Skills Development Scotland and Fife Council workshop

Transcription

Skills Development Scotland
and
Fife Council workshop
Friday 19 March 2010
Venue: Kingdom House
Saltire Centre
Glenrothes
KY6 2AQ
FIFE/SKILLS DEVELOPMENT SCOTLAND “TOWARDS A SERVICE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT” ‐ PARTNERSHIP WORKSHOP FRIDAY 19th MARCH 2010 PARTICIPANT BRIEFING PACK This pack has been prepared to support the Fife partnership workshop involving key staff from Fife Council, Skills Development Scotland, and a variety of other active partners within the local Community Planning mechanisms. The pack contains a series of background papers, key data/information summaries, and a suggested framework from which to agree how SDS can most effectively align its activities with those of other partners. Contents include: 1. The workshop programme 2. Fife Council Briefing Note 3. Briefing note 1 – which summarises key real time data relevant to partner activities in Fife 4. Briefing note 2 ‐ a summary of: the relevant local outcomes within the current SOA and the 7 SDS corporate outcomes 5. SDS delivery sites within Fife, and the lead SDS contact officers 6. The draft Service Delivery Agreement template (which will provide the key focus for workshop discussions) 7. The SDS Fife Briefing (December 2009) Collectively, these documents will inform and provide the backdrop for the workshop discussions. WORKSHOP PROGRAMME “TOWARDS A SERVICE DELIVERY AGREEMENT” FIFE/SKILLS DEVELOPMENT SCOTLAND WORKSHOP FRIDAY 19th MARCH: 2PM – 5PM 2.00: welcome, introductions and expectations, and workshop objectives 2.15: the building blocks ‐ short presentations by: • Skills Development Scotland • Fife Council 2.45: towards a service delivery agreement 3.00: local priority issues and actions to capture in the agreement • Information, advice and guidance • Skills development opportunities including literacy and numeracy • Curriculum for Excellence, 16 Plus Learning Choices and MCMC • National training programmes • Key sector/industry support • Employer engagement • Workforce development ‘gap’ 4.15: moving forward – developing and agreeing a service level agreement 4.45: conclusions and next steps 5.00: close FIFE COUNCIL BRIEFING NOTE
TOPIC: Skills Development Scotland Workshop with Fife Partners – Friday 19th March ‐ 2pm to 5pm at Kingdom House, Glenrothes PREPARED FOR: Workshop Participants PREPARED BY: Anne Macintyre, Team Leader Partnership and Employability, Development Services, Fife Council DATE PREPARED: 9 March 2010 BACKGROUND: A meeting was held on 25 January 2010 involving Damien Yates, Ronnie Hinds and Senior Officers from SDS and Fife Council to discuss how to draw up a Service Delivery Agreement within the context of Fife’s Single Outcome Agreement. It was agreed that the best approach was to set up a workshop through the Opportunities Fife Strategic Group with input from Education and Fife Economy Partnership. A number of key themes were identified including: Information, advice and guidance Skills development opportunities including literacy and numeracy Curriculum for Excellence, 16 Plus Learning Choices and MCMC National training programmes Key sector/industry support Employer engagement Workforce development ‘gap’ This briefing note outlines local priorities in relation to the above key themes in preparation for the workshop. •
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Key documents to be circulated with this briefing note are Opportunities Fife Strategy and Fife Economic Strategy. ISSUES: 1. Information, advice and guidance The Council is committed to targeting services to those most disadvantaged in the labour‐market. At a time of economic recession, availability of quality Information, Advice and Guidance services which are genuinely accessible to all is increasingly important and in particular, to adults who are coping with barriers to employment. It would be helpful to have clarification on the extent of SDS’s role and commitment to working with this client group. For many adults, particularly those with low skills and qualifications, the journey back to or in and out of work will involve acquisition of core and vocational skills through participation in flexible Community Based Learning (CBAL) programmes. Integration of IAG within these programmes to support effective client progression has been identified as a priority for CLD partners involved in delivery of CBAL and we would welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with SDS to build capacity within the partnership to deliver an appropriate level of IAG services to an identified quality standard. The Council has a lead role on the implementation of an Outreach & Engagement Strategy for Employability on behalf of the Opportunities Fife Partnership. The delivery model for the strategy takes services into local communities and targets those coping with barriers to employment, many of whom may find it difficult to access IAG services through more mainstream methods. Development of effective partnership working with agencies such as SDS and JCP is recognised as critical to the success of the strategy and this is being progressed under the auspices of the Opportunities Fife Client Engagement & Progression Delivery Group which is Chaired by the local SDS Manager. Again, some clarification on SDS’s role in supporting delivery of Outreach & Engagement services would be helpful in informing future developments. 2. Skills development Skills development is a strategic priority within the Opportunities Fife Strategy and a key action is to prepare a skills action plan so that local people can be prepared to capitalise on employment opportunities afforded by major capital projects such as second Forth crossing, CVF Aircraft and key growth sectors including renewables, tourism, retail, care and sustainable construction. The first stage in preparing this action plan is to undertake a skills review – focussing initially on Renewables but followed up by a broader review to identify Fife’s future skills requirements. The advice and support of SDS colleagues in this exercise will be crucial to ensure we capture relevant local, national and international information and perspectives. 3. Literacy and Numeracy The Fife Literacies Partnership, represented by private and public sector organisations since 2001, has successfully provided literacy and numeracy support across Fife. Partners work with around 4500 literacies learners per annum of whom approximately 70% are new learners. SDS has continually been involved within the Fife Partnership under the banners of Careers Scotland and Scottish Enterprise Fife and is currently represented on the Literacies Operational Group. The Council, as lead partner has applied particular priority and support to the literacies strategy, ensuring that appropriate funding was made available to the partnership. In terms of skills development, the partnership has continued to provide literacy and numeracy support for those either seeking work or employed. Particular success was achieved by the Fife Partnership for Essential Workplace Skills, a consortium of the Fife Literacies Partnership that ran a pilot project between 2007‐2008. Designed to focus on employer/employee engagement and awareness‐ raising, the project engaged with 51 employers and 664 employees. As a result of this, 329 employees participated in workplace delivered projects. This project, funded by Learning Connections and promoted by the Scottish Government, produced outstanding results in terms of developing a more comprehensive, Fife‐wide and co‐ordinated approach to raising employer awareness of literacies issues and engaging them with workplace literacies support. Building on the Essential Workplace Skills initiative, the partnership has continued to support skills development through Literacies Challenge Funded projects run by private and public sector partner organisations. Recent and current dedicated workforce projects include the Fife Fire and Rescue Service; Kingdom Homes Care Workers, Ingenico, Ark Housing Care workers and Fife Council Environmental Service Operatives. The Fife Council ESOL Service plays an important role in provision of literacies support to employees, whose first language is not English supported by funding from the Literacies budget, ESF projects and from Council budgets. In addition to this there are many employed learners participating in College‐ run Challenge funded projects and integrated courses. The current Literacies Action Plan, covering the period 2009‐2011 includes workplace/skills development. Outcome three of its targets aims to maintain the number of employed literacies learners and the number of employers supporting literacies learning. The partnership aims to deliver literacies to employed learners within both workplace and educational environments. Outcome five of the Literacies Action Plan aims to increase the number of young people within the age group of 16‐25 engaged in literacies provision. This will support the More Choices More Chances and 16 Plus Learning Choices programmes. There has been an increase in literacies provision for young people through the new Challenge funded Rathbone Training project and continuation of the IDTC Limited project. Both of these provide skills development for those young people that need support at pre‐entry and early entry into the workplace. In addition to the workplace literacies aspect, the Literacies Partnership has prioritised delivery in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) data zones. Outcome two of the Action Plan aims to maintain the level of dedicated literacies provision, with specific focus on areas with the greatest social need. The Challenge Fund scoring system is weighted to encourage providers to support delivery in these areas. In addition to the direct delivery of literacies provision the partnership provides staff training in literacies primarily through Fife Council ABE. ABE are an Accredited SQA Training Centre for the delivery of the PDA ITALL, PDA Dyslexia and 2 new HN Units in Tutoring Numeracy in Adult Literacies. Carnegie College also deliver the PDA Dyslexia. 4. Curriculum for Excellence, 16 Plus Learning Choices and MCMC The Fife response to MCMC has been developing since 2007. This has always been based on a strong strategic partnership involving FC, Third Sector, SDS and Fife Colleges in particular. As a result of significant work in this context, Fife has been able to set up a short term (until March 2011) 16+ LC Project Team to further develop a process based on school 16+ LC teams, key workers, post school transition groups and a strong Activity Agreement provision. SDS makes a significant contribution to this process and although developing, a number of aspects still require discussion and clarity ‐
the status of Activate Programmes (presently in 9 out 19 secondary schools.
