Skills Board Outlines Top Priorities For Plymouth’s Future
26th October, 2010
THE Plymouth Employment and Skills Board has published a list of priorities it says will help to build the Plymouth economy and meet future employment goals. The priorities are the result of a series of studies carried out by PESB over the past six months including analysis and consultations and responses from Jobcentre Plus, the Skills Funding Agency, the University of Plymouth, Plymouth’s Priority Sectors Group and other PESB partners.
Dr Graham Stirling, Chair of PESB, said: “These findings are the culmination of six months’ worth of work by the board. These are the priorities we believe need to be addressed in the medium to long term to ensure people in Plymouth are in the right jobs with the right skills. We would like to see all future employment strategies take account of these priorities.
“Plymouth is highly dependent on the public sector but with the sector facing big spending cuts, the city needs to become more enterprising. A thriving business culture will help to make Plymouth’s economy much more resilient.”
Improving young people’s understanding of the jobs market by offering them high-quality work experience placements and good careers guidance is one of the priorities. The PESB report, titled Statement of Work and Skills Priorities, found that pupils will also benefit by spending time in industry.
However, support also needs to be given to adults, as figures show that 70 % of the 2020 Plymouth workforce is already aged over 20.
Another priority is ensuring former public sector workers are redeployed as quickly as possible. Data recently released by Experian found that Plymouth lies 309th out of 324 local authorities in terms of overall economic resilience.
With 36.9 % of its employment in the public sector compared with 26.4 % at the national level, Plymouth is highly vulnerable to public sector job cuts.
Other priorities are to:
- Support the development of generic employability skills including time management and communication skills
- Promote graduate retention by raising local employers’ awareness of, and engagement in, programmes supporting graduate employment and business development
- Increase the supply of high-quality Apprenticeships, including adult Apprenticeships
- Support the acquisition of technical and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills
- Promote enterprise support by expanding enterprise education for young people and maintaining and improving access to enterprise support through organisations such as Business Link
- Promote leadership and management development
- Promote inward investment – particularly in the city’s priority sectors: creative industries, marine industries, tourism and leisure, health and medical, advanced engineering and business services
- Tackle unemployment
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