to the labour market;
• the Employability Skills programme which delivers basic skills support for Jobcentre Plus customers; all adult basic skills course must lead to an approved basic skills qualification, participants in training for more than 20 hours per week receive a training allowance alongside benefits;
• Progress2Work, and Progress2Work link up, which provide specialist case worker support for people recovering from drugs misuse including training and housing/benefits advice;
• Jobcentre Plus Support Contract, which offers a range of flexible modules giving help and advice on job search techniques;
• Skills for Work operates on behalf of both the Department for Work and Pensions and the Skills Funding Agency, delivering employment and training support for young people and providing support for employers to connect local people to jobs;
• Disability Employment Advisors, who provide a range of support including the Work Preparation, Work Step and Access to Work programmes;
• the Job Introduction Scheme, which provides grants for employers to help support the employment of people with disabilities.
36
DRAFT
Local Programmes
• Alongside the spine of national programmes, a number of more local employment support initiatives have been developed in Bradford including:
• Future Jobs Fund – Bradford Council led a successful bid for up to £8.1 million to create (with a number of public and voluntary sector partners) up to 1,250 placements over the period to March 2011. Part of this resource addresses employability of participants through wrap-around mentoring and support, to enable progression into positive outcomes;
• FJF resources address the employability of participants through wrap-around mentoring and support, to enable progression into positive outcomes. The Council has developed a clear exit strategy for FJF, establishing three main progression pathways for FJF participants:
• Progression into a full-time job with the Host employer;• Progression into a job with external / 3rd party employer (with signposting or
transition support to Train 2 Gain or Apprenticeship for on-going learning); or • Progression into Further Education for first fully funded level 2 / 3.
37
• To enable progression into any of the above routes (an aspirational progression target of 60% has been set), a range of in-work support has been put into place, including:
• Development of employability skills relevant to job roles and sectors;• Opportunities to learn about other job roles in the same sector; • Where possible (subject to national funding such as Train to Gain) providing
opportunities for employees to gain accredited skills and knowledge;• Progression links to formal accredited learning in appropriate vocational areas;• Provision of information and guidance about opportunities within the chosen job
role/sector;• Information, advice and guidance during the placement to support longer term
planning by the individual;• Accreditation of prior learning, to enable beneficiaries to demonstrate the skills
and knowledge gained during the employment;• FE workshops to promote progression opportunities in vocational skills learning
based on the individuals’ FJF experience;• Information about and access to apprenticeships, where relevant as part of the
progression pathway;• Cluster group information exchange workshops, to enable individuals to exchange
information and experiences with other people benefitting from FJF opportunities in similar posts; and also to introduce individuals to other potential employers within the same cluster, as part of the progression pathway.
• Skills Development Fund – a £4.9 million programme funded through the national Working Neighbourhoods Fund to improve access to training and employment and develop the skills of Bradford residents; there are five main themes:
• Employability programme;• Jobs and Skills Match, a jobs brokerage initiative; • Graduate Transition;• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL);• Employer Engagement
In addition, this resource is enhancing the FJF programme in Bradford, by lifting barriers to participation relating to post-code eligibility and working tax credit eligibility.
• New Start, funded through the European Social Fund (ESF), which aims to provide support to access employment for refugees residing in the UK with permission to work;
• 1st Step Engagement, an ESF funded programme which provides caseworker support for those furthest from the labour market;
• Job Support, an ESF-funded programme to provide additional support for JSA claimants to return to the labour market including sector specific training;
• Think Positive, an ESF-funded programme for JSA claimants with mild to moderate mental health problems or learning difficulties;
DRAFT
• Sector Routeways, an LSC/SFA/European Social Fund co-financing programme providing tailored, sector-specific employment and training support and offering work trails/placements; at least 9 of the Sector Skills Councils have developed Sector Routeways programmes.
• Links 2 Construction, which connects Bradford contractors and suppliers with major construction projects and provides online and other signposting for construction jobs.
• the Employability Programme, funded through Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and providing support for employers to retain those employees who are at risk of losing their job through poor health etc. Part of this resource will support progression and transition planning for FJF participants, enabling employers to retain staff recruited through FJF, or access new staff that have gained relevant experience and skills in the FJF programme.
• the Economic Challenge Investment Fund, which alongside elements described elsewhere facilitates support for companies facing redundancies from the University of Bradford.
38
DRAFT
2. Skills
Information, Advice and Guidance
• Information, advice and guidance for adults remains a key strand of the approach to delivering effective careers and learning advice. Effective IAG increases the likelihood that individuals will enter learning, and that they will achieve a qualification from their study.
• There are currently more than 20 IAG providers across Bradford, including a number of voluntary/community sector providers, alongside the Careers Advice Service telephone service. Specialist programmes exist for offenders and other groups. Bradford University also delivers IAG, career planning and learning support for individuals as part of its HEFCE-funded Economic Challenge Investment Fund programme.
• From August 2010, the new Adult Advancement and Careers Service has been rolled out across England under the brand ‘Next Step’. Addressing the historic inconsistency of IAG provision in some communities, the new service aims to provide a single, coherent mechanism to access support online, via the telephone or face to face.
• The new IAG arrangements will sit alongside the introduction of Skills Accounts which will provide a personalised online record of their qualifications, personal information on public funding entitlements for skills and a record of the funding the Government has invested in an individual’s training.
39
Informal Learning, Basic Skills and ESOL
• The Skills Funding Agency’s Adult Safeguarded Learning (ASL) funding stream includes a range of community based and outreach learning opportunities, primarily taking place through local authorities, including:
• Personal and Community Development Learning (PCDL) which is defined as learning for personal development, cultural enrichment, intellectual or creative stimulation and enjoyment;
• Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy (FLLN) programmes which aim to improve standards of language, literacy and numeracy of both parents/carers and their children;
• Wider Family Learning (WFL) includes courses aimed at parents/carers or the family as a whole, and are often taken as a shared activity between parents/carers and their children;
• Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities (NLDC) is a source of funding that facilitates learning opportunities and support activities for people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
• informal adult and community learning remains a critical activity for re-engaging learners, equipping them with basic skills and generating the confidence and self-esteem to acquire even more economically valuable qualifications. Funding for adult education has fallen over the last decade, particularly for adult learners over the age of 25, and nationally there are 1.5 million fewer adult learners supported through public sector funding than in 2004.