the role of SDS key workers and 16+ Transition Workers in the AA process
the use of INSIGHT in relation to school 'offers' spreadsheets
access to INSIGHT
SDS Case Management 5. National training programmes
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Fife partners welcomed the consultative approach adopted by SDS in preparing Demand Statements for national training programmes to shape the provision for 2010/11. Although timescales were extremely tight this year the strategic partnership structures in place through Fife Economy Partnership and Opportunities Fife provides an effective mechanism for consulting on design of future provision. 6. Economic Development Strategy and Key sector/industry support Fife Economic Strategy 2009 – 2020 outlines our priorities under the following six outcome themes: Outcome Theme: More Dynamic Businesses Priorities – how we’ll make a difference •
Continue the reorganisation of Business Gateway to streamline business support services in Fife and align more effectively with partners •
Implement enterprise actions arising from the Fife Culture of Enterprise Framework •
Utilise the Fife Investment Fund to explore partnership with other Local Authorities to attract greater EU funding •
Improve processing times for business planning applications •
Harness the Fife Council trade exhibition programme to generate better business opportunities locally, nationally and internationally •
Utilise the Supplier Development Programme to enhance supply chain procurement opportunities for Fife‐
based companies Outcome Theme: Extended Employment and Skills Opportunities Priorities – how we’ll make a difference •
Restructure opportunity centres to become a flexible network of seamless employability support services under the ‘Opportunities Fife’ brand •
Improve accessibility and targeting of employability services in deprived areas of Fife •
Build on partnership working activities between Jobcentre Plus, Skills Development Scotland and Fife’s educational institutions to maximise employability efforts •
Widening opportunities for engaging those without work in activities that will move them towards training and employment – particularly those who are furthest from the labour market •
Expanding locally based degree level provision in Fife and ensuring that there are graduate level job opportunities available in Fife •
Capitalising on training and employment opportunities afforded by major capital projects, such as the second forth crossing and the CVF Aircraft Carriers Outcome Theme: A Modern Business Infrastructure Priorities – how we’ll make a difference •
Maintain an effective supply of employment land for Fife •
Remediate key employment land sites in Fife to stimulate inward investment and support business expansion •
Capitalising on the opportunities for training, employment and supply chain business growth from major capital projects in Fife such as the new Forth crossing and the Rosyth Multi‐Modal Container Terminal •
Stemming retail leakage to competitive centres outwith Fife •
Supporting renewable energy infrastructure projects such as the thermal biomass projects currently being developed by the private sector •
Support the development of innovative cross‐forth travel Outcome Theme: Improved Knowledge and Research Base Priorities ‐ how we’ll make a difference •
Business Gateway will provide support to stimulate and encourage innovation and growth in Small to Medium‐
sized Enterprises (SMEs) •
Provide business research facilities for renewable energy to help facilitate the commercialisation of research in developments such as the Hydrogen Office, Methil •
Establish a knowledge‐transfer network between local companies and educational institutions across Fife •
Assist businesses to access national and other funding for research and development activities by better integrating services across public sector agencies, including St Andrews University and Fife’s colleges •
Work in partnership with Scottish Enterprise to attract and retain more graduates to Fife‐based businesses, through the Fife Culture of Enterprise Framework •
Continue to develop science and technology links within and outwith Fife by the creation of a science park associated with the University of St Andrews Outcome Theme: Business and Employment Growth in Key Sectors Priorities – how we’ll make a difference •
Supporting renewable energy projects to transform Fife’s economy for the future and become a leading Scottish centre within the sector and creating or safeguarding 2,000 green jobs •
Implement a multi‐agency approach to align skills development and business growth in Fife’s renewable energy sector •
Ensuring that the right support structure is in place for tourism businesses to contribute to overall growth and provide business development and networking opportunities within the tourism business community •
Use the ‘Promoting Fife’ initiative to provide targeted and customer‐focused tourism marketing that complements activities by partner organisations, such as VisitScotland •
Maintain existing strengths and develop network activity in financial and business services, construction, creative industries and IT and technology •
Connect niche sectors in Fife to city region activities to benefit from economies of scale Outcome Theme: Stronger Communities through Regeneration Priorities – how we’ll make a difference •
Ensure renewable energy developments create employment and training opportunities to enhance the regeneration of deprived areas •
Development and expansion of social enterprises as a key part of the local economy and job market in priority areas. This support will include tailored events and support with funding applications. •
Tackling inequalities through regeneration and promotion of communities by investing in town centres will help to improve priority areas •
Develop business incubation units in other priority areas, building on the success of recent provision in Kirkcaldy and Methil. •
Delivering ‘Be Your Own Boss’ programmes throughout priority areas •
Continuing to support town centre partnerships including Town Centre Management; Business Improvement Districts; and Business Associations, to ensure that businesses are stakeholders in the future of their town centre 7. Employer engagement More co‐ordinated employer engagement is a key priority for Opportunities Fife and an Employer Engagement Group (including SDS area manager) has been established to drive forward priority actions as follows: Develop an Opportunities Fife ‘employer offer’ and work proactively with employers to create employment pathways for key client groups • Capitalise on employment opportunities afforded by major capital projects such as second Forth crossing, CVF Aircraft and key growth sectors including renewables, tourism, retail, care and sustainable construction • Working proactively with public sector agencies as significant employers of target client groups • Deliver a responsive redundancy support service through PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) • Introduce measures to increase job sustainability and increased retention levels including vocational rehabilitation – see 5.8. • Create transitional employment opportunities through Future Jobs Fund, Community Task Force and Fife Intermediate Labour Market to prepare people for future jobs. 8. Workforce development •
In addition to the workforce development support identified within Fife Economic Strategy, Opportunities Fife partners have applied for ESF Priority 2 funding for ‘Upskilling the Workforce’ programme and if successful will work with economic development, Business Gateway and employers to deliver this. We are also keen to address ‘in‐work’ poverty recognising that the average wage in Fife is significantly lower than the Scottish average and are using Fairer Scotland Funding to pilot approaches through ‘Making Work Pay’ linked to a workforce development initiative with Fife Works through which ILA’s are extensively promoted. There are also opportunities for workforce development within ‘Health Works’ – the Government’s review of the Healthy Working Lives Strategy which highlights new drivers to bring employability and health closer together linking NHS services and local employability services. Fife Council and NHS Fife will be drawing up an action plan to address the challenges presented through Health Works including improving retention rates for employees with health issues. It would be helpful to know specific areas of support that SDS can provide in developing services to employers including workforce development. BRIEFING PAPER 1: SUMMARY OF KEY DATA School leaver destinations 2008‐09 • A total of 3,888 young people left schools in Fife in 2008‐09. Of these, 85.7% left to a positive destination, and 14.3% to a negative, or unknown destination, both equalling the average rates across Scotland. The numbers entering a positive destination fell by 0.6% since 2007‐08, just lower than the decline of 0.8% in Scotland • There was a marked decrease in the number of leavers entering employment, dropping by 5.3% since last year to 12.9% in 2008‐09, the lowest level in 10 years, and considerably lower than the national average of 18.4% across Scotland • Reflecting the national trend, the proportion of school leavers entering further and higher education however, rose by 4.9% to 68.9%, its highest level in a