Skills
When Lord Sandy Leitch presented his report 'Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills', he clearly demonstrated why skills are so important to the UK’s continuing prosperity.
For adults, better skills and economically valuable qualifications are a route to achieving better jobs, career progression and higher incomes to support their families. Better skills are the key to greater social mobility, ensuring that individuals can get on because of their talent and hard work, and not just because of their background.
For communities, better skills can create an escape route from generations of low ambition, and low achievement.
For employers, a more highly-skilled workforce is a route to achieving higher productivity and, in the private sector, greater competitiveness and profitability.
The Government's response to the Leitch report 'World Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England (July 2007)' states that:
'In our rapidly-changing world, having a highly-skilled workforce isn’t an optional extra; it’s an economic necessity. But developing the right culture for skills and employment isn’t just about being able to compete in the global economy. It’s also the most effective way of tackling family poverty, encouraging people to strive for a better life, and increasing social mobility'.
The document explains how the Government will provide the right supporting framework to act as the catalyst for this skills ‘revolution’, and to close the gap between where we are now,and where we need to be in 2020.
Of all the indicators which illustrate the scale of the challenges facing Walsall and the Black Country in its progressive transformation into a highly skilled economy, the most dramatic is the high proportion of adults with no qualifications whatsoever and the low proportion of adults who hold a Level 4 qualification.
Qualifications (Jan 2008 - Dec 2008)
|
|
Walsall |
Walsall |
Wes Mids |
Great Britain |
|
NVQ 4 and Above |
28,100 |
18.7 |
24.5 |
29.0 |
|
NVQ 3 and Above |
52,400 |
35.0 |
42.3 |
47.0 |
|
NVQ 2 and Above |
84,000 |
56.1 |
61.6 |
65.2 |
|
NVQ 1 and Above |
108,100 |
72.1 |
76.4 |
78.9 |
|
Other Qualifications |
13,900 |
9.3 |
7.6 |
8.7 |
|
No Qualifications |
27,900 |
18.6 |
16.0 |
12.4 |
Source: ONS Annual Population Survey.
Notes: Numbers and % are for those of working age;
% is a proportion of resident working age population of area
| Constituency |
Working Age Population |
No Qualifications % |
Population | At Least Level 4 % | Population |
| Aldridge / Brownhills | 48,900 | 12.88% | 6,300 | 22.49% | 11,000 |
| Walsall North | 49,900 | 26.85% | 13,400 | 10.02% | 5,000 |
| Walsall South | 51,100 | 16.05% | 8,200 | 23.48% | 12,000 |
| Total | 149,900 | 18.6% | 27,900 | 18.7% | 28,000 |
WLLA will continue to address the skills agenda in Walsall through its following activities:
The LAA Increasing Skills in Walsall Target Driven Action Plan (TDAP);
The Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities (NLDC) Fund;
The Personal and Community Development (PCDL) Forum;
Aligning activity to priorities identified in the LAA Worklessness TDAP;
Capacity building seminars to support delivery by the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS).