People and Jobs
To achieve the vision, the region needs to focus on four key factors:
- Developing Job Linkages between people without work and employers with vacancies.
- Growing Local Employment – in areas remote from growth as well as already successful areas.
- Improving the Health of the current and potential workforce – particularly focusing on reducing the number of incapacity benefit claimants.
- Responding to Population Change and the impacts of an older population.
Research Programme 2008/9
Awaiting details of research projects
Research Programme 2007/8
Worklessness
The Regional Economic Strategy (RES) identifies three main drivers to achieving the strategy’s vision and to closing the output gap with the average for England. The second of these three drivers looks specifically at ‘growing the size and capability of the workforce’. The region needs more people in work and to encourage all forms of economic activity in the most deprived areas, those areas remote from growth and among disadvantaged communities, to tackle this worklessness.
The primary focus of this study is to identify what is needed to effectively tackle worklessness across the region and to map this with current activities (including evidence on what delivery does and doesn’t work) tackling this important issue. Once mapped, this study will recommend appropriate interventions to address needs not currently being met.
The evidence report and investment framework have now been published.
Aim: Map current activities to identify shortfalls from which recommendations can be made for future intervention.
Demographics, Migration & Diversity
In 2007 the Regional Strategy Team identified a need for better information on Demographics. Experian were commissioned in October 2007 to undertake a project with the aim to build a detailed and up-to-date picture of the trends, drivers and implications of demographic change, migration and diversity in the Northwest to directly inform the policy response.
The project has delivered two working papers, Demographic Trends and the Drivers of Change together with the final report and a dataset underpinning the project. A workshop was also held in December 2007 which allowed regional partners to discuss key challenges and opportunities and ways in which regional policy makers should respond.
The project has identified five emerging trends in the demography of the Northwest together with the challenges & opportunities each trend presents and the strategic actions policy makers should take to respond. Outputs were published in March 2008.
Working Paper 1: Demographic Trends
Working Paper 2: Drivers of Change
Demographics, Migration & Diversity Final Report
Demographics, Migration & Diversity Database
Aim: To gain a better understanding of the change in the characteristics of the population and the implications this has on the region.