• With more than 50,000 residents without a formal qualification, the lack of core funding for adult education remains a significant and ongoing challenge for Bradford. Improving access to informal learning though measures including developing the role of community learning champions and tackling digital exclusion remain important priorities for the Employment and Skills Strategy.
• Bradford Council’s Community Funding Unit has commissioned a number of community and voluntary sector providers to deliver a range of both informal adult and community learning programmes as well as more formal IAG, ESOL and Skills for Life activity. Some of the providers commissioned through the CFU include:
• Education Advice Service for Adults – which delivers IAG and other services;
• Forster Community College, which delivers ESOL and a range of basic skills courses;
• Mind the Gap studios which delivers a range of theatre skills programmes and related activity.
DRAFT
• Basic skills provision is funded through the Skills for Life programme. Bradford College, Shipley College and the Keighley campus of Leeds City College play a key role in delivering literacy, numeracy and other life skills, alongside Bowling Community College and the Family Learning programme delivered by Education Bradford. Learning is available in a wide range of community venues.
• Almost 30% of LSC-funded FE enrolments were for Skills for Life learners in 2008/9, and 25% of Train to Gain provision. The Government is introducing new Functional Skills qualifications which may ultimately replace the Skills for Life curriculum and is seeking an increase in take up of Skills for Life numeracy activity in 2010/11.
• The responsibility for commissioning Foundation Learning programmes for 14-19 year olds will fall to the local authority. Learners follow tailored programmes designed to support progression towards a Level 2 qualification at the learner’s own pace and can undertake ‘bite-sized modules’ towards a qualification. All areas should be delivering some Foundation Learning provision by 2010 as part of the shift in responsibilities.
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is an important element of provision. Bradford is one of 31 ‘Pathfinder’ authorities charged with taking forward a new, more localised approach to delivering ESOL. Over 4,350 Bradford residents engaged in some form of ESOL provision in 2007/8. 69% of learners were female and 60% of Pakistani origin.
• A range of attitudinal, cultural and information barriers prevent some groups from accessing appropriate support. Some employers remain unwilling to engage in ESOL programmes; there is a shortfall in ESOL teachers (particularly those with foreign language skills) and mainstream LSC/SFA funded programmes are often focused on more intensive support towards entering work, which may not be appropriate for all ESOL clients. Residency criteria limit provision for some groups, particularly new arrivals, who need most support.
40
Adult Learner Funded Provision
• Bradford College is the largest provider of adult learner funded provision in Bradford and has more than 6,000 adult learners. It has three Centres of Vocational Excellence (COVE) in applied sciences, beauty and complementary therapies and gas technology. The College has more than 6,000 adult learners. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, which ranked the College as ‘good’ for the effectiveness of its provision and ‘outstanding’ on the basis of its capacity to improve, highlighted Bradford’s outstanding provision of science but highlighted scope for improvement in success rates for adult learners at both Level 2 and Level 3.
• Shipley College has over 5,000 adult learners and has achieved COVE status for the care sector. The former Keighley College is now part of the Leeds City College following a merger with three other colleges, a new Keighley Campus will open for the 2010/2011 academic year. All three Colleges have a high proportion of BME students.
• There were over 13,500 LSC-funded learner enrolments in Bradford in 2008/9. All three Colleges deliver a wide range of adult learner provision geared towards a qualification at NVQ Levels 2, 3 and 4. Across the Leeds City Region as a whole, courses in health, public services and care (17% of LSC funded enrolments), ICT (11%) and arts, media and publishing (7%) attracted the most learners.
• Changes in national funding priorities for adult learning are creating significant challenges for FE Colleges. ‘Adult learner responsive’ funding is to be reduced by 3% for 2010/11 and this could result in a reduction in adult learner budgets of up to 25% for some Colleges.
DRAFT
Train to Gain
• All three Colleges and a number of other providers across Bradford deliver Train to Gain, the national skills support programme for employers. Approximately 12,000 learners received Train to Gain support in 2008/9; across the City Region as a whole Skills for Life provision accounted for 24% of provision with a further 17% of learners undertaking courses in business, administration and law and 12% in retail and commercial enterprise.
• The majority of Train to Gain provision (almost 80%) is at NVQ Levels 1 and 2. Whilst employer take-up has increased, the programme became over-subscribed at national level and a reduction in activity in 2009/10. For 2010/11, the programme will shift away from the assessment/accreditation of existing skills but will continue to fund first Level 2 and 3 qualifications for those aged 19-25 or as part of wider response to redundancy programmes.
• The Train to Gain Enhancement Fund is a £50 million programme to provide additional, flexible support to employers in Yorkshire and the Humber over and above mainstream Train to Gain support. The programme is delivered via the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges and has recently been extended to 2012.
• To date there have been thirteen rounds of commissioned activity providing sector-specific training programmes across a range of different activities. A range of bespoke and non-accredited training can be supported (via the commissioned programme) as well as training leading to an accredited qualification from NVQ Levels 1 to 5.
41
Apprenticeships
• There were just over 2,300 Bradford residents undertaking an Apprenticeship in 2008/9. Across the Leeds City Region as a whole, the top five areas of activity were;
• Customer Service;• Health and Social Care;• Hospitality;• Early years Childcare;• Business Administration.
• Together, these activities accounted for just under 50% of Apprenticeship starts. For 2010/11, the Government is seeking to double the number of Advanced Apprenticeship starts and to create an Apprenticeship Scholarship fund.
Higher Level Skills
• Bradford University has around 10,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and in recent years more than two-thirds of the annual intake has been from West Yorkshire. The University was ranked 62nd in the UK by The Times following the most recent Research Assessment Exercise in 2008. 10% of its research was ranked 4* and a further 32% was awarded a 3* assessment. Social work and social policy, politics, civil engineering and pharmacy produced the best results. Politics includes the university’s best-known offering of peace studies, which has acquired an international reputation.