decade. Amongst these, Fife had the highest percentage of leavers entering further education in Scotland • 12.1% of leavers in Fife were unemployed and seeking employment or training. This was 1.4% higher than the previous year, and above the national rate of 11.5% • 1.7% of leavers were unemployed and not seeking employment or training, just above the national rate of 1.6%. A further 0.6% of school leavers in Fife had unknown destinations, compared to 1.2% across Scotland National Training Programme: results for the first half of 2009‐10 • There were 1,052 new starts on training programmes in Fife between the 1st April and 25th September 2009, and a total of 2,531 trainees in training at the end of that period • The biggest number of trainees were in Modern Apprenticeships (MA)16‐19, accounting for 57.2% of the total in training. MA 20+ accounted for 18% of trainee numbers, Skillseekers accounted for 13.5%, and Get Ready for Work (GRfW) for 6.4% of trainees. Training for Work (TFW) and Lifeskills were the smallest programmes, with 4% and 0.9% of total trainee numbers • A total of 676 outcomes were achieved by trainees on national training programmes between 1st April and 25th September 2009. These included qualifications, progression to another training programme or into education, job outcomes, and retention or sustained job outcomes The More Choices More Chances (MCMC) group • The MCMC group comprise young people aged 15‐19 who are either unemployed and seeking employment/training, or who are economically inactive. At 16th November 2009, a total of 695 young people (known to SDS) were “unemployed and seeking”. 41% of this group were aged 17, 36% aged 15/16, and 23% aged18/19. 57% of the group were male and 43% female. 81% of the group had been unemployed for under 3 months, 15% had been unemployed for 3‐6 months, and 4% had been unemployed for 6 ‐12 months The School College Collaboration (SCC) Project • The SCC project works directly with S2‐S5 pupils and partners to ensure vocational study at school and post school learning activities are given equal status with other school/post school options • Results from year 3 show that SCC pupils in Fife are more likely to enter learning opportunities, particularly further education and training, and are less likely to be unemployed. Overall, 12% more SCC pupils entered positive destinations than the mainstream statutory leavers cohort. SCC is also shown to have increased awareness and understanding of learning opportunities amongst Fife pupils and is perceived to have had significant influence on pupils career plans, as well as increasing pupil confidence Full details of the above sets of data can be found at the following link on the SDS web‐site: http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/briefings.aspx BRIEFING PAPER 2: SUMMARY OF RELEVANT LOCAL OUTCOMES AND ISSUES This briefing note summarises the key starting points to develop robust strategic linkages. These will inform the process to align SDS activities with those of the local authority and other Community Planning partners. Two related sets of outcomes are suggested as important starting points: (a) the local outcomes from the SOA of most relevance to SDS activities, and (b) SDS’s initial corporate outcomes1. The suggested format for a local partnership delivery agreement will build on the linkages apparent between these lists. This is reflected in the proposed Service Delivery Framework contained later in this pack. Single Outcome Agreement for Fife 2008‐11 ‐ related local outcomes • Economy Outcome 1: A dynamic business base and a skilled workforce • Economy Outcome 2: Success in key sectors of the economy • Economy Outcome 3: A knowledge Economy • Economy Outcome 4: Pathways to employment • Learning Outcome 3: Promoting educational achievement • Environmental Outcome 1: Less waste • Best value and excellence for Fife SDS corporate outcomes 1. More people progress, achieve and sustain positive destinations 2. Employers are more productive as a result in the skills and development of their employees 3. More effective labour supply 4. Equalities in learning and employment are improved across Scotland 5. SDS is valued by, and has a strong reputation with, customers and key stakeholders 6. SDS influences and stimulates a high performing skills system 7. SDS achieves its goals and delivers its services in ways that minimise environmental impacts 1
These may be refined in the course of the planning cycle. SDS LEAD CONTACTS/DELIVERY BASES Local Authority SDS Region Head of Region Area Manager Fife North East Gordon MacDougall Grant MacDougall gordon.macdougall@sds.co.uk grant.macdougall@sds.co.uk Tel: 07771 943650 Tel: 01592 623028 Mob: 07736 364501 SDS main delivery centres Opportunity Centre, 12 Whytescauseway, Kirkcaldy KY1 1XF Tel: 01592 583345 Careers Scotland Centre, 15 East Port, Dunfermline, K12 7JG Tel: 01383 602378 Kingdom House, Saltire Centre, Glenrothes, Fife KY6 2AQ Tel: 01592 631155 DRAFT SERVICE DELIVERY AGREEMENT TEMPLATE The attached tables contain the framework for the draft Service Delivery Agreement between Skills Development Scotland and Fife Council for 2010‐11. This has been established as a result of a series of developmental discussions involving national and local SDS staff, and officers from the Council and other Community Planning partners. The format of the template has been taken from the joint SOLACE/Improvement Service good practice note on the use of outcome indicators within SOAs. The agreement has been developed to add value to a range of existing planning mechanisms, and in particular its format is designed to enable consistency and “read across” with the wider Single Outcome Agreement framework now in place. The agreement is intended to embed and clarify the contribution of the services and activities of SDS within the collective efforts of all local partners to address skills, learning and employability issues. It is focused on ensuring these combine to maximum effect to address locally identified priorities. At this stage the draft contained overleaf has mapped and correlated relevant national outcomes, and related local outcomes, and cross referenced these to SDS’s corporate objectives. Key generic SDS inputs and activities are also listed to aid developmental discussions within the workshop. The potential contribution of these, and how they can best combine with other partner activities, will be considered as appropriate within the workshop discussion session on key local issues. It is intended the workshop itself will make further progress in completing the template, and also identify how elements that cannot be completed on the day will be finalised. This will ensure a strong developmental dynamic in the process. The agreement will be used both as a review tool, and as the basis for the further development of joint working. Through application it will continue to be refined, and provide a solid foundation to integrate the ongoing work of SDS within the next generation of SOAs from 2011. Both SDS and Councils are committed to establishing the initial SDA by the end of March 2010. DRAFT Format for SDS Service Delivery Agreement for Fife
Produced by:
Date:
Local Outcome
Economy
Outcome 1
A dynamic
business base
and a skilled
workforce
Economy
Outcome 2
Success in key
sectors of
the economy
Economy
Outcome 1
A dynamic
business
base and a
skilled
workforce
Economy
Outcome 3
A knowledge
economy
Learning
Outcome 3
15/03/2010
National
Outcome
2. We will
realise our full
economic
potential with
more and
better
employment
opportunities
for our people.
SDS Outcome/s
SDS Inputs
SDS Activities
Employers are
more productive
as a result of
investment in
skills and
development of
their employees
Chairing and
contributing to
PACE activities
•
•
Local investment
via national
training
programmes
•
SDS Key Sector
Team
3. We are
better
educated,
more skilled
and more
successful,
renowned for
our research
and innovation
4: Our young
people are
More effective
labour supply
More people
progress, achieve
and sustain
positive
destinations
All age careers
guidance services
SDS Key Sector
Team
Employers are
more productive
as a result of
investment in
skills and
development of
their employees
Learn Direct
helpline
Equalities in
learning are
Local investment
via national
All age careers
guidance services
•
•
•
•
PACE co-ordination
General careers guidance services and
specific supports such as Careers Match and
CV builder
Local delivery of: Modern Apprenticeships;
Get Ready for Work; Training for Work; and
Skillseekers – with focus where appropriate
on key sectors
Scottish Employer Service
Skills Gateways (Spring 2010)
Skills for Growth (Summer 2010)
Integrated Employment & Skills service in
partnership with JCP (Summer 2010 rollout)
•
•
My Learning Space (Summer 2010)
My Learning Coach (Summer 2010)
•
•
•
•
Scottish Employer Service
Skills Gateways (Spring 2010)
Skills for Growth (Summer 2010)
•
SDS Outputs
Progress Against
Outcomes
X level 2
qualifications
achieved
Number of young
people entering
positive outcomes
achieved as a result
of participation in
NTP’s
Progress Against Long Term Outcomes
An increase in economic activity rates
DRAFT Format for SDS Service Delivery Agreement for Fife
Produced by:
Date:
Promoting
educational
achievement
successful
learners,
confident
individuals,
effective
contributors
and
responsible
citizens.
