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NCFE Regional Event Closing the Skills
Gap Wednesday 24 January 2007 Presentation by
Julie Robson Regional Skills Director
Welcome
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Context

• Economic Restructuring
• Occupational change
• Changing Skills Demand
• Demography

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A range of service sectors are driving
employment growth in the region
Over a 5 year period..
And more recently
Source ABI
Source ABI
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The service sector will be the focus
for new job creation
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Significant future demand for labour
across the full spectrum of occupations
www.wmro.org
New job growth focused on higher skilled and
customer facing occupations
But job losses in manual and unskilled
occupations offset by replacement demand
Source Working Futures II
Source Working Futures II
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The Region has the highest proportion
of the population with no qualifications
in England
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Employment rates among black minority
ethnic groups are low in the Region
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Ethnicity impacts upon attainment of
qualifications
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Closing the Skills Gap
Challenges (1)

• Demography
• replacement demand
• fastest growing groups least qualified
• concentrations of unqualified adults in urban
• areas (½ million people in 55 most
• disadvantaged wards 45 workless and 42
• no qualifications)
• Skills shortages in traditional industries

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Closing the Skills Gap
Challenges (2)

• Accelerating Skills Demand
• 40 drop in jobs without skills/qualifications
• Occupational change
• growth in managerial professional and specialist
  technical jobs
• 35 growth in Level 3/4 jobs
• Graduate retention and the knowledge economy

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Closing the Skills Gap
Challenges (3)

• Education, Training and Skills Performance
• Improving quality and responsiveness
• demand-led workforce skills
• raising success rates
• Structural/system weaknesses
• fragmented skills and employment systems
• disconnection of higher level skills
• post-14 progression routes
• Matching skills supply to demand
• Employer investment

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Priorities (1)

• Integrated employment and skills system
• Progressive system Skills Escalator
• upskilling those in work to Level 3 and 4
• pull through people not in work through mass
  adult apprenticeship
• Prioritising public investment through
• commissioning
• Basic skills
• Adult Level 2
• Level 3 skill shortages

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Priorities (2)

• Demand-led employer skills system
• single employer service Train to Gain
• integrating business support and skills brokerage
• driving employer investment
• accredited, specialist providers
• Regional strategy for higher level skills
• Lifelong Learning Networks
• Specialist provider networks
• Graduate retention a priority for the RES

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Integrated Employment and
Skills System

• City Region model
• City Strategies Pathfinder
• Joint Investment Plans
• Jobcentre Plus, Local Authorities and LSC
• Sector jobs and skills plans
• Neighbourhood Action Plans
• Employment and Skills Boards
• employer leadership/ownership of diversity
• critical role for public service employers
• Targeting the most disadvantaged client groups
• and neighbourhoods
• Progressive pre and post employment support

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Integrated System End-to-End
Model
Improved client engagement
Individual skills assessment
Commissioned/Tailored programmes matching skills
need to job content/skill requirement
JOBS
Active involvement of employers in programme
design
Detailed scoping of job content/skill requirement
Improved employer engagement
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Demand-led Skills Service
Train to Gain

• Single regional Business Support and Skills
• Brokerage Service
• 1st August Train to Gain
• 1st April Integrated Service
• Train to Gain
• employer choice Organisational Needs Analysis
• employer skills need Training Needs Analysis
• preferred provider network
• Core offer
• Essential, functional skills
• 1st Level 2
• West Midlands Level 3 Trial

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Prioritising Public Investment

• Basic skills
• 80 accredited provision targeting most
  disadvantaged
• Adult Level 2
• 80 increase in 06-07
• 78,000 adults upskilled to Level 2
• RSP/LSC skills priorities
• Skills Balance Sheets
• Increased investment through commissioning
• 38 increase in FE Level 3 (05-06)
• ESF priorities

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Improving Performance (1)

• Adult Basic Skills
• 115 of 2006/07 target achieved to date
• 78,500 Accredited Basic Skills
• Level 2 at 19
• 2003/04 West Midlands 8th of 9 regions
• 2004/05 West Midlands 6th of 9 regions
• Best improvement nationally
• 10 points improvement in urban FE
• Adult Level 2
• Met National PSA target
• Closed the gap by 26 against national average
• Increase of 13 points between 2002/03 and
  2004/05

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Improving Performance (2)

• Apprenticeships
• 20 points increase in Framework Success Rates
• 2005/06 West Midlands 3rd of 9 regions
• Level 3
• 6 increase in 16-18 Level 3
• 30 increase in number of Adult Level 3
• 10 increase in Level 3 Success Rates