• Recent attempts to raise Bradford’s research profile have included the establishment of a £6-million Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation opened in 2003 and an Institute of Cancer Therapeutics in 2005. In recent years new ICT and media studies courses have been launched alongside those in e-commerce, computer animation and video games design.
• The University also delivers a range of accredited and open learning programmes in Executive Education via the School of Management. The SME Knowledge Network – also supported by HEFCE’s ECIF programme – provides access to learning, coaching and professional development for small and medium-sized enterprises. ‘Think Business’ delivers entrepreneurship advice and support to graduates.
• Bradford College is also an important provider of Higher Education in Bradford and offers a range of foundation degrees, diplomas and degrees in subjects including fashion design; accountancy and business administration; construction management; electrical and electronic engineering; metallurgy and materials and in various health and social care disciplines.
DRAFT
3. Gap Analysis
• Substantial public sector investment continues to be made is being made in both mainstream and local employment support programmes. Looking forward, as public sector expenditure tightens, it seems highly unlikely that current spending levels will be sustained.
• In 2007 Bradford Council undertook a scrutiny review of worklessness. At that time, the review highlighted a number of priority groups with needs which were not being wholly met by mainstream employment and skills provision; these included:
• White/working class males;• Asian women• People in rural areas;• Those facing multiple disadvantage.
42
• The Council utilised Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and Single Programme resources to commission additional support to ‘wrap around’ the spine of mainstream employment and skills support delivered via Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council. Further provision to engage with hard to reach groups, provide active job brokerage activity and strengthen ESOL and IAG capacity has subsequently been commissioned by the Council through its Working Neighbourhoods Fund programme. In addition, Jobcentre Plus has extended the range of employment support available as part of efforts to combat the recession, with a particular focus on those facing redundancy and unemployed 18-24 year olds through the Young Persons/Graduate’s guarantee.
• Although some gaps in provision remain, there is a diverse range of support available for both individuals and employers. Some continue to find accessing the system particularly complex, with some programmes (often delivered by different contractors) targeting the same clients.
• The establishment of the Employment and Skills Board and Employment and Skills Partnership has begun to improve the integration and coordination of support available in Bradford. Perhaps more importantly, the new coalition Government has identified reform of the welfare to work system as one of its most important priorities and this could result in a more simplified employment and skills system. All existing programmes will be replaced with a single welfare to work programme, and service providers will have their contracts realigned to reflect results more closely.
• Some of the gaps identified by the Council in 2007 remain valid, although there are also other areas of provision where more, or more targeted support is required. Drawing together the findings of the worklessness assessment and the mapping exercise, the following client groups or areas of employment/skills provision can be identified as priorities:
• economically inactive residents from ethnic minority, particularly Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds; a disproportionate number of women from ethnic minorities are economically inactive and many are not in receipt of working age benefits; whilst a number of WNF supported projects seek to target ‘hard to reach’ ethnic minority clients the evidence suggests that a more intensive and targeted approach is required, engaging in the community on an outreach basis utilising relevant community/voluntary sector organisations;
• linked to this, those Bradford residents requiring ESOL support, particularly new arrivals without any English language skills; the Council’s recently adopted ESOL strategy highlights the need for more ESOL provision, more bilingual ESOL teachers and a more flexible approach to progression where entry or re-entry to the labour market may be a longer-term objective;
• long-term Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance claimants who do have limited engagement with Jobcentre Plus; whilst the new Employment Support Allowance regime, Pathways to Work and some of the other support programme for people with disabilities are beginning to impact on the number of new claimants entering the system, the number of ‘stock’ IB/SDA claimants has remained static for several years and there is a need for more active engagement with these groups, again using community/voluntary sector support on an outreach basis where this can add value;
DRAFT
43
• people with mental health issues – who make up an increasing proportion of IB/SDA/ESA claimants – but who may require long-term, holistic and intensive support which is not available through current programmes like Pathways to Work;
• a more consistent and ‘joined up’ approach to adult Information, Advice and Guidance; the new Adult Advancement and Careers Service will play an important role in unifying approaches and delivery standards although this model could also lead to more limited access to IAG in community and other settings where there are opportunities to engage with hard to reach clients;
• people who have recently been made redundant and may not be eligible to claim Jobseekers Allowance, or to engage with more intensive support available through Jobcentre Plus (for example the Young Persons Guarantee or Flexible New Deal) which tend to have a 6 or 12 month lead-in, it is understood that the new Government’s proposals for a single welfare to work programme will enable those with significant barriers to work will be referred to the new scheme immediately, rather than after 12 months, and those under 25 to be referred after six months;
• there are too many adults with no qualifications who have disengaged from learning; informal adult and community learning can be an effective means of re-engaging adults with low skills or no qualifications on a pathway to more structured learning and ultimately employment; it remains significantly under-resourced and moving forward the Council has a key role in ensuring the alignment of existing adult learning resources to achieve these goals;
• employers lack effective influence over 14-19 provision with the result that too many young people leave school or College without the effective ‘employability’ skills and attitudes that employers are seeking; the ESB has the opportunity to strengthen links with the Council in its 14-19 planning role, to influence the design of diplomas and other educational provision and to create more effective work placement opportunities;
• too much Level 2 provision is focused on the accreditation of existing skills rather than genuinely upskilling the workforce; this should be a focus for the evolving, devolved approach to skills being pursued by the Leeds City Region partners;
• Apprenticeships; too few Bradford employers are willing or able to take on Apprentices and this impacts on the learning/employment opportunities available to young people; in addition there is insufficient provision focused on those sectors of the Bradford economy which are likely to grow in the future;
• there is a lack of progression opportunities between Level 2 and intermediate/higher level skills programmes (see above) and between further and higher education.
