1. Skilled people, better jobs In leeds city region
Stephanie burras
Chair, employment &
Skills panel
Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership

2. Leeds city region strategic economic plan
Our vision:
To be a globally recognised economy where good growth delivers high levels of prosperity, jobs and quality of life for everyone.
Our four strategic priorities:
Growing businesses
Skilled people, better jobs
Clean energy & environmental resilience
Infrastructure for growth
In May 2016, the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and West Yorkshire Combined Authority published a Strategic Economic Plan (SEP), setting out a plan to transform the economy and create thousands of extra jobs over the next 20 years.
Increasing skill levels and employability is key to delivering the SEP and one of the four priorities it identifies is “Skilled People, Better Jobs”; meeting future job demands and enable people from all communities to secure more and better jobs.
The Leeds City Region Employment and Skills Plan – to be launched today – is one of the key delivery plans of the SEP and sets out how the LEP and Combined Authority will work with partners to achieve our ambitions in the SEP, including to:
Create 35,700 net additional jobs by 2036
Exceed the national average on high level skills and become a “NEET-free” city region
Progress on headline indicators of growth and productivity, employment, earnings and skills

3. The employment & Skills journey so far
Wave 1 City Deal (2012)
Devolved youth employment programmes
Apprenticeship Hubs
LEP Skills Service
Schools engagement activity
£1bn Growth Deal (July 2014)
Including £79m Skills Capital
Jobs and skills opportunities linked to £1bn West Yorkshire Transport Fund
Devolution Deal (March 2015)
Devolved Apprenticeship Grant for Employers
Influence over Adult Education Budget and Work Programme commissioning
WY Area Review of Post 16 Education
We have a strong track record of tackling employment and skills challenges.
Last year, we launched our skills service to help businesses find the right training for their employees to learn new skills and providing up to 50% funding to deliver it.
We are now responsible for directing devolved government funding, which is enabling businesses that have not already taken on an apprentice to employ young people and explore new opportunities for growth.
The LEP’s youth employment programmes have outperformed national comparators and as a result of these programmes and growth in the regional economy youth unemployment has fallen dramatically in Leeds City Region since 2012.
We are also building strong links between schools and businesses, enabling young people to set off on a route to an exciting career and a prosperous future.
Our region’s further education colleges are also benefiting from £79 million of funding through our Growth Deal to invest in upgraded facilities and premises to create world-class learning environments across the City Region.
And in the future……………… the LEP and West Yorkshire Combined Authority aims to gain control over further funding streams to maximise impact on city region economy and to ensure that our residents develop the skills they need to access and progress in work

4. Skills capital programme
Utilising part of the £1 billion Growth Deal for workforce and skill development
Investing £79m of growth deal (and £31m match) in 11 FE college projects over four years
Priority to modernising FE estate and linking facilities closely to economic & skills priorities
Leeds City region secured the biggest Growth Deal in the country in 2014 including £79m Skills Capital which is being invested in projects to transform the training facilities and support providers to deliver economic and skills priorities
We are delighted to have supported Leeds City College to develop this impressive Printworks campus which will inspire generations of students to reach their potential.
Through the Growth Deal we’re also supporting schemes at:
Kirklees College
Calderdale College
Wakefield College
Selby College
Shipley College
We’re also very pleased that Shipley College was the first Growth Deal project to complete!

5. Leeds city region Skills plan 2012-15
PRIORITY
ACTIVITY
Building Skills in Education
Employability Programme
Enterprise Advisers
Transition into Work
Apprenticeship Hubs Programme
Devolved youth employment programmes
Raising Demand and Improving Skills
LEP Skills Service
Apprenticeship Grant for Employers
Skills Capital investments
Leeds City Region published a Skills Plan in 2012 setting out priorities: 1. Building Skills in Education
2. Transition into Work
3. Raising Demand and Improving Skills
Last year, we launched our skills service to help businesses find the right training for their employees to learn new skills and providing up to 50% funding to deliver it.
We are now responsible for directing devolved government funding, which is enabling businesses that have not already taken on an apprentice to employ young people and explore new opportunities for growth.
The LEP’s youth employment programmes have outperformed national comparators and as a result of these programmes and growth in the regional economy youth unemployment has fallen dramatically in Leeds City Region since 2012.
We are also building strong links between schools and businesses, enabling young people to set off on a route to an exciting career and a prosperous future.
Our region’s further education colleges are also benefiting from £79 million of funding through our Growth Deal to invest in upgraded facilities and premises to create world-class learning environments across the City Region.
While this is a fantastic start, we acknowledge that we must continue to raise the bar to ensure that more and better jobs are accessible across all communities, and our region has the right skills to drive success both now and in the future.

