Great Yarmouth Skills and Employability Strategy 2024-2029
Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Our strategic vision
- 3. Our strategic priorities
- 4. Our call to action
- 5. Conclusion
- Appendix A: local challenges and opportunities
- Appendix B: Delivering the right skills mix for our labour market
Appendix A: local challenges and opportunities
Our communities
Our communities: Pockets of local deprivation
Pockets of local deprivation: several areas within the Borough are amongst the most deprived in the country. Local deprivation in comparison to other areas has been increasing for several years, meaning that Great Yarmouth risks being 'left behind'. That longer-term decline has slowed since 2015. Whilst most ways that we measure deprivation, including 'income' and 'crime', deteriorated here between 2015 and 2019, most neighbourhoods within the Borough actually improved in terms of 'education and skills'. Low levels of social mobility - people's ability to access opportunities to improve their livelihoods and security - can increase inequalities and it is vital that disadvantaged residents and communities are supported to access better paid jobs.
Our communities: High levels of unemployment
High levels of unemployment: unemployment has traditionally been higher in Great Yarmouth than in other areas. For most of the period since 2004, the peaks and the troughs have broadly mirrored the situation elsewhere. The COVID pandemic accelerated some of the underlying challenges or made them worse. There are other periods when our unemployment has been unusually high, such as a spike around mid-2018, where the Office for National Statistics noted that 'the local authorities with the highest unemployment rate estimates in Great Britain were Hartlepool at 8.9%, followed by Great Yarmouth at 8.4% and Wolverhampton at 7.5%'.
Our communities: High levels of economic inactivity
High levels of economic inactivity: local rates of economic inactivity - the proportion of residents not in employment and not seeking work - are higher than in other, similar areas and there are a number of things that contribute to this, including deprivation and physical and mental health, which may have led to an overall increase in economic inactivity amongst men compared to the period before the COVID pandemic. In 2022, over a third of Great Yarmouth's school children in years 10 and 11 were identified as RONI (Risk of NEET Indicators - i.e. they are at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training) which is about 10% higher than for Norfolk as a whole.
Our communities: An ageing population
An ageing population: The Borough's population is growing more slowly than in other areas and this growth is focused on urban areas. The Borough also has an older population than other areas, with a median age - the 'middle' value of all our residents' ages - of 46, compared to 41 for the East of England and 40 for England as a whole. The challenges of providing services to an ageing population are likely to be greater in Great Yarmouth than elsewhere, with a higher proportion of economically inactive individuals that aren't working, paying taxes, or providing care for those who need it.
Our labour market
Our labour market: A reliance on certain industries
A reliance on certain industries: there is strong evidence that a reliance on certain forms of employment or industries - such as tourism - are limiting our residents' wealth, employment opportunities and job security. Healthcare, accommodation and food services and retail provide a greater proportion of employment here than elsewhere in the region or nationally. This reflects both the needs of an ageing population and the importance of tourism to the local economy and residents' opportunities.
Our labour market: Inequality of opportunity
Inequality of opportunity: Great Yarmouth has some of the highest-paying jobs in the County - many of which are in the energy sector. Workers commuting into the Borough typically earn more than residents. This indicates that they are more successful than our residents at securing better-paid local jobs that often require higher technical or professional qualifications. Nevertheless, there are also many high-wage jobs in areas such as construction and welding requiring only NVQ Level 2-3 skills. There are several disadvantaged and marginalised groups within the Borough that require more intensive and personalised support into education and work.
Our labour market: Full-time and part-time workers
Full-time and part-time workers: our residents earn less than their counterparts elsewhere. A reason for this is the availability of seasonal or more casual employment opportunities in lower-skilled, lower-paying jobs or industries. Our residents typically work longer hours than their counterparts elsewhere, too. In accommodation and food services and retail, there are more part-time employees than there are full-time employees. In the health sector there is a more even split. Local part-time workers earn less and work slightly fewer hours than their counterparts elsewhere.
Our labour market: Self-employed workers
Self-employed workers: whilst the local economy is fairly entrepreneurial - in other words, there is a comparatively high business start-up rate and new businesses tend to survive longer here, the number of self-employed workers in the Borough is lower than elsewhere. Self-employed individuals are typically more highly-skilled than those in employment.