• Looking forward, the increasingly challenging climate for public sector expenditure over at least the next five years – the lifespan of this ESS – suggests that a number of areas of important employment and skills activity are at risk. Whilst funding for informal adult and community learning has been declining for a number of years, FE Colleges are now likely to face sustained cuts in their adult learner responsive budgets and this reinforces the need to ensure that, moving forward, provision is strongly focused on the skills needs of the Bradford. The Higher Education sector faces a similar challenge with further reductions in funding for undergraduate courses.
• The new Government is promising a significant review of current welfare to work programmes with the aim of reducing duplication and simplifying access to provision for both individuals and employers. As the welfare budget remains one of the Government’s largest areas of expenditure, further cuts seem likely.
• In addition local, discretionary budgets are also at risk. The future of the Working Neighbourhoods Fund remains uncertain post 2011 and Local Enterprise Growth Initiative funding for Bradford Kickstart is also to cease in 2011. These could impact on engaging those ‘hardest to reach’ clients who require extensive support before they are ready to access mainstream employment support programmes.
DRAFT
Appendix C: Delivery Priorities
• Section 2 and Appendix A indicate that although Bradford has some important economic assets upon which it can build, much of the jobs growth over the last decade has been driven by the public sector. The coalition Government has signalled its intention to reduce the current deficit in public sector borrowing by achieving cuts in public spending of up to £60 billion per annum by 2015. As a consequence, significant cuts in public sector employment are expected.
• Although there has been growth in business and professional services firms, the systematic decline of the manufacturing sector has meant that, overall, Bradford shed over 7,700 private sector jobs in the ten years from 1998. At present, Bradford has a large jobs gap – over 16,000 additional jobs would need to be created to match GB employment rates – and unemployment is expected to rise further in 2010/11.
• As we highlight in section 2, it may take most of the coming decade for Bradford to return to pre-2008 levels of employment. Whilst significant ‘replacement demand’ can be expected in some sectors with an ageing workforce, it is clear that low employment growth is the most fundamental challenge facing Bradford’s labour market. Unless we overturn the contraction of the private sector in Bradford, we will not create enough job opportunities to attract and retain those young people entering the labour market over the next decade.
• Thus we must place unlocking the potential of the private sector to create jobs and wealth at the very heart of the Employment and Skills Strategy – although it is important to note that this document is not the overarching ‘economic strategy’ for Bradford. Moving forward, the Council and other public sector agencies will increasingly play an enabling role –ensuring that the right conditions for private sector growth (business infrastructure, skilled labour, housing choice, quality of place) are all in place in Bradford.
44
Objective 1: Unlocking enterprise and employment growth in the private sector
Business Infrastructure and Support
• Invest in Bradford and Bradford Kickstart already play a key role in supporting the growth of existing small and medium-sized enterprises and new businesses and in promoting Bradford to inward investors from beyond the district. Moving forward, this local ‘enabling role’ will be even more critical in future, as the coalition Government considers the future of Yorkshire Forward, Business Link and other regional agencies. Priorities for action will include:
• reviewing the long-term support for encouraging enterprise and start up businesses in light of potential changes to the regional business support regime and the cessation of LEGI funding from April 2011;
• keeping under regular review the priority sectors supported by Invest in Bradford (currently professional and financial services, creative and digital industries, food and drink, healthcare technologies and advanced engineering and metals);
• reviewing access to business finance (for both start up and SME expansion) in light of the tightening of commercial lending and credit lines during the recession; working in partnership with the private sector, the Council will explore the potential to increase access to lending, drawing on experience from ‘Banking on Essex’ and other models;
• the Council and its partners will seek to sustain investment in enhancing the district’s quality of place to reinforce its attractiveness as a business location; priorities will include completion of the City Park and further enhancement of the City Centre alongside continued investment in improving quality and choice in Bradford’s housing offer;
• ensuring that support for businesses remains simple, cost effective and fit for purpose.
DRAFT
45
Driving Innovation and Higher Level Skills
• Innovation is, and will continue to be a key driver of the Bradford economy in the future. Many Bradford firms are developing innovative new products and business processes:
• advanced engineering and manufacturing firms like BorgWarner and Denso Marston are playing a key role in developing new products in the automotive sector;
• firms like Pace Plc and Echostar are developing new digital television and communications technologies and the Advanced Digital Institute is supporting a range of new innovations spanning digital media and healthcare;
• pharmaceuticals and biotechnology firms with a strong presence in Bradford include AGT Sciences, Agenda 1 and Lena Nanoceutics.
• Despite this, the growth of these sectors has been insufficient to counteract the loss of ‘traditional’ manufacturing employment in Bradford and other private sector jobs. This must change – Bradford’s innovative, high technology businesses need sustained support to unlock their potential to bring innovative products to market and to create more high skilled employment opportunities; these in turn will be vital in attracting and retaining mobile, skilled workers to the district and supporting graduate retention.
• The University of Bradford has a critical role to play in this process. Recent investment to support innovation includes:
• establishment of the Institutes of Pharmaceutical Innovation and Cancer Therapeutics;
• developing new courses in ICT and media studies courses alongside those in e-commerce, computer animation and video games design;
• delivering a range of accredited and open learning programmes in Executive Education via the School of Management;
• developing the SME Knowledge Network to provide access to learning, coaching and professional development for small and medium-sized enterprises and ‘Think Business’ which delivers entrepreneurship advice and support to graduates.
• We will work with the University of Bradford to further strengthen its activities around employer engagement and support for innovation. Priorities include:
• further development of technology transfer programmes in creative and digital industries, healthcare/biotechnology and advanced manufacturing;
• further aligning its research interests with the needs of the local economy;
• increasing the supply of highly skilled graduates and post-graduates with relevant skills.
Aligning Skills Provision with the Long-term needs of the Economy
• As we highlight in section 1, we recognise that skills is a key driver of Bradford’s economic competitiveness. Developing Bradford’s skills base will support the growth of existing firms as well as playing a vital role in attracting and retaining private investment across the district.