6. Leeds city region employment and skills plan
Skilled people, better jobs
Skilled people, better jobs is one of our four key priorities set out in our refreshed Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) to help us deliver our vision to be a globally recognised economy where good growth delivers high levels of prosperity, jobs and quality of life for everyone.
We have consulted widely on the priorities in a new Employment and Skills Plan and are very grateful to the many people and organisations who took the time to engage with us.
This Plan sets out how the LEP and West Yorkshire Combined Authority, alongside our partners, will work together over the next four years to contribute to the vision of our SEP by meeting future job demands and enabling people from all communities in the Leeds City Region to secure more and better jobs.
The plan sets out three priorities:
Great Education connected to businesses
Employability, accessing jobs and realising potential
Building workforce skills and attracting talent
Two cross-cutting priorities are integral to achieving these priorities:
Raising the bar on high level skills
More and better Apprenticeships
through our activity and that of our partners we aim to address skills gaps and shortages including:
Gearing up to deliver major infrastructure schemes
Addressing digital skills shortages across sectors
Tackling replacement demand in manufacturing and engineering

7. Great education connected to businesses
Although there is some really great practice in the City Region, many more students in our schools, colleges and Universities should have access to meaningful engagement with employers to help them:
develop enterprise and employability skills,
Gain a realistic idea of careers in LCR
Access pathways to careers
Positive impact on attainment
The LEP’s priorities are to:
Produce high quality labour market information and disseminate it in a way that can be shared effectively with students in school, college and university
Improve the relevance of learning in school, college and university
Ensure that careers information advice and guidance is based on robust LMI and is targeted at parents and teachers as well as pupils
Increase meaningful engagement between businesses and learners in schools, colleges and universities

8. Employability, accessing jobs & realising potential
LCR has seen a dramatic fall in the number of unemployed people in the city region and has an excellent track record of addressing local issues through localised and targeted programmes.
However we still have one of the lowest employment rates in the country and there are significant variations across LA areas.
Are large number of people in the city region are in receipt of in-work benefits.
Our ambition is to ensure that everyone with the potential to work is able to access and progress in rewarding employment including:
Continuing to work towards our NEET free ambition
Reducing levels of unemployment and inactivity
Ensure there are pathways for people to access work and retrain – linked with growth opportunities

9. BUILDING WORKFORCE SKILLS AND ATTRACTING TALENT.
In 2015, the LEP launched a Skills Service to support SMEs to access support for training linked to their growth ambitions
Since then, over 600 businesses have accessed training with a value of over £2m.
However, 36% of our workforce received no training supported by their employer, likely to be one of the causes of a lower level of productivity than the national average.
Businesses report skills gaps and shortages – this is a significant barrier to business growth and also to attracting new businesses to locate in the city region.
We aim to tackle this by:
Ensuring that training provision and facilities meet the current and future needs of the economy
Developing programmes to grow and attract talent
Increase the proportion of businesses of all sizes and sectors training their staff
Develop leadership and innovation skills for business growth

10. Raising the bar on high level skills
The city region has seen all levels of qualifications improve but the gap between LCR and the national average at Level 4 and above is widening.
Only 14 of 39 LEPs have a smaller proportion than LCR with qualifications at Level 4 and above. Numbers are particularly low in several LA areas.
Raising the bar on high levels has been included as a cross-cutting priority to reflect how critical it is to delivering all of the ambitions in the Employment and Skills Plan:
There are direct links between higher qualifications, productivity, earnings and economic resilience
A high proportion of future opportunities in priority / growth sectors will require higher qualifications and we need to ensure our population is appropriately skilled to access these opportunities
High level skills are crucial to attracting businesses to locate in Leeds City Region and to support people to progress into rewarding careers
In consultation with our partners we have set out priorities to:
Design and deliver a programme to address a deficit of STEM skills, particularly maths
Ensure that provisions address current and future labour market requirements, including identifying high level skills gaps and shortages
Attract, develop and retain high level skills and capabilities to drive productivity and innovation
Raise aspiration among all ages and communities to progress into higher level learning
Develop and simplify technical routes into higher level learning