improved across
Scotland
training
programmes
Targeted careers
guidance services
Individual
Learning
accounts
Access to SDS
branded learning
centre network
Learn Direct
helpline
Big Plus helpline
15/03/2010
•
•
•
on key sectors
Targeted careers guidance services and
specific supports such as Careers Match
Scotland; and CV builder
MCMC group targeting in schools
•
Utilisation/development of local branded
learning centres
•
•
•
Promotion, allocation and monitoring of ILAs
Use of Learn Direct helpline
Big Plus local promotion and referral rates
Produced by:
Date:
Economy
Outcome 4
Pathways to
employment
7. We have
tackled the
significant
inequalities in
Scottish
society
Equalities in
learning are
improved across
Scotland
Local investment
via national
training
programmes
Targeted careers
guidance services
Individual
Learning
accounts
Access to SDS
branded learning
centre network
Environment
Outcome 1
Less waste
14. We reduce
the local and
global
environmental
impact of our
consumption
and production
SDS achieves it’s
goals and
delivers it’s
services in ways
that minimise
environmental
impacts
Best Value and
Excellence for
Fife
15: Our public
services are
high quality,
continually
SDS is valued
and has a strong
reputation with
customers and
15/03/2010
•
•
•
•
on key sectors
Targeted careers guidance services and
specific supports such as Careers Match
Scotland; and CV builder
MCMC group targeting in schools
•
Utilisation/development of local branded
learning centres
Learn Direct
helpline
•
•
•
Promotion, allocation and monitoring of ILAs
Use of Learn Direct helpline
Big Plus referral rates
Big Plus
Via all activities
and approaches
•
Use of Video Conference facilities where
appropriate
Use of public transport where travel required
•
Partnership
working e.g.
Community
Planning/SOA
•
•
•
Inputs to relevant local partnerships
Development of SDA linked to the local area
SOA
Produced by:
Date:
improving,
efficient and
responsive to
local needs
15/03/2010
key stakeholders
links, PACE, IES
work with JCP etc
SDS influences
and stimulates a
high performing
skills system
Big Plus helpline
– referral
processes to
providers
•
•
Big Plus referral mechanisms
Integrated partnership delivery models via
Learning Centre network
ABERDEEN CITY
FIFE
BRIEFING
DECEMBER 2009
NOVEMBER
Chief Executive’s Message
What is Skills Development Scotland?
Since its formation in April 2008, Skills Development Scotland
has pursued its key purpose of maximising Scotland’s
sustainable economic growth by unlocking the potential of the
country’s greatest asset – our people.
Damien Yeates Chief Executive
Delivering
comprehensive
information,
advice and
guidance for
careers and
learning, as
well as
delivering skills
development
By bringing together learndirect scotland,
Careers Scotland and the main Skills and
Training interventions of Scottish
Enterprise and Highlands & Islands
Enterprise, we have made major inroads
to becoming a coherent body delivering
comprehensive information, advice and
guidance for careers and learning, as
well as delivering skills development.
We strive to be a catalyst for real and
positive change in Scotland’s skills
performance by helping individuals
realise their full potential. We also help
employers be more successful through
skills development.
We want to develop meaningful
partnerships at national, regional and
local levels. Through these partnerships,
we will work towards fulfilling our vision
and drive forward real, positive and
sustained change in Scotland’s skills
performance.
The aim of this briefing is to let you know
about our services and results and to give
you an overview of the local labour market.
We plan to produce these briefings on a
quarterly basis and would welcome your
feedback on what you would like us to
include. You can get in touch via your
local contact, see details below, or by
sending an email to
info@skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk.
Alternatively, you can keep up to date
with our activity by visiting our website
www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk.
Your local contact
Grant McDougall
Area Manager
Fife
T: 01592 623028
M: 07736 364501
E: grant.mcdougall@sds.co.uk
Our Services
LEARNING
EMPLOYMENT
L
Skills Development Scotland was
created to change the way in which
people learn, develop and utilise
their skills, and also to help
businesses and organisations build
their capabilities and put their
skills to their most productive use.
Our core services include careers
advice and guidance for young people
still at school as well as adults
looking to find work, those facing the
threat of redundancy and for those
looking to advance their career.
CAREERS
We are also actively engaging
with employers and offer a variety
of ways for people to develop
their skills through a range
work-based national training
programmes, including Modern
Apprenticeships, Get Ready
for Work, Training for Work
and Skillseekers.
Together with Jobcentre Plus, we
plan to introduce an integrated
employment and skills service
throughout Scotland in 2010.
DEVELOPMENT
We will soon be introducing a new
brand identity to unify our work
and to better connect with our
customers. In the interim, you
may be more familiar with what
we do through the different
services, brands and initiatives we
have brought together under Skills
Development Scotland. Here’s a
brief summary of these with
highlights for the first six months
of 2009/10.
Careers Scotland offers guidance to all school pupils from S2 onwards but is also freely available to
adults of any age. For example, PACE is a unique Scottish partnership initiative which provides support to
employees when an organisation announces redundancies. As part of PACE, Skills Development
Scotland offers careers advice and information on financial help, including business start up.
Other services available include CareersMatch Scotland which matches an individual’s skills and interests
to occupations; a CV Builder which allows individuals to create and save their own CVs;
Higher Education Conventions, a series of events that provide pupils with details about further and higher
education courses in Scotland and beyond; and the Exams Helpline, which provides pupils and parents with
impartial guidance on the clearing process and what their options are once the results are known.
Fast facts, April-September 2009
• 125,959 visits were made to Careers Scotland centres across the country.
• There were 173,412 face-to-face interventions with individuals to support their career
planning, improve their readiness to enter the labour market through employability
support or to aid their personal and social development through mentoring support.
• 41,284 school pupils were supported to progress their career choices and to make a
successful transition into work, training, or further education.
The Scottish Government would like everyone to carry on learning throughout their life, whether it's to get
a job or to improve their skills. We encourage this via learndirect scotland’s helpline, website and
network of over 500 branded learning centres.
ILA Scotland is a Scottish Government scheme that helps people pay for learning. It’s available to people
over 16 who have an income of £22,000 a year or less, or who are on benefits. Up to £500 towards the cost
of learning is available each year.
BRIEFING
FIFE DECEMBER 2009
The Big Plus is Scotland’s campaign to promote the free help that’s available for adults who need support
with reading, writing and numbers. People who contact us are put in touch with local tutors.
Fast facts, April-September 2009
• 954,691 visits were made to our family of websites.
• 141,992 calls were made to our helplines.
Another important area of our work is the delivery of four national training programmes where we work closely with a range of
providers to promote recruitment and to ensure high quality delivery.
Modern Apprenticeships offer people aged 16 and over the chance of paid employment combined with
the opportunity to train for jobs at craft, technician and management level. They are an exciting way of
gaining skills and qualifications that will help to start a career without having to study full-time, and are
now available across a wide range of industries.
Get Ready for Work is a national training programme for young people aged 16 to 19 who are not at
school, college, work or in training. The programme has been developed to help them move into a job,
further training or college. It helps them focus on what they want to do, learn new skills and gain the
confidence to make progress.
Training for Work provides training support for people aged 18 and over, who have been unemployed for at
least 13 weeks and who are actively looking for work. The programme allows people to undertake vocational
training linked to local labour market opportunities, enabling individuals to secure and sustain employment.
Skillseekers is a vocational training programme for young people aged 16 to 19, who want to develop
their skills and equip themselves for the world of work. It’s open to people who have left school and have
a job or who are looking for work.
Fast facts, all national training programmes combined, April-September 2009
Across Scotland
• 21,595 unemployed 16 to 19 year olds received personal support to secure training, work or
learning opportunities.
• 18,346 adults over 20 years old engaged with us to make effective career decisions or to
develop their skills and progress their careers.
• There were 7,185 achievements, such as the attainment of a qualification, a job, or progression
to another training programme.
