Liverpool City Region and
The Work Programme
Investor Strategic
Information Event
Friday 1 October 2010
Welcome
Sheena Ramsey
Chief Executive
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
City Region Vision and Ambition
‘to establish our status as a thriving
international City Region by 2030’
To achieve this we will need to:
• Accelerate growth and narrow productivity
gap with the rest of UK
• Reduce worklessness across the Liverpool
City Region
Liverpool City Region:
Key Facts
• Population of 1.5 million
• Forms core of wider economic zone of
influence of over 2 million people
• GVA of £19bn
• 539,000 jobs
• 49,000 businesses
Recovery time from recessions
Job availability
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
Wider Liverpool City Region
England
20
07
20
05
20
03
20
01
19
99
19
97
19
95
19
93
19
91
19
89
19
87
19
85
19
83
19
81
19
79
60.0%
Number of unemployed
Claimant count
70,000
1,600,000
1,400,000
60,000
1,200,000
50,000
1,000,000
40,000
800,000
30,000
600,000
20,000
400,000
10,000
200,000
0
0
Liverpool City Region
England
Liverpool City Region (left axis)
England (right axis)
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
Number of jobs
Vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus
14,000
400,000
12,000
350,000
10,000
300,000
250,000
8,000
200,000
6,000
150,000
4,000
100,000
2,000
50,000
0
0
Skills challenge
Delivering a step change
• Against this backdrop we now need to deliver
a step change in the performance of the
Liverpool City Region economy focusing on:
-Economy
-Employment & Skills
-Housing
-Transport
• Underpinned by 4 transformational actions
SuperPort
Knowledge Economy
Culture and the Visitor Economy
Low
Carbon
Economy
Low
Carbon
Economy
Low Carbon Economy
Employment and Skills Board
The Future
• Complete commitment
• Building on civic/business leadership
partnerships
• Focusing on improving performance
• Local Enterprise Partnership
A Business Perspective
Stephen Roberts - General Manager
The Crowne Plaza
Transform, Compete, Thrive
Liverpool City Region
Employment and Skills Strategy
Sue Jarvis
Service Director: City Region, Employment and Skills
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
To reach the national average
• 46,000 less people without any qualifications
• 26,400 more people with a level 2
qualification (equivalent to 5 GCSEs)
• 43,800 more people with a level 4
qualification (equivalent to a Degree)
• To meet the Government’s 80% employment
rate we would need to move an additional
120,000 people into work
Why we need a strategy
• To drive a step change in performance in the
employment and skills system
• To provide a unifying framework for partners to
address our challenges, opportunities and ambition
• To achieve a consensus on strategic priorities and
the allocation of future funds
• To facilitate greater employer engagement,
influence and leadership
• To influence the national and regional policy agenda
The building blocks
 The vision and aims of our Multi Area Agreement
 A comprehensive review of the evidence base
 Consultation with employers, stakeholders and
service users to identify shared priorities
 Changes to policies and institutions
 Greater focus on Apprenticeships
 Increasing provider freedom
 Market-based funding models
 Severe constraints on public sector budgets
Employment and skills issues
 Not enough jobs and not enough high value jobs
 Skills/qualification levels rising but job opportunities




declining
Skills/qualification gaps with England narrowed but
still remain
Persistently high NEET and rising long term youth
unemployment
Persistent large gaps in worklessness rates and
deprivation against national benchmarks
Persistent concerns that the system is too
complicated for individuals and employers
The strategy
• Flows from the vision and strategic aims
described in the MAA, which we intend to meet
by 2030
• Introduces step change aspirations for
employment and skills by 2020
• Puts in place a small number of strategic
objectives which we will meet by 2015
• Develops a series of strategic projects delivered
over the period 2010 up to 2015 to drive
forward the strategy
The strategic objectives
• Investing to support employer skill needs
• Empower employers to drive skills and productivity
improvements
• Empower local people to make informed learning, job
and career choices
• Build clear and effective career pathway for 14-24
year olds
• Transform services impacting on employment rates
for disadvantaged groups and areas
• Simplify employment and skills system
Successful implementation requires
• Simplification – joining up employment and skills
services for employers and individuals
• Greater effectiveness and value for money by
integrating employment and skills with other service
areas e.g. housing providers, health
• Prioritisation and implementation of projects
with sufficient scale to make a major impact
• Equality of opportunity for all learner groups
• A more co-ordinated approach to
commissioning and influencing service delivery
• Transparency in performance management
The strategic projects
• An integrated information, advice and guidance
services
• A City Region Apprenticeship strategy
• A substantial and co-ordinated effort to increase
higher-level skills use in SMEs
• A “total place” approach to jobs and skills
• Integrated employment and skills services for key
employer investments and sectors
The commissioning framework
• A single point of reference for commissioning all
employment and skills activity
• Builds on a shared understanding of needs and
priorities
• Will influence the spend of public sector funding
agencies and key funding streams
• A clear distinction between commissioning at city
region level and delivery which will be for the most
part local
• Employment and Skills Board responsible for
overseeing its implementation
Our 10 ‘Asks’ from the Work
Programme
• Help us deliver our Employment and Skills Strategy
• Work closely and openly with ESB to align activity,
share intelligence and performance management
information
• Ensure services are shaped by local businesses - in
particular activity arising from any future LEP
• Create supply chains that build upon existing high
performing services and maintain to an equitable
level
• Work with us to ensure that our data capture
systems are compatible
Our 10 ‘Asks’ from the Work
Programme (cont)
• Work with us to identify how services and assets we
have historically resourced can support the Work
Programme
• Work with us to build the capacity of local service
providers, particularly third sector organisations
• Support the simplification of services to businesses and
residents
• Practical support to encourage the use of public and
private procurement as a vehicle to improve the job and
skill prospects of local people.
• A collaborative approach to evaluation focussed on what
works and the achievement of lasting long term impact
Next Steps
• Pre-Framework Announcement
– Liverpool City Region Prospectus
– Website
– Event today
• Post Framework Announcement
– Detailed discussions with strategic partners
– Contact: colin.geering@knowsley.gov.uk
Question Time
Networking