• Over the last decade public sector investment in skills has moved from a long period of centrally planned provision – essentially a supply-led system driven by FE colleges and other providers – to a more demand-led approach, advocated by Lord Leitch in his 2006 review. Leitch proposed a more demand-led system, with providers required to be much more responsive to the demand expressed by individual learners and employers, alongside a much stronger focus on economically valuable skills. He also argued that employers and individuals should expect to invest more in skills development – and the public sector should invest less - where they derive tangible economic benefits.
• However, more recently the House of Commons Select Committee on Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills questioned whether employers and learners could adequately provide for the economy’s skills needs through their choices in the open market; in effect whether a system that responds to the demands of individual employers will produce the critical mass of learners with the right skills.
DRAFT
• New Industries, New Jobs and Skills for Growth mark a discernible shift in the former Government’s policy towards a more balanced approach, combining some elements of the demand-led system with a more centralised approach to planning for growth in key sectors of the economy, particularly those ‘future oriented’ sectors like the low carbon economy where as yet there is insufficient critical mass of employer/individual demand to influence provision.
• Whilst moving away from some elements of the previous Government’s ‘industrial activism’ approach, the coalition has nonetheless recognised the importance of making ‘strategic choices’ in
“allocating the training budget, or funding certain kinds of science or research, or promoting science, technology, maths or engineering degrees for higher education… the ‘winners in this sense are the skills we judge we will need for the future, and the sectors (that) they support.”
• The approach advocated in New Industry New Jobs and Skills for Growth has influenced the emerging regional skills strategy and the interim regional advice to the Skills Funding Agency. Both are seeking a shift in SFA resources for adult skills – and in particular Train to Gain and adult Apprenticeships – towards future growth sectors. The Leeds City Region Forerunner agreement could give statutory weight to this change in emphasis and provide the basis for a different, more flexible approach to commissioning from the SFA. Yorkshire Forward investment – and some aspects of HEFCE investment – should also be aligned to support higher level skills in these sectors.
• Where possible, we will seek to influence future skills investment by the Skills Funding Agency, Higher Education Funding Council for England and Yorkshire Forward by lobbying to increase the proportion of adult learner responsive and employer responsive learning provision which is targeted to meet the needs of Bradford’s growth sectors. These are those sectors with the potential to generate a significant increase in their economic output or employment over the next ten years, and include:
• Advanced engineering and materials;• Creative and digital industries;• Professional and financial services;• Healthcare;• Food and drink;• Retail and wholesale/distribution;• The low carbon economy as a cross cutting sector.
46
• For each of these sectors, we will:
• undertake research with key employers to create a more detailed understanding of their future skills and recruitment needs;
• develop a sector skills plan which identifies the priority skills/qualifications sought by employers and sets out clear progression pathways (for example from 14-19 learning into Apprenticeships, or from further education to higher education).
• Skills for Growth highlights the increasing shortage of people with technical or craft (Level 3) skills at national level and proposes a significant increase in investment in Apprenticeships for both young people and adults. The coalition Government has also reinforced its commitment to accelerating take up of Apprenticeships and increasing the level of investment devoted to the programme. This focus is shared by the Employment and Skills Board, which has identified the creation of an additional 1,000 Apprenticeships in Bradford – in key sectors including advanced manufacturing, construction and financial and business services – as a key priority for the ESB.
• Recent research by the UKCES highlights that progression routes from vocational learning into higher education should be improved – only 6% of people on Apprenticeships progress into Higher Education. In many cases progression to full-time study in HE will not be appropriate and, building on the recommendations of the UKCES report, we will:
DRAFT
47
• work with the University of Bradford and other HE providers to ensure that higher level skills programmes embrace a wider range of professional and vocational qualifications and that vocational qualifications are more explicitly included in the entry requirement for HE courses;
• encourage HE providers to explore a wider range of part-time, work-based and distance learning options, alongside unitised and credit-based approaches;
• explore how we can expand the Higher Apprenticeship model.
Accelerating Take-up of Apprenticeships
• Skills for Growth highlights the increasing shortage of people with technical or craft (Level 3) skills at national level and proposes a significant increase in investment in apprenticeships for both young people and adults. The coalition Government has also reinforced its commitment to accelerating take up of apprenticeships and increasing the level of investment devoted to the programme. This focus is shared by the Employment and Skills Board, which has identified the creation of an additional 1,000 apprenticeships in Bradford – in key sectors including advanced manufacturing, construction and financial and business services – as a key priority for the ESB.
• Although take-up of the programme increased nationally during 2009, employers still face a number of barriers to participation with apprenticeships. These relate not only to the complexity of the programme, but also more fundamental issues including business risk and cost. There is a need to undertake significant awareness raising – above and beyond national/regional marketing efforts – to engage Bradford’s business community with the apprenticeships programme.
• Bradford’s economy is dominated by micro-businesses employing less than 10 staff and small/medium-sized enterprises employing less than 250. Small businesses – including BME owned firms in particular – also face real barriers to take-up of apprenticeships.
• In Bradford, the Accent Group has developed a successful apprenticeship programme for the construction sector, reducing the burden on individual employers. Elsewhere, covering a wider range of sectors, the London Apprenticeships Company has been established as a host employer, removing the burden of administering the programme for small businesses and voluntary sector organisations.
• The Employment and Skills Board will:
• encourage and support the continuation of Apprenticeship programmes and seek to ensure that these are not affected by cuts in public and private sector training budgets;
• consider the potential for those organisations represented by ESB members to increase their commitment to the Apprenticeships programme;
• develop its advocacy role for Apprenticeships and consider the feasibility of a tailored, local marketing programme, in association with the Skills Funding Agency/National Apprenticeships Service;
• test the feasibility of establishing further, sector-based ‘‘Apprenticeships Companies” to encourage employer take-up.
• Although the funding environment will be increasingly challenging, the public sector must still play a critical role in recruiting Apprentices. A number of local authorities, most notably Lancashire County Council, are exemplars in this area.
• Bradford Council has made a significant commitment to recruiting Apprentices and has developed a cross-organisational Apprenticeships plan to guide its activities in this area. Currently over 180 Apprenticeships are being hosted by the Council, with a particular focus on young people not in education, employment and training and young people in care.