• We engaged with 23,123 small to medium sized enterprises in staff development and training.
In Fife
• 1,052 people were successfully recruited across the four national programmes.
• 2,531 individuals were actively in training.
• There were 676 achievements, such as the attainment of a qualification, a job, or progression
to another training programme.
BRIEFING
FIFE DECEMBER 2009
Labour Market Overview
Skills Development Scotland has a key
role to play in making the link between
the supply of people skills and the
demand for businesses to meet their
workforce requirements.
In the past, through learndirect scotland for
business, we focused on helping small to
medium sized businesses. This focus will
continue, but we will also help larger
organisations too and work in partnership
with key partners such as the Sector Skills
Councils, trade unions and the Scottish
Funding Council to achieve our goals.
We will also prioritise our skills
development activities in the
Government Economic Strategy
key sectors. These are creative
industries, financial and business
services, energy, food and drink, tourism,
life sciences and universities.
Fast Facts: Fife
• The population of the Fife local
authority area is 361,900.
• 222,800, or 76.5%, are of
working age.
• During October 2009, 9,751 people
were claiming Job Seeker’s
Allowance.
• In the same month, Jobcentre Plus
reported 913 unfilled vacancies.
• Employee jobs by Industry (March 2009).
Agriculture and Fishing
Energy and Water
Manufacturing
Construction
Distribution, Hotels and
Restaurants
Transport and
Communications
2%
1%
14%
8%
21%
3%
Banking, Finance and
Insurance
11%
Public Administration,
Education and Health
34%
Other
5%
Sectors with fewer than 500 jobs are not represented.
Source: Office of National Statistics 2009
Latest News…
• Skills Development Scotland’s Space
School 2009 took off in November,
with 14 young people from across
Scotland attending a ten-day study
trip to NASA Space Centre, Houston.
The group took part in a range of
activities and organisational visits to
the United Space Alliance, The Wood
Group Engineers, Johnson Space
Centre and Rice University.
Our relationship with NASA is an
invaluable way of motivating and
inspiring young people to aim higher.
Visit our website to find out more
about the initiative and to see how
the group got on.
• The Scottish Region of the National
Training Awards took place in
Edinburgh on 5 November. The
awards, managed by UK Skills and
delivered by Skills Development
Scotland on behalf of the Scottish
Government, inspire others through
recognising best practice in learning
and development.
• The 8th annual Modern
Apprenticeships Awards will be held
in Glasgow on 9 December. Staged
by Skills Development Scotland and
sponsored by SQA, there are 106
entries in nine categories. All
celebrate the high standards being
reached by many employees,
employers and learning providers
involved in Modern Apprenticeships.
• Visit our website to download our
Partner Update Reports. Published
every six months, they include our
School Leaver Destination Report
and full analysis of our skills
programmes.
GrowinG FiFE’S FuturE
Fife Economic Strategy 2009-2020
Chairman’s Remarks
‘Fife - the easiest place to do business’
The Fife Economic Strategy 2009-2020
outlines a new direction for the
Fife economy - one that integrates
sustainability, promotes inclusion and
generates strong and stable economic
prosperity. This success must benefit
local residents, communities and
businesses and maintain and enhance
the natural environment. This new
strategy demonstrates Fife’s strong
commitment to improving Scotland’s
performance through sustainable
economic growth as outlined in the
and reflected in Fife Council’s BIG 8
Objectives.
Over the coming decades, the
Fife Economy Partnership faces a
number of significant challenges.
Consulting partners on political,
economic, social, environmental and
technological trends has provided
a robust foundation to ensure the
direction we set for the Fife economy
is equitable, inclusive and sustainable.
In developing this strategy we have
considered a variety of scenarios that
encompass issues such as climate
change, the cost of energy and
transport connectivity.
The Fife Economic Strategy will play
a key role in tackling these issues.
For instance, Fife can engage in the
opportunities presented by climate
change through leading the rest
of Scotland towards a low carbon
economy. There may be concerns
among businesses that addressing
climate change will have a negative
impact on the economy but here in
Fife we can show that it generates
investment growth and employment.
Combined investments of almost
£200m by Tullis Russell, Diageo and
Scottish Power in thermal biomass
projects in Fife will not only reduce
carbon dioxide emissions but will
also reduce costs to the businesses
and directly create or safeguard up to
1,400 jobs.
Through the Fife Economic Strategy,
we also intend to grow local
businesses and communities in a
manner that is economically and
socially sustainable and remains
sensitive to the environment.
Transportation and connectivity
improvements identified in the
previous strategy continue to be of
significance for future sustainable
economic growth in Fife. The Fife
Economy Partnership will capitalise
on these developments by seeking
training, employment and business
opportunities in the construction of
key transportation projects such as
the new Forth crossing.
Fife has enormous potential to
be more competitive, grasp new
opportunities and become the easiest
place to do business. However, the Fife
Economy Partnership cannot achieve
this vision alone.
This Fife Economic Strategy belongs
to Fife’s people, its businesses and
its communities. In reading this
strategy, ask yourself, what is your
role in Growing Fife’s Future? Through
working together we will position
Fife as a location of choice to live,
work, visit and invest and ensure that
Fife’s communities benefit from a
prosperous, inclusive and sustainable
economy.
Fraser Phillips,
Chair, Fife Economy Partnership
1
2
Introduction
What is
sustainability?
New partnership
working
Since the introduction of Fife’s
previous economic strategy, the Fife
Economic Development Strategy
2005-2015, there have been
substantial changes in economic,
social and environmental issues
that we must respond to. In other
words, to become a truly 21st
century economy, we must embrace
sustainable development. But what do
we actually mean by this? The Scottish
Government defines the concept as:
Ensuring the needs of today’s Fifers are
met, as well as those of the future is
our challenge. Fife’s inherent strength
in renewable natural resources and
renewable energy manufacturing
and research has established a new
sense of purpose and focus for the Fife
economy of the future. To harness our
strengths and help deliver on our
objectives, a review of partnership
working was undertaken.
“development which
secures a balance of
social, economic, and
environmental wellbeing in the impact
of activities and
decisions; and which
seeks to meet the
needs of the present
without compromising
the ability of future
generations to meet
their own needs”1.
The review assessed existing working
relationships between partners in
economic development and helped
determine an appropriate model
for future partnership working. The
outcome led to the creation of the
Fife Economy Partnership (FEP).
The new partnership will identify
and drive the appropriate strategic
policies and initiatives to grow the
Fife economy. It will also deliver on
the Fife Community Plan’s economic
priorities that areagreed through Fife’s
Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) – a
concordat between Fife Council and
the Scottish Government. In addition
to changes in the way we work across
Fife, there have also been changes in
working relationships and
responsibilities at a national level.
Revitalised working
relationships
Following the Scottish Government’s
Review of Enterprise Networks, the
skills function of Scottish Enterprise
has been moved into a new entity
called Skills Development Scotland.
Local offices have been merged
into regional centres, with Fife now
under Scottish Enterprise East. The
responsibility for local regeneration
and Business Gateway activities
has also been transferred to local
authorities.
3
A Scenario for Fife in 2020
In developing this strategy, a
variety of forces such as climate
change, demographic trends
and technological advancement
that are likely to have an impact
on Fife over the coming decade
have been considered. These have
been developed into a scenario to
illustrate how over the next decade
Fife could ultimately benefit from
the objectives and direction of this
strategy.
SuSTAINABLE SuCCESS: A 2020
SCENARIO
The uK and Scottish economies have
returned to sustained economic
growth following the credit crunch of
2008. Tightened financial regulation
and more prudent methods of
banking have also led to a growth
in sustainable business practices.
Dramatic new evidence that climate
change is accelerating faster than
expected, coupled with large rises in
the price of oil and other raw materials
have caused a boom in renewable
energy and environmental goods and
services. Consequently, the Scottish
Government pledge to make Scotland
“The Green Capital of Europe” is
beginning to bear fruit.
