Employment and Skills Bulletin
A regular selection of news and views from Skills and Employment Team at Hounslow.
National Policy Developments
Baroness Mone publishes ‘Be the boss’ review (DWP)
Leading entrepreneur and businesswoman Baroness Mone OBE has unveiled the findings of her independent review to help increase business start-ups in the most disadvantaged communities across Great Britain. ‘Boosting enterprise in more deprived communities’ is the culmination of a six month-journey in which Baroness Mone met business leaders, start-up owners and aspiring entrepreneurs from areas of high unemployment across the country. The self-employment rate in Great Britain stands at 10 per cent of the working age population, however in the 10 per cent most deprived areas, people are almost 50 per cent less likely to be self-employed. Baroness Mone worked to identify what barriers they faced when starting up a business, and to create a series of recommendations to reverse this trend.
Businesses address weak links in supply chain to boost productivity (UKCES)
Last week’s report outlines the findings from a series of productivity projects, run as part of the UK Futures Programme. Led by prominent UK employers from the construction, legal and manufacturing sectors, the projects focused on boosting overall productivity levels across supply chains. The projects encouraged small supply chain businesses to improve their management and leadership capabilities through a range of innovative approaches. The evaluation report highlights significant scope for supply chain leaders and intermediaries to engage with suppliers and motivate them towards better management skills and practices. By capitalising on their unique positions, these businesses found they could persuade their supply chains to develop their management and leadership capabilities by using evidence of improved business performance.
Please see here for the Evaluation of UK Futures Programme report
HSBC’s relocation a ‘significant boost for the Midlands’, says Economic Secretary ahead of visit to Birmingham (HM treasury)
The Economic Secretary will be the first government minister to visit the construction site of HSBC UK’s new 9.2 acre location [2 Arena Central] and hailed the creation of up to 1,000 new financial services jobs in Birmingham and the significant boost to the Midland’s construction industry as a direct result of the move. The relocation is partly seen as a result of new government legislation coming into force in 2019 requiring banks to separate their investment arms from their retail and business banking operations to offer more protection to consumers. The Midlands is already the UK’s 4th biggest financial services hub, coming in slightly behind the South East and the North West, and HSBC’s relocation will bring the Midlands even closer to gaining the 3rd position.
£204 million fund for UK universities to train future science leaders and boost quantum research (BIS)
Funding of over £200 million to support PhD students in engineering and physical sciences and boost the UK’s research into quantum technologies, has been announced by Universities Minister Jo Johnson. The £167 million investment in Doctoral Training Partnerships and £37 million investment in the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme will support cutting-edge research across the UK and help top students into a PhD. The funding for quantum technologies will further boost the UK’s leading position in creating new technologies which use advanced physics to deliver products for anything from more accurate brain-scanning and earlier Alzheimer’s diagnosis to smaller and more powerful computers.
Minister visits Wimbledon schools to inspire next generation to consider a career in transport (DfT)
Transport Minister Lord Ahmad has visited three schools in Wimbledon to encourage local students to consider a career in the transport sector. Lord Ahmad met with students at Ursuline High School and his former school, Rutlish School. While at the schools, the minister took part in Inspiring the Future speed-networking events, organised by national education charityEducation and Employers. This gave students a chance to meet volunteers from across the transport sector, including the minister, and learn about the kind of roles the industry has to offer and the difference good transport makes to people’s lives.
Government going further to cut red tape by £10 billion (BIS)
Comprehensive measures that will help deliver the government’s commitment to cut a further £10 billion of red tape were unveiled last week at theBCCannual conference by Business Secretary Sajid Javid. The UK already has the lowest burden of regulation in theG7, according to theWorld Economic Forum. Businesses from across the country have been responding to the Cutting Red Tape review programme to identify further areas in need of reform.
A move towards shaping apprenticeships for the future (SFA)
In 2014 to 2015 there were more than 250,000 employer workplaces employing an apprentice, covering an extensive range of skills levels and occupations.
Today, more than 1,300 employers are involved in industry- led trailblazers groups, between them developing over 150 new employer-ledapprenticeship standards, which will eventually replace the current apprenticeship frameworks as confirmed in English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision.
Government plan to boost south-east transport infrastructure (DfT)
A major study to boost transport infrastructure across the south-east has been launched. The work will look at ways to improve the performance of the transport network between junctions 10 and 16 of the M25. The government is investing £15 billion to create 1,300 extra miles of lanes up until 2020 in the biggest upgrade to the road network in a generation, to deliver better journeys for drivers. The new strategic study will explore the best way to make further improvements that help the economy to grow between 2020 and 2025.