• The Employment and Skills Board will:
• monitor the success of the Council, Primary Care Trust and other key public sector organisations in developing their Apprenticeships programmes.
DRAFT
• Many employers in Bradford – across the public, private and voluntary sectors – are already investing in the skills of their workforce. Often employers invest their own resources to meet short-term needs although take up of Train to Gain and the Enhancement Fund was also increasing prior to the recession.
• Equally, many employers state that College and University provision is often not tailored to meet their needs – and public-sector funded learning is driven by the acquisition or accreditation of qualifications rather than a more ‘modular’ approach which meets business needs. Small firms in particular find it difficult to access support for their training needs and find the plethora of different programmes confusing.
• Raising employer demand and investment in skills is pivotal to achieving long-term sustainable growth and our vision for a world class labour market – but remains a difficult task as the recession continues to impact on business confidence and growth. At the same time, public sector investment in some learning activities is already being cut, placing additional pressures on Universities, Colleges and other learning providers to seek additional sources of income.
• These factors reinforce our view that, in future, employers will need to invest more of their own resources in workforce development – but that in return, they should expect training providers to be more responsive to their needs. In effect, we need to build an employer-driven market for training in Bradford and to address the market failures – often a lack of information on the range of provision available, a lack of competition between providers and the effect of public sector-funded provision on demand.
• The Employment and Skills Board has a critical role in:
• defining and helping to remove some of the major barriers to learning for employers;
• ensuring that training is more aligned to the emerging needs of the Bradford economy;
• Advocating and championing employer investment in skills.
48
Objective 2: Raising employer demand and investment in skills at all levels
More Flexible Learning
• There is strong evidence at regional, city regional and local levels that employers often need more flexible, short and bespoke courses rather than the traditional, qualifications-led approach which has driven provision and funding in recent years. This is reflected in Skills for Growth – the extant national skills strategy – but also in the Regional Skills Partnership’s recent advice to the new Skills Funding Agency.
• Employers often need more flexible, short and bespoke courses rather than the traditional, qualifications-led approach which has driven provision and funding in recent years. Previously, much of the available funding has not support more flexible learning of this type. We will:• continue to lobby the Skills Funding Agency on the importance of developing more tailored, modular approaches to training;
• influence the Leeds City Region local enterprise partnership to place this issue at the core of its work to address the skills needs of the Leeds City Region.
DRAFT
Simplifying the Offer
• In recent years the Government has had a strong focus on simplifying the business support and training offer to businesses, reducing the number of programmes from 3,000 to just 100 by 2010. Train to Gain is one of a number of ‘approved’ training products and Business Link, through its skills brokerage service, should be the usual conduit to engage with businesses.
• Despite this, employers continue to find the array of different delivery organisations confusing, particularly where employment support for individuals sits alongside employer-focused training. Training providers often engage directly with employers and Jobcentre Plus, through its Local Employment Partnership programme, also has direct engagement with employers at both regional and national level. In Bradford, Kickstart also plays a key role in engaging with business.
• In the Tees Valley, Gloucester and a number of other locations, Business Link and Jobcentre Plus have developed strong partnership working arrangements to share data and, in some circumstances, created a single ‘business gateway’ to simplify access to business and employment support under a joint/unified brand.
• The Employment and Skills Board will:
• work with Bradford Council, Kickstart, Business Link Yorkshire, Jobcentre Plus and relevant training providers to agree streamlined business engagement and referral arrangements and to simplify access to support for employers;
• work with these partners to assemble improved market intelligence on the skills needs of Bradford businesses and to utilise this to influence local skills and employment policy, drawing together ‘coalface’ data held by Business Link, the Council, Kickstart, Jobcentre Plus and others.
49
More Tailored Support for BME Businesses
• Consultations with stakeholders during the development of the ESS highlighted the need for providers of business support and training to engage more directly with black and minority ethnic-owned businesses to develop a greater understanding of their skills development needs.
• Bradford College has developed links with the BME business community and there is some bespoke support delivered via the Kickstart programme but we can do more. The Employment and Skills Board will:
• commission more detailed research into the skills needs of BME businesses and test the feasibility of more tailored support through Kickstart and/or its successor programme.
Developing our Advocacy Role
• Members of the Bradford Employment and Skills Board have a critical role as advocates for/champions of training and workforce development. There is considerable scope for members to develop this role within their own organisations – and also within their wider networks. The Employment and Skills Board will:
• Ensure that training and development of employees and members continues;
• develop a formal ‘ambassadorial’ approach to skills and workforce development and identify the support needs of members in taking this forward.
• It will be vital to align funding for Apprenticeships to meet the current and future needs of the Bradford economy, alongside Train to Gain and higher level skills support. The available evidence suggests that current provision is not sufficiently aligned to growth sectors. The Employment and Skills Board will:
• lobby the SFA and our Leeds City Region partners to achieve a shift in apprenticeships investment of between 5-10% p.a. towards advanced manufacturing, creative and digital, financial and business services, retail/wholesale/distribution and the low carbon economy.
DRAFT
• We aspire to be a world class labour market. To achieve this, we must build a solid platform of basic and intermediate skills to achieve a step change in the number of Bradford citizens lacking basic numeracy, literacy and other basic skills and to ensure that all of our residents have the English language skills to compete in a modern, flexible labour market.
50
Objective 3: Building a stronger platform of basic and intermediate skills
Influencing 14-19 Learning
• Whilst the focus of this strategy is on adult learning and employment, there are inextricable links between the educational performance of our young people and our deficit in adult skills. Educational attainment is improving but continues to lag national improvement rates in some key areas and there are significant differences in educational outcomes influenced by income and other forms of deprivation and ethnicity.