The Energy Park Fife has been one
of the main local beneficiaries of
4
the boom in renewable energy, with
particular strength in the manufacture
of wind turbines. The adjoining site
that features the Hydrogen Office is
now home to a network of spin-out
companies from the university of St
Andrews and hi-tech firms who have
clustered together to spearhead
research into clean technologies.
Combined employment of both
sites has now far exceeded the 2,000
green jobs target set out in the Fife
Economic Strategy 2009-2020 and the
success of reducing carbon emissions
has led Fife to become the first local
authority in the uK to generate more
renewable electricity than it consumes
domestically.
Of particular benefit in attracting
companies to Fife has been the
development of zero carbon business
space. This brought substantial
inward investment, with many
companies committing to reduce
carbon emissions following recently
introduced legislation. This was also
aided through Fife taking part in a
next-generation broadband pilot
scheme. Subsequently, Fife now boasts
the quickest digital connections of
any local authority area in Scotland
and a variety of businesses are keen
to locate to benefit. As such, the John
Smith Business Park (JSBP) has grown
in strength and hosts a number of
successful medium-sized financial
services, IT and software companies.
Average wages and productivity
have also improved due to the
diverse range of high-value added
employment opportunities, swelling
Fife’s contribution to the national
economy.
Significant growth in employment
opportunities across the Kingdom
resulted in Fife’s colleges expanding
substantially to cope with demand
for a more diverse range of courses.
This led to Fife’s colleges becoming
accredited Scottish Centres of
Excellence in Renewable Engineering
and Construction. Importantly, a
successful campaign to embed a
culture of enterprise in Fife led to the
creation of innovative qualificationto-employment networks that
guaranteed graduates a temporary
position following graduation. These
measures, coupled with initiatives
in Fife’s deprived areas have seen
greater retention of both graduate
and migrant workers which has
supported the substantial rise in Fife’s
employment rate. The revitalisation
of deprived areas and decline in
inequalities was mainly the result
of the Strategic Land Allocation
(SLA) approach in planning and
also a number of highly successful
regeneration initiatives.
Communities have become more
engaged in the decision making
process and this has generated a
positive sense of purpose across the
Kingdom but particularly more so in
deprived areas. The empowerment
of community groups has also led
to more effective public-private
partnerships, which has helped
streamline planning applications and
helped target investments to revitalise
town centres more effectively.
A significant turning point for Fife’s
deprived communities has been
the improvements in transport
connectivity. The completion of the
Kirkcaldy-to-Leith cross-forth ferry
route proved particularly crucial in
opening up investment in deprived
areas. Other transportation projects,
such as the successful completion of
an under-budget second forth crossing
(which was later upgraded with the
Dunfermline to Edinburgh tram link),
the reinstatement of the Levenmouth
rail link and road improvements to the
Redhouse roundabout, all supported
wider inward investment to Fife and
greatly improved access to services for
many Fifers and visitors.
The Fife economy of 2020 is in
remarkably better shape than at the
end of the credit crunch. A focus on
sustainability has created a better
balance between manufacturing,
construction and service sectors.
Fife residents and communities have
benefited from the achievements
of Growing Fife’s Future through
new infrastructure, revitalised town
centres, a healthier environment and
less inequality. After over a decade
of concerted action, Fife has become
renowned as a high quality location of
choice to live, work, visit and invest.
wHAT wE wANT TO ACHIEvE
To make this vision a reality, some
headline objectives need to be set.
using 2008 as a baseline up to the year
2020, the Fife Economy Partnership
and relevant public agencies need to
achieve:
Six Strategic Objectives
1. Increase the number of employees in medium and
large enterprises by 10% (6,000 jobs)
2. 80% of the working age population in employment
3. Attract private sector investment through Invest in Fife
of £550m
4. Double the amount of business expenditure in
research and development to £36m
5. Grow Fife’s tourism sector revenue by 20% (£51m)
6. Increase the number of people employed in green jobs
by 2,000
5
1. where we are now
6
what we have achieved
Business Support and Job Creation
Organisation/Initiative
Achievement
Business Gateway
Assisted 1,983 business start-ups, creating 3,057 jobs, and provided more than
£1m of financial assistance over the period 2005-2008
Green Business Fife
Fife Council is working with companies to tackle climate change and develop
sustainability through Green Business Fife. A number of Fife-based businesses
have already demonstrated their commitment through measures such as
generating operating energy through on-site renewable sources or by simply
reducing their own energy requirements
Sector Networks
The Fife Tourism Partnership, Creative Fife, TechnetFife, ContactFife, Green
Business Fife and Fife Construction Forum encourage and support networking,
business development activities and co-operation for companies in these key
sectors
Fife Social Economy Partnership
Between November 2007 and April 2009, the Fife Social Economy Partnership
assisted the start-up of seven new social enterprises. In the same period, 13
existing organisations were supported in making funding applications totalling
£143,780
Fife Investment Fund
In response to the credit crunch, the Fife Investment Fund provided 59 small
businesses with £326,000 of funding to help invest and grow their business
Inward Investment
Achievement
Invest in Fife
Invest in Fife secured an annual average of 11 investment projects, 684 jobs and
£15.5m investment over the three years 2005-2008
Physical/Infrastructure Investment
Achievement
Energy Park Fife
Investment of over £12m in 22,000 square metres of industrial space on the
134 acre site at the Energy Park Fife aims to create a world leading hub for
manufacturing and research activity in renewable energy. The development
has attracted major companies who employ around 350 workers operating
in fabrication, testing, assembly and engineering activities and the site is now
moving into phase two of its development, where employment could rise to
over 1,000
John Smith Business Park
£17.5m of public and private investment in John Smith Business Park has
created 100,000 square feet of high quality office accommodation on the 60
acre site. The total employment on site currently stands around 1,000 with the
potential to rise to 5,000 over time
Business Incubator Kirkcaldy
The Business Incubator Kirkcaldy unit was opened to provide flexible, purposebuilt premises with office accommodation ranging from 160 square feet to 500
square feet to help businesses become established. Currently 12 units out of 35
are let, supporting approximately 50 jobs. In addition, a business incubator was
developed in conjunction with Carnegie College at Methil Docks
7
A Changing Policy Environment
Shaped by the principles for
sustainable economic development
and low carbon targets, the new Fife
Economic Strategy is set within the
context of the following national,
regional and local strategic framework:
• Government Economic Strategy defines the purpose of the Scottish
Government to close the gap in the
rate of sustainable economic growth
between Scotland and the uK by
2011
• Skills for Scotland: A Lifelong
Skills Strategy - sets out the
Scottish Government’s objectives
Fife Partnership and the Scottish
Government that sets targets for the
local economy as identified in the Fife
Community Plan and reflected by the
Council’s Big 8 ambitions
for developing a cohesive lifelong
learning system centred on the
individual but responsive to
employer needs
• Edinburgh City Region Economic
Development Framework –
outlines areas where there is a case
for collaborative action to improve
the economic performance of the
City Region
• Fife Structure Plan 2006-2026 - sets
out the strategic land use framework
for Fife
• Fife Community Plan - sets out Fife
Partnership’s approach to delivering
a shared vision for improving the
quality of life in Fife
• Fairer Fife Framework - outlines
Fife’s approach towards tackling
inequalities, poverty and deprivation
The following diagram illustrates these
linkages:
• Fife Single Outcome Agreement
(SOA) – a concordat between
National and Local Policy Framework
Skills for Scotland: A Lifelong Skills Strategy
UK Shared Framework Principles for Sustainable
Development
• Sustainable economy
Edinburgh City Region Economic
Development Framework
Fife Community Plan (Single Outcome
Agreement)
Fife Structure Plan
A Fairer Fife Framework
Fife Council Plan (Big 8)
Fife Economy Strategy
8
• Promoting good governance
• Living within environmental
limits
• Use sound science
responsibly
•
A strong, healthy and just
society
The UK Low Carbon
Industrial Strategy: A Vision
Fife Economy 2009
The Fife Economic Development
Strategy 2005-2015 was written and
delivered during a period of sustained
national and local economic growth.