Our local economy
Our local economy: Local strengths in energy and maritime
Local strengths in energy and maritime: Great Yarmouth is at the centre of the world's largest market for offshore wind, with extensive clusters of businesses working in clean energy and maritime services. Clean energy has huge potential for ongoing growth and employment if investors' skills needs can be met by attracting and retaining young people, graduates and higher-skilled individuals within the Borough
Our local economy: Local strengths in culture and the visitor economy
Local strengths in culture and the visitor economy: Great Yarmouth is the third most important seaside resort in the UK and adds around £600 million to the local economy every year. Whilst many of the job opportunities are seasonal, there are clear opportunities for residents and businesses within a vibrant heritage, arts and culture scene.
Our local economy: Local businesses
Local businesses: local business numbers reflect Great Yarmouth's economic reliance on tourism- and energy-related industries, with scientific, technical, construction, accommodation and food services dominating our local economy. Further diversification - i.e. broadening the types of businesses that can thrive here, year-round and not just during the summer season - will improve our economic resilience and provide new opportunities for employment and social inclusion.
Our local economy: Our overall economic fitness
Our overall economic fitness: our local economy is defined by the types of businesses that that operate here, their contributions to economic output and gross value-added (GVA) - the financial contribution made to a local economy by its businesses - their productivityand the number of people that they employ. There is a risk of the Borough being 'left behind' unless a long-term divergence from the economic output and productivity of other local economies can be tackled and reversed.
Our local economy: Limiting factors on resilience and growth
Limiting factors on resilience and growth: the local economy's growth and resilience to economic shocks and challenges - such as the COVID pandemic and cost of living crisis -has been affected by labour shortages, by wider changes in consumers' tastes and expectations and by specific skills gaps - including 'basic skills', 'soft skills' digital skills, 'green' skills and the specialist skills required by certain types of business. The foundation economy - the part of our economy that creates and distributes goods and service that we rely on for everyday life - is also affected by skills shortages and high job vacancy rates. Skills gaps in higher technical qualifications cross different industries and affect local productivity, competitiveness and growth. Increased demand for workers from industries such as energy, construction and engineering - and competition between them for staff - makes staff recruitment and retention more difficult and affects further digitalisation and automation of our workplaces and progress towards a low-carbon or net-zero economy.
Our local economy: Emerging workforces
Emerging workforces: it's recognised that workforce requirements are evolving - due to things like including automation and digitalisation - and that big investments like the Sizewell nuclear project in Suffolk are an opportunity for local residents and workers. They can also distort the local labour market, making it harder for our employers to attract and retain staff in areas like engineering and construction. There is a need to ensure that residents and employees are able to attain the necessary skills to enable them to benefit from the new opportunities that will emerge from wider changes in in businesses and the requirements of employers, including a 'green skilled' labour force.
Our education and skills
Our education and skills: Educational underperformance
Educational underperformance: local education levels directly affect the strength of the local economy, how successful residents are in securing employment and how much they're likely to earn. Education leads to higher individual rewards and is necessary for longer-term economic growth and resilience. Despite improvements, local GCSE pass rates and the highest level of education achieved are still lower than for the rest of Norfolk and England as a whole.
Our education and skills: Qualification levels
Qualification levels: of the 318 district councils in England Wales, Great Yarmouth has the lowest proportion of residents with degree-level qualifications and the sixth highest proportion of residents with no formal qualifications. Despite improvements over the past twenty years, especially in the proportion of residents with higher qualifications - those likely to be required for higher-value jobs - the Borough is less successful than other areas at producing, or retaining, highly-qualified people.
Our education and skills: Investment in skills and learning
Investment in skills and learning: including physical buildings such as the new University Learning Centre in the Town Centre, an £11 million East of England Offshore Energy Skills Centre, the multi-million-pound rebuild of East Coast College's Great Yarmouth campus and Energy & Engineering Skills Centre of Excellence in Lowestoft and - slightly further afield - the University of East Anglia's energy engineering course. It's recognised that alongside new facilities, the ways in which residents can access and participate in skills development must be easier to access and better understood by both residents and employers.
Our education and skills: Workforce development and in-work learning
Workforce development and in-work learning: apprenticeships are a proven way for people to get skilled and secure jobs for employers to ensure that they have better-skilled and more-productive workforces. Local businesses also recognise the value of short courses, including 'skills bootcamps', with simple, modular courses aimed at specific skills. Businesses' investment in this is well supported by funding through the apprenticeship levy and a levy share facility, where larger organisations can support smaller businesses to set up apprenticeships. Despite some evidence that staff recruitment and retention are difficult in the current economic climate, businesses in Great Yarmouth have not been choosing to invest more in their existing workforces' skills through apprenticeships or by getting experienced, productive staff to mentor less-experienced employees. Improving graduate and skilled-worker retention to work in our growth industries - along with work returners - especially older residents - and other economically inactive people - is a key priority.
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