• Bradford Council and Education Bradford have developed a 14-19 Partnership Plan for the district which has the overarching aim of creating a strong learning culture in Bradford which values lifelong learning, enterprise and employability. To achieve this the plan seeks to address a number of fundamental challenges including:
• broadening the curriculum offer to ensure that it is stimulating, attractive and responsive to all young people at all levels;
• supporting progression in further learning and sustainable employment;• providing appropriate places in learning for all young people that reflect their aims and
aspirations;• improving the quality of provision for those young people who face complex and deep-rooted
barriers to learning;• providing personalised guidance for young people to improve their likelihood of remaining in
learning.
• We know that those young people leaving school with no qualifications or lacking in basic literacy or numeracy skills will find it much harder to equip themselves with basic life and ‘employability’ skills in later life; this challenge will be exacerbated by the forecast increase in the number of young people, including those from Asian communities and other ethnic minorities who will enter the labour market over the next decade.
• In addition, despite the provision of careers advice, some young people can lack information on the range of employment opportunities available within their travel to work area; or seek careers which are not suited to their skills, qualifications or experience. This can result in high demand for some College courses which are not strongly linked to the economic strengths or growth prospects of the area.
• The shift in responsibility for the planning and funding of 16-19 education to local authorities, supported by the Young People’s Learning Agency and National Apprenticeships Service, creates a significant opportunity to give Bradford employers a stronger influence over learning, particularly at Key Stages 3 and 4 in secondary schools and post-16 learning in our sixth forms and Colleges.
• Through the Employment and Skills Board, there is a major opportunity to strengthening employer engagement in 14-19 planning and provision. Working with Bradford Council and Education Bradford, the Employment and Skills Board will develop an ‘Unlocking Talent for the Future Economy’ work plan which will set out detailed proposals to:
• actively engage employers in the development and delivery of all learning pathways, including diplomas;
• identify how the teaching of basic ‘employability’ and enterprise skills and competencies can be strengthened across the curriculum;
• strengthen the commitment of individual employers to provide work placements and raising awareness of the world of work, through the Education Business Partnership.
DRAFT
informal adult and community Learning
• informal adult and community learning can play a vital role in supporting and sustaining economic and social wellbeing. It remains a critical activity for re-engaging learners, equipping them with basic skills and generating the confidence and self-esteem to acquire even more economically valuable qualifications.
Funding for adult education has fallen over the last decade, particularly for adult learners over the age of 25, and nationally there are 1.5 million fewer adult learners supported through public sector funding than in 2004. With more than 50,000 residents without a formal qualification, informal adult and community learning which can support progression towards return to work or study remains a key priority for the Employment and Skills Strategy.
• In The Learning Revolution White Paper the last Government set out its approach to informal adult and community learning including the following broad objectives:
• build a culture which values informal adult and community learning in all its forms, with a wide range of organisations promoting it;
• support people to drive their own learning in particular by making it easier for people who want to start ‘self-organised’ groups;
• link up the learning provided by the public, private and third sectors to broaden choice and clarify the opportunities for learners;
• make better use of technology to support learning and inform people about what’s on offer;
• ensure there is a wide choice of high-quality learning opportunities for everyone.
51
• Whilst the encouragement of informal learning by those adults who are already fully engaged in or indeed retired from the labour market is not in itself a priority for the Employment and Skills Board, we recognise the value that this brings to both individuals and communities by building social networks and self-esteem. For some low skilled or unemployed adults, informal adult and community learning is an important stepping stone towards the acquisition of more economically valuable skills.
• Bradford Council is well placed to coordinate and integrate informal adult and community learning activity to ensure existing resources are optimised. This will involve:
• providing vision and leadership and encouraging collaboration at local or sub/city regional level where appropriate;
• leading a strong local partnership that will create the coherence envisaged in the white paper and put in place a diverse offer to meet local needs;
• the influencing of provider’s business plans submitted to the SFA as part of the procurement process to ensure that they meet with local neighbourhood needs;
• ensuring the local plan secures value for money and levers in additional resources from fees and in-kind services such as volunteering, opening up spaces and sharing expertise.
Bradford Council is developing the role of community-based learning champions through a programme of support for disadvantaged adults, including those from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, in informal, arts-based activities to develop self-confidence, motivation and learning capability. There is potential for this approach to be extended as part of the Council’s commitment to informal adult and community learning.
DRAFT
Information, Advice and Guidance
• As outlined in Appendix B, the new Adult Advancement and Careers Service was rolled out across England from August 2010. The transition to a new, national system of Information, Advice and Guidance may create a number of challenges for people seeking support in Bradford. A more coherent online/telephone service represents an important step forward but it will be vital to ensure that access to face to face support, delivered in a community setting, remains an integral part of the IAG offer.
• The Employment and Skills Board will:
• support the Bradford IAG network to develop a strategic approach to manage the transition to the new Adult Advancement and Careers Service;
• lobby the AACS to ensure that local IAG provision, delivered in a community setting, is wrapped around mainstream support and to secure appropriate funding.
52
Improving Basic Skills
• Whilst there has been continued investment in Skills for Life by the LSC and others, too many Bradford residents still lack basic literacy or numeracy skills. Yet many stakeholders argue that too much Skills for Life provision is not tailored to meet the learning needs of the individual, particularly those from BME communities or those needing enhanced language skills. Often Skills for Life provision is delivered in a ‘formal’ educational setting rather than in the community – although both Shipley and Bradford Colleges are adopting an outreach-based approach.
• The Employment and Skills Board will:
• champion Skills for Life and informal learning within their own organisations and networks;
• working with the three Colleges, Education Bradford and other partners, undertake a ‘mini-review’ of the delivery of Skills for Life to establish how this can be delivered more effectively in the community, including in a family learning setting;
• working with the Council, explore the feasibility and economic impact of creating a network of local community learning champions, embedded in voluntary and community sector organisations, to promote and facilitate informal adult and community learning.
Improving Access to ESOL
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is an important element of provision. Bradford is one of 31 ‘Pathfinder’ authorities charged with taking forward a new, more localised approach to delivering ESOL. Over 4,350 Bradford residents engaged in some form of ESOL provision in 2007/8. 69% of learners were female and 60% of Pakistani origin.