£200m roadbuilding investment on course to deliver Central Bedfordshire economic boost (DfT)
Roadbuilding schemes worth £200million which will unlock economic growth by connecting new businesses and up to 7,000 new homes, are on course to be delivered on time and on budget. The two linked projects, which are a key part of the government’s long term economic plan for Bedfordshire, are passing their one year milestone this spring and will be completed in spring 2017. The 2.8 mile, £162million A5-M1 Link scheme is being delivered by Highways England, while the £38million, 1.8 mile Woodside Link project is being completed by Central Bedfordshire Council. Delivering the schemes will unlock up to 40 hectares of land for businesses and provide the infrastructure for 7,000 homes to be built to the north of Houghton Regis.
News and Views
Heathrow third runway: Councils in legal threat over plan (BBC)
Lawyers acting on behalf of Hillingdon, Richmond upon Thames, Wandsworth and Windsor and Maidenhead councils have written to the Prime Minister informing him that the authorities will launch court proceedings unless he categorically rules out expansion of Heathrow Airport. The councils say increasing the number of flights would be “irrational and unlawful,” while “insurmountable environmental problems” around the airport mean any expansion would subject residents to excessive pollution and noise.
Most stay-at-home mothers ‘wish they could go back to work’ (Telegraph)
A Department for Education study shows that more than half of stay at home mothers would like to work but feel a lack of suitable childcare is blocking them from doing so. The annual survey of almost 6,200 parents saw 53 per cent of those not in work say they would prefer to go out to work if they could arrange good quality childcare which was convenient, reliable and affordable. Of mothers in work, 36 per cent said they would leave employment to look after their children if they could afford to.
Thousands of NHS nursing and doctor posts lie vacant (BBC News)
More than two-thirds of trusts and health boards in the UK are actively trying to recruit from abroad as they struggle to cope with a shortage of qualified staff, figures from the ONS reveal, with tens of thousands of vacant NHS nursing and doctor posts highlighting the scale of the NHS recruitment crisis. Research from the BBC shows 69 per cent of all NHS trusts and health boards are seeking staff overseas.
George Osborne warns of deeper cuts to public spending in Budget (Telegraph)
George Osborne has warned he may have to make fresh cuts to public spending in next month’s Budget, amid slower growth and global economic turmoil. He said he could not rule out tax increases, but added that now was not the time for “significant” tax hikes. The Chancellor said he wants to stick to the plan of achieving a budget surplus by the end of Parliament. Continued low wage growth is a threat to tax receipts and Mr Osborne’s chances of meeting this rule.
How to solve the ‘teacher recruitment crisis’ (Telegraph)
Pupil numbers in England will rise by over 600,000or 8 per cent over the next 5 years, at the same time that there is a demographic dip in the numbers of graduates in their early 20s. These two factors on their own would mean that Government and the profession would need to recruit a higher proportion of all graduates just to stand still. But at the same time, there are widespread indications that current recruitment and retention is increasingly challenging – not least because of an increasingly competitive graduate labour market with record levels of vacancies, and average starting salaries now breaking £30,000.
Developers accused of restricting supply of new homes to boost profits (Guardian)
Britain’s developers have been accused of increasing their profits from the UK’s housing crisis by restricting the supply of new houses to keep prices artificially high.
Latest figures reveal that nearly half a million homes in England now have planning permission granted but have yet to be built. The length of time it takes for developers to complete a house has jumped from 24 months to 32. It reignites a long-running row between policymakers and the housebuilding sector over who is to blame for the current housing shortage. While rates of planning permission for new homes have increased by 60% since 2010, there has been a 48% increase in the number of new homes being built.
Cheshire East Council backs plan for 36,000 new homes(BBC)
Cheshire East Council has approved plans to build 36,000 new homes. This comes after an earlier proposal to build 29,000 properties was found to have “serious shortcomings” by a Government inspector. The council says the inspector criticised the initial plan as the borough’s economy was likely to grow faster than anticipated, prompting the addition of 7,000 extra homes. The revised proposal will be submitted to the Government inspector in June.
Why outsourcing is finally out of favour (Guardian)
In a letter to the Guardian, Locality chief executive Tony Armstrong says a recent item on councils taking outsourced services back in-house is no surprise as research from Locality shows “large-scale, standardised services don’t solve people’s problems – they lead to a drop in quality and a rise in costs.” He calls on local authorities to “realise that community-focused services commissioned and delivered at a local level give people what they need, when they need it, delivering services that work for the individual, the community and the taxpayer.”
Manchester Airport: £1bn plan to ‘transform’ site approved (BB)
Manchester City Council has approved plans which will see Manchester Airport transformed. The proposed 10-year project will see the airport’s second terminal double in size and a new departures forecourt built.
Publications
Uneven growth: Tackling city decline (JRF)
The reach of the Northern Powerhouse has been questioned after a report commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that 10 of the UK’s 12 towns and cities in greatest economic decline are in the North. Rochdale, Burnley, Bolton, Blackburn and Hull were named as those facing the biggest struggles in the report which analysed employment rates, numbers of highly qualified workers, types of jobs and migration rates.