South London Partnership Review of worklessness and skills in South London: towards a sub- regional action plan T HE G ILFILLAN P ARTNERSHIP R ESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Report content Worklessness and skills: information about national and regional policies and programmes Worklessness and skills in South London – comprehensive statistical snapshot; LAA comparisons; a flavour of action and good practices at borough/local levels Addressing worklessness and skills in South London – key issues Towards a sub-regional action plan on worklessness and skills

South London – some facts & figures Population 1.6 million - 21% of London’s total population; The total number of jobs in the sub-region is 867, % of all jobs in London; 80% of the sub-regional population are economically active (in work or registered unemployed and actively seeking work) compared with 79% for London; 76% of the working age population are in employment - 71% for London; 6% of working age population is unemployed -the same as the rate for London; 11% of South London’s ethnic minority population is unemployed the same as for London; 45% of South London residents have a Level 4 (degree-level) qualification or higher compared with 37% of all London residents; 10% of South London residents have no qualifications (compared with 13% of all London residents); South London’s key employment sectors are public administration, health and education (28% of all jobs in the sub-region); banking insurance and finance (27% of all jobs in the sub-region); distribution, hotels and restaurants (21% of all jobs in the sub-region).

Some of the issues Rapidly changing economic context for local organisations and partnerships – no one knows what will happen next Recession, with major consequences for the labour market Major reforms of government programmes and welfare benefit system South London is particularly vulnerable to the effects of downturn with high numbers of jobs & residents employed in sectors where employment contraction is likely to be greatest. A rise to 10% unemployment by 2010 would mean an extra 45, 000 unemployed in South London Greatest impact expected on young people and other new labour market entrants Changing sub regional geography

South London: responding to the issues Wide range of responses reflecting local priorities and widely varying circumstances and needs. ‘Local‘ is usually best/most effective Wide variations differences in Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets. Priorities in individual LAAs reveal few common priorities for worklessness and skills across the sub-region. Effective/good practices all over South London Increasing priority for employment and skills issues Consensus that the time is right for more sub regional action

Scope for sub regional action? A voice for South London on employment and skills Sharing intelligence and joint planning Working together as major local employers Commissioning employment and skills provision Exchanging knowledge and experience Bidding for resources Volunteering

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Defining worklessness Workless: people out of work who would like a job. In statistical terms this would be economically inactive (but would like to work) plus unemployed as counted by Annual Population Survey