• A range of attitudinal, cultural and information barriers prevent some groups from accessing appropriate support. Some employers remain unwilling to engage in ESOL programmes; there is a shortfall in ESOL teachers (particularly those with foreign language skills) and mainstream LSC/SFA funded programmes are often focused on more intensive support towards entering work, which may not be appropriate for all ESOL clients. Residency criteria limit provision for some groups, particularly new arrivals, who need most support.
• The Council’s ESOL Pathfinder Strategy and Action Plan identifies a number of priorities, including;
• increasing the number of outreach officers and developing the role of intermediary organisations in promoting ESOL and customising promotion to meet the needs of specific groups
• establishing a central team within the Council to support planning and delivery and a ‘single pot’ for funding;
• increasing the number of qualified tutors, including those who are bi-lingual in the language where there are ESOL needs;
• encouraging mixed group provision to encourage community cohesion;• focusing on actions that will support retention and progression of learners, by providing a
holistic approach to help them to overcome barriers.
DRAFT
• The ESOL strategy identifies residents from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Eastern Europe and the Roma community as priorities for support. The Employment and Skills Board will:
• champion ESOL within their own organisations and networks;
• monitor progress on the delivery of the Council’s ESOL strategy with a particular focus on:
• achieving an increase in the number of ESOL tutors, including bi-lingual tutors;
• improving the coordination of existing ESOL funding streams;• developing outreach activity to facilitate improved access for hard to reach
groups.
53
Developing the Role of the Public Sector
• The Council, Primary Care Trust and other key public sector organisations have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that Bradford’s workforce has the basic skills required to compete in the labour market. Opportunities include:
• implementing the Skills Pledge to ensure that all employees are working towards a first Level 2 qualification;
• implementing the ‘Leading by Example’ approach;• developing the role of the trade unions through mentoring and facilitating learning;• opening up learning resources to facilitate wider access;• using procurement policies to purchase training from local providers where this meets
employer needs.
• The Employment and Skills Board will:
• monitor progress on the development of basic skills by Bradford’s key public sector employers.
DRAFT
• Sections 2 and the Appendices highlight the significant impact of economic inactivity, or worklessness, on Bradford’s economy and communities. There are also strong links between low skills levels and worklessness – and between worklessness and poor health.
• The recession has changed the nature of unemployment in Bradford, with many young people becoming unemployed for the first time. As competition for jobs intensified, this has had the effect of shifting many long-term workless residents even further from the labour market.
54
Objective 4: Reducing worklessness
Review of Employment Support Programmes
• In section 2, and in more detail in the Appendices, the ESS identifies a number of strategic gaps in employment and skills provision which should underpin the future planning and joint commissioning of employment support by the ESB partners. These included Asian women, long-term IB/SDA claimants and short-term support for young people and graduates.
• As outlined in section 3, the coalition Government is proposing to make significant changes to the welfare to work system. Alongside these emerging changes in the ‘national spine’ of provision, beyond 2011, the Council’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund allocation (part of the Area Based Grant) is at risk and current employment support activities funded through WNF may cease, along with FJF. The Council has already had to made substantial cuts to its WNF programme for 2010/11.
• As a consequence the ESS provides an important opportunity to take stock of current priorities and activities in light of significant changes in both the national spine of provision and the likely reduction in the availability of discretionary funding for skills and employment projects in future. Moving forward, it will be vital to ensure that the Council, SFA., Jobcentre Plus and other stakeholders work together via the forum of the ESB to enhance the effectiveness of existing provision and to ensure that resources are optimised; in effect we will adopt a ‘Total Place’ approach to review the efficiency and cost effectiveness of existing provision and to reduce any duplication of mainstream and local resources. This process will should review provision from the perspective of the ‘customer journey’ for both individuals seeking employment support and employers seeking to recruit unemployed people.
Strengthening a Neighbourhood-based Approach
• As outlined in section 3, there are significant opportunities for Incommunities and other Registered Social Landlords to contribute to achieving improved employment outcomes for their tenants. We will work with Incommunities and other Bradford-based RSLs to ensure that local employment outcomes are optimised through future investment programmes.
• Other local employers can also play a key role in supporting local employment outcomes, as demonstrated through this case study of Chesapeake, based in Scholemoor:
Chesapeake is the largest local employer in the Scholemoor neighbourhood. The firm’s Bradford factory manufactures tubes for the food and confectionery sectors. The company has been working closely with Scholemoor Beacon since the beginning of autumn 2009 in order to improve access to work opportunities for local people.
In particular, Chesapeake is supporting Scholemoor Beacon through the Be-Involved Programme whereby staff may volunteer to undertake community activities such as painting and decorating. Cheasapeake also support the Sports Development Project by allowing local football teams to use their company sports pitches and the company’s community charity has provided sponsorship for football strips and games equipment.
Chesapeake is closely involved in delivering a wide range of community based initiatives aimed at providing local jobs for local people. These activities include recruitment at a local jobs fair and employee engagement activities and include:• Site familiarisation• Work familiarisation• Work shadowing• Information days
DRAFT
• The Government continues to encourage local authorities, Jobcentre Plus and a wide range of other partners to work together to develop more streamlined, joined up and effective employment and skills support. The influential Houghton Review highlighted the need for local authorities to play a pivotal role in this process.
• Influencing and aligning the commissioning of all employment and skills services is fundamental to achieving the objectives of the ESS. There are significant benefits to be gained from a more coherent and integrated approach to the commissioning of employment and skills services, these include:
• A more transparent and coherent approach to pricing of employment and skills support across markets driving better value for money;
• An opportunity to develop the supply chain – particularly the voluntary and community sector;
• To ensure better fit and wraparound of mainstream service delivery and thus maximum value from local resources;
• To achieve economies of scale from areas such as shared performance management, improved alignment and co-ordination of services and learning from best practice.
55
Objective 5: Developing an integrated system of employment and skills support – a cross-cutting theme
• A number of core principles will underpin the proposed commissioning arrangements: streamlining and simplifying delivery; alignment and co-ordination of provision; principle of wraparound (of mainstream services); shared performance management; and improved management and labour market information.