At the time of reviewing and
producing this revised Strategy for
2009-2020, the global economy is
undergoing a serious downturn.
The impact on businesses has been
significant with company closures
and job losses in construction, retail
and finance in particular, but also
extending into many other sectors.
Fife has suffered a similar rise in
unemployment as experienced
nationally, with the number of
jobseekers allowance claimants rising
60% between June 2008 and June
2009.
Over the next few years we anticipate
a low rate of economic growth as
a result of the recession. However,
the revised Strategy also looks at
developing long term economic
stability and strength from new
opportunities.
The Strategy must therefore plan for
both the short and long term. It must
provide greater flexibility to enable
effective and appropriate responses to
economic, social and environmental
challenges and harness opportunities,
including new technologies, when
they arise.
Employment Rate
In the year to September
2008, Fife’s employment rate
outperformed the Scottish and
uK averages
Solidarity and Cohesion
Around 44,000 people in Fife are
income deprived - the fourth
highest of any local authority in
Scotland
Sustainability
Renewable energy developments
at Tullis Russell, Diageo and the
Energy Park Fife will reduce carbon
emissions through producing
renewable electricity and
potentially creating up to 2,000
new jobs
9
2. where we want to be
10
vision and guiding principles
This Strategy will deliver the Fife Economy Partnership’s vision of Fife in
2020 as:
The easiest place to do business – where a
flexible business infrastructure and responsive services
for new and growing businesses ensure that Fife is the
location of choice for business investment from any
industry sector.
A centre of excellence for renewable
energy – Fife’s strengths in providing an
excellent business environment for renewable energy
manufacturing, research and services have led to the
region becoming a leader in renewable energy.
We want Fife to be the first location
of choice, where people and
businesses choose to invest, work,
learn, visit and live. To achieve this,
Fife needs to become:
• more prosperous, recognising that
economic growth must contribute
to the Government’s objectives for
sustainable economic growth and
equality in distribution of this wealth
• more inclusive, ensuring
opportunities are available for all.
Greater community empowerment
and better utilising the skills and
talents of Fife’s people will cultivate
sustained productivity and cohesion
• adaptive to change, the future will
certainly not see a return to businessas-usual. Changes in demands from
customers; how goods and services
are produced; the supply chain; the
nature of competitive advantage; the
way people live their lives and the
regulatory context for business are all
likely to be different. Organisations
must ensure they can adapt to
changing circumstances to realise
sustainable success
STRATEGIC FOCuS
Following consultation with our
key stakeholders and analysis
of Fife’s performance against
the previous strategy, we have
concluded that our six strategic
outcome themes should focus on:
1 Supporting the growth of
dynamic businesses
2 Extending employment and
skills opportunities
3 Developing a modern business
infrastructure
4 Improving our knowledge and
research base
5 Growing business and
employment in key sectors
6 Stronger communities through
regeneration
• more environmentally conscious,
through minimising wherever
possible the use of non-renewable
resources and being fully prepared to
pursue a zero carbon future
11
OuTCOME THEMES
OUTCOME 1 MORE dyNAMIC
bUSINESSES
Issues and Challenges
Fife’s businesses are the primary
drivers of its sustainable economic
growth. They provide employment and
earnings, contribute to a competitive
business environment and create
markets for other businesses. They
also set the demand for our colleges
and universities in supplying a
skilled and informed workforce. A
competitive business environment
boosts productivity by stimulating
investment, innovation and greater
workforce development. Embracing
sustainability and low carbon
objectives will ensure Fife businesses
are prepared for the future.
Fife, in common with the rest of
Scotland, needs to improve its
business formation and survival rates
to compete in the global market.
Increasing our business start-ups
will help to foster competition and
innovation, achieve productivity gains
and create employment opportunities.
To improve survival rates, businesses
will frequently have to consider
their responses to issues caused
by globalisation and sustainability
(including climate change). The
potential causes of low start-up rates
in Fife include its enterprise culture,
low levels of entrepreneurial skills and
attitudes to risk. To address this issue,
a Fife Culture of Enterprise Framework
for Action is being developed.
The Framework will provide a blueprint
for creating a vibrant enterprise
culture in Fife. It is intended to initiate
a programme of entrepreneurial and
enterprise development over the next
three to five years that will lay the
foundations for long-term change,
while also addressing immediate
priorities and actions. Therefore,
providing the right conditions for
Priorities how we’ll make a difference
• Continue the reorganisation of Business Gateway to streamline business
support services in Fife and align more effectively with partners
• Implement enterprise actions arising from the Fife Culture of Enterprise
Framework
• Utilise the Fife Investment Fund to explore partnership with other Local
Authorities to attract greater Eu funding
• Improve processing times for business planning applications
• Harness the Fife Council trade exhibition programme to generate better
business opportunities locally, nationally and internationally
• Utilise the Supplier Development Programme to enhance supply chain
procurement opportunities for Fife-based companies
12
more business growth is as much
about creating a culture of enterprise
as it is about physical infrastructure.
Individual entrepreneurial skills need
to be enhanced to encourage more
people to start a business and sole
traders assisted to grow at transition
stages. The Framework also illustrates
the need to work in partnership with
schools, colleges and universities to
better understand business realities
and to inspire a belief amongst
young people in their capability to be
entrepreneurial.
A competitive business environment
creates markets for other businesses
and boosts productivity by stimulating
investment, innovation and workforce
development. Embracing new
technologies and innovative practices;
boosting employee skills and a
more sustainable use of resources
will help Fife businesses to become
more successful and compete
more effectively in an increasingly
globalised world. Productivity gains
and competitive advantage can be
gained from more businesses in Fife
trading globally. Businesses need to
be able to capitalise on opportunities
from developing economies and
international markets and we need to
minimise the barriers for businesses in
exploiting these markets.
OUTCOME 2 ExTENdEd
EMPLOyMENT ANd SKILLS
OPPORTUNITIES
Fife’s people and labour supply are
critical to its future prosperity and
to that of the wider city region.
A highly skilled and educated
workforce is essential for economic
growth, business competitiveness
and innovation. To play their part in
contributing to overall sustainable
economic growth our people must be
equipped with the right skills to meet
the demands of a modern economy.
we need to focus on reducing
unemployment to ensure that all
in society can play their part in and
benefit from sustainable economic
growth.
A key challenge for Fife is the number
of people who are without work –
currently around 40,000. Significant
proportions are on incapacity benefit
and for some, profound health
issues will mean that they may never
be able to work. However, for the
majority of those without work due to
unemployment, caring responsibilities
or premature retirement, there is clear
evidence from pilot work undertaken
in Fife that shows we can make
significant inroads to getting people
back to work.
There have been improvements in
skills at all levels throughout Fife but
we still need to further improve and
diversify the skills and educational
attainment of our workforce. Lower
qualification levels tend to be more
prominent in those areas of Fife
where unemployment is highest.
Strong leadership skills and workforce
development also need to be
promoted and supported to enhance
the skills of those already in work. we
therefore need to improve skill levels
that meet identified skill shortages
and help to provide more sustainable
employment opportunities.
To do this we need to have a clearer
understanding of employers’ skills
needs for the future and provide a
flexible training infrastructure that
is able to respond more quickly to
these requirements. we also need
to encourage more people to take
up qualifications in subjects to
support the future demands of the
labour market, such as low carbon
construction skills, to ensure that Fife
residents are suitably qualified to
take advantage of employment and
progression opportunities.
we must get the most out of capital
investment projects in Fife, particularly
large scale ones such as the second
Forth road bridge – these can
provide training and employment
opportunities for local residents.
The FILM and LOAN projects already
underway in Fife are helping the
unemployed access training and
employment opportunities with
pilot schemes ongoing in John Smith
Business Park and Energy Park Fife.
Likewise, we must encourage young
people to enrol on similar schemes as
routes to employment.
Finally, although the gap with the
rest of Scotland is narrowing, there
still remains a graduate deficit in Fife
which requires to be addressed if Fife
is to raise productivity and increase
competitiveness and innovation.
• Restructure Opportunity Centres to become a flexible network of seamless
employability support services under the ‘Opportunities Fife’ brand
• Improve accessibility and targeting of employability services in deprived
areas of Fife
• Build on partnership working activities between Jobcentre Plus, Skills
Development Scotland and Fife’s educational institutions to maximise
employability efforts
• Widening opportunities for engaging those without work in activities that
will move them towards training and employment – particularly those who
are furthest from the labour market
• Expanding locally based degree level provision in Fife and ensuring that
there are graduate level job opportunities available in Fife
• Capitalising on training and employment opportunities afforded by major
capital projects, such as the second forth crossing and the CvF Aircraft
Carriers
13
OUTCOME 3 A MOdERN
bUSINESS INFRASTRUCTURE
A modern business infrastructure
should provide an adequate supply of
employment land, effective transport
infrastructure and a range of business
properties to attract appropriate
investment. Fife needs to safeguard an
appropriate employment land supply.
The Fife Structure Plan 2006-2026 and
complementary Local Plans require
a sufficient supply of employment
land that is located near to housing to
reduce the need for travel and ensure
deprived areas are linked better to
employment hubs. Employment land
in and around major settlements
will ensure businesses can expand
and new companies can relocate to
premises that are flexible, adaptive
and available to all types of enterprise.
For instance, providing diversity in
renewable energy facilities, such as the
westfield Environmental Energy Park
will enable Fife to develop inherent
strengths, in addition to addressing
the effects of climate change locally.
within the lifetime of this strategy
we will need to manage our
environmental assets more sustainably.
Key resources are rapidly depleting
which will push up energy prices and
therefore costs to businesses and the
economy. To alleviate these resource
constraints, low carbon business
infrastructure will play a key role in
meeting climate change targets and
creating a low carbon economy. Our
aim is to differentiate Fife as a centre of
excellence for renewable energy
and to do this we need to provide
suitable sites for renewable energy
developments whilst also ensuring
that the supply chains are in place
to support companies in this sector.
An effective transport infrastructure
can assist in opening up new markets
for businesses and help to build the
critical mass of businesses to drive up
competitiveness and deliver growth.
The previous strategy highlighted the
need for increased connectivity for
Fife with a second Forth road bridge.
Now that this has been confirmed by
the Scottish Government we need to
ensure that businesses and residents
can benefit from and fully optimise
the training, employment and supply
14
chain opportunities that will arise
from the construction of the crossing.
The Rosyth Multi-Modal Container
Terminal is another project listed
as one of national significance by
the Scottish Government and will
become an important development
to both attract firms and boost export
capability for firms in Fife.
In general, more efficient cross-forth
transportation will open up business
and employment opportunities within
the wider city region for residents
in Fife as well as providing a boost
to tourism. Other transportation
improvements, including the
upgrading of Redhouse Roundabout
and route improvements on the A92,
will improve connectivity within
Fife and to the wider city region and
beyond. This will reduce constraints on
major renewable energy projects, such
as the Energy Park Fife and westfield
Green Business Park.
There are clear linkages between
planning, transportation and the
economy which contributes to and
supports economic and business
growth at the local, regional and
national levels. The allocation
of housing, employment land
and delivery of transportation
improvements all support economic
development in terms of attracting
people and business investment.
• Maintain an effective supply of employment land for Fife
• Remediate key employment land sites in Fife to stimulate inward
investment and support business expansion
• Capitalising on the opportunities for training, employment and supply chain
business growth from major capital projects in Fife such as the new Forth
crossing and the Rosyth Multi-Modal Container Terminal
• Stemming retail leakage to competitive centres outwith Fife
• Supporting renewable energy infrastructure projects such as the thermal
biomass projects currently being developed by the private sector
• Support the development of innovative cross-forth travel
15
OUTCOME 4 IMPROVEd
KNOWLEdGE ANd RESEARCh
bASE
In recent years, global competition
has made Fife businesses less cost
competitive, particularly in the
manufacturing and construction
sectors. Recent events in the economy
emphasise the need for stronger
working relationships between the
private and public sector organisations
responsible for stimulating innovation,
enterprise and education. Knowledge
transfer is a key driver of productivity
and growth but Fife’s business base is
still under-represented with companies
whose core business is based in
knowledge-intensive and research
activities. Developing and promoting
Fife as a business location to attract
higher value business will be essential
in increasing our knowledge and
research base.
To ensure our efforts are successful
we must create more dynamism and
emphasis on Fife’s unique strengths.
we need to attract businesses
whose competitiveness is driven by
technology and knowledge. Fife’s ability
to attract Regional Selective Assistance
is a clear advantage in attracting this
type of business. A key opportunity
and focus for Fife is to become a centre
of excellence for renewable energy - we
need to ensure that research facilities
for the industry are in place to support
Fife in leading Scotland’s renewable
energy sector. Better integration of
services offered by the main public
sector agencies, including St Andrews
university and Fife’s colleges to benefit
the renewable energy sector will also
maximise opportunities. Aligned to
this is the need to increase access to
national research and development
funding schemes for businesses
to increase their research and
development activities.
16
In developing our knowledge and
research base, our focus should not
be on science and technology alone,
we also need to assist and encourage
all businesses to apply knowledge
and innovation to improve businesses
operational performance through
eco-efficiency, and sales performance
by offering goods and services with
a more competitive edge. Applying
innovation to address resource
efficiency and waste reduction across
Fife’s business base can also increase
competitiveness and aid sustainability.
In the longer-term this may involve
developing new business models and
working relationships.
If innovation and knowledge are
to drive the economy then we also
need to attract and retain more
graduates within Fife. A crucial priority
in achieving this will be to raise
degree-level provision in Mid-Fife. The
combination of employer demand
for graduates and the provision of
attractive places to live will also help
increase the proportion of graduates.
with the focus on growing the
knowledge and research base there
will be a sustained increase in demand
for graduates in the future.
• Through Business Gateway will provide support to stimulate and encourage
innovation and growth in Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• Provide business research facilities for renewable energy to help facilitate
the commercialisation of research in developments such as the Hydrogen
Office, Methil
• Establish a knowledge-transfer network between local companies and
educational institutions across Fife
• Assist businesses to access national and other funding for research and
development activities by better integrating services across public sector
agencies, including St Andrews university and Fife’s colleges
• Work in partnership with Scottish Enterprise to attract and retain more
graduates to Fife-based businesses, through the Fife Culture of Enterprise
Framework
• Continue to develop science and technology links within and outwith
Fife by the creation of a science park associated with the university of St
Andrews
OUTCOME 5 bUSINESS ANd
EMPLOyMENT GROWTh IN KEy
SECTORS
In order to contribute to overall
sustainable economic growth we
need to maintain a focus on those
sectors that have the greatest growth
potential in terms of output and
employment. To address the difficulties
caused by the economic downturn, we
need to differentiate between Fife’s
longer term growth sectors and those
that need to be maintained in the
short term.
At the same time, Fife needs to be
ready for future opportunities as the
economy recovers – this will mean
ensuring that a flexible business
infrastructure is in place to support
any type of business investment.
There is also scope to generate more
opportunities locally by improving
business understanding of the
procurement process and tendering
opportunities. The development of
renewable energy offers significant
opportunities for Fife in this respect
with high value and long term
business growth potential.
Recently introduced legislation
around climate change legally binds
governments and businesses to
reduce their carbon emissions. These
targets mean renewable energy
products will be in high demand and
this presents significant opportunities
for renewable energy manufacturing
and clean technologies – sectors
where Fife can offer competitive
advantage. There is a clear opportunity
for Fife to become the leading Scottish
centre for renewable energy and we
aim to have 2,000 people employed in
green jobs by 2020 in the chart below.
To help achieve this target, we
need to ensure renewable energy
developments boost the regeneration
of deprived areas. Infrastructure
such as skills training facilities or
research centres will play a crucial
role in offering new opportunities to
local residents. There are a number
of sub-sectors within the renewable
energy sector where Fife can create
opportunities and take the lead in a
national context:
Thermal bio-mass