11. More and better apprenticeships
The LEP and partners are keen to raise awareness among individuals and parents of Apprenticeships as a pathway to exciting career opportunities, and to help business make the most of Apprenticeships to access and grow the future talent that they need.
The city region is keen to play its part in achieving the Government’s ambition to create 3 million new Apprenticeship opportunities within the lifetime of this Parliament.
Since 2012, the Apprenticeship Hubs programme has provided a central local point of contact for free, independent and co-ordinated advice and support for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and young people. Through the Apprenticeship Hubs, 2,941 SMEs have been engaged and 2,367 young people have started new Apprenticeship opportunities.
From August 2015, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority has managed the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers on a devolved basis and has introduced incentive rates to encourage the take up of Apprenticeships in line with economic priorities.
In our Employment and Skills Plan we set out plans to:
Support businesses to understand and make the most of apprenticeships in the context of apprenticeship levy and reforms
Support people to access traineeships and apprenticeships
Increase take-up and provision of apprenticeships in line with economic priorities

12. Through this activity we aim to address major skills gaps and shortages, including:
Gearing up to deliver major infrastructure schemes:
Major capital and infrastructure schemes in Leeds City Region will generate a high volume of employment opportunities, which presents a challenge and a great opportunity. An analysis of major schemes currently in the planning system projects demand for 120,000 workers against the current construction workforce of 107,000 (plus replacement demand). Existing shortage occupations include: civil engineers, labourers, plant operatives, logistics and non-construction occupations.
In addition, High Speed 2 will create 25,000 jobs in the UK, peaking around 2025 with a uniquely high proportion of high level skills. Growth Deal and other public sector investments, particularly the West Yorkshire Transport Fund, will create significant numbers of employment opportunities but there are already skills shortages in the construction sector and these schemes will face competition from other sectors and schemes.
As well as “supply side” activity, the LEP and West Yorkshire Combined Authority are working closely with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation “More Jobs, Better Jobs” partnership to embed jobs, skills and poverty reduction in the procurement of major schemes, and to develop a LCR system on social value from procurement, which builds on existing good practice.
Addressing digital skills shortages across sectors:
There are around 8,500 self-identifying digital and technology businesses in the city region employing 70,000 people.
Digital skills are highly sought-after among businesses across sectors in Leeds City Region. There are specific shortages in coding and programming skills, software development and data analysis. Businesses considering locating in Leeds City Region cite access to people with these skills as one of the main factors that will influence their decision. A number of high-profile businesses have made public statements about the difficulty that they are experiencing recruiting people with the skills that they need.
As well as presenting a challenge, there is massive potential for growth in digital jobs in Leeds City Region. The LEP and partners are keen to work together to seize this opportunity.
Engineering and manufacturing skills pipeline:
The manufacturing sector employs about 13% of the workforce in the Leeds City Region and the city region has world-leading expertise in many sub-sectors.
The overall manufacturing workforce has contracted over recent years and is projected to continue to lose a further 14,500 jobs over the next decade. However the sector is projected to generate almost 40,000 opportunities through replacement demand.
Meeting this demand is challenging, particularly as engineering skills are highly valued across sectors including financial services.
The qualification levels of new recruits will in many cases need to be higher than the people they replace. In 2012, only 28% of the manufacturing workforce had qualifications at level 4 or above whereas by 2022, 70% of opportunities will require qualifications at this level.
This presents a significant challenge, as well as a great opportunity for the city region’s residents to access highly skilled and rewarding employment.

13. For more information see:
Strategic economic plan
Skills plan
leeds city region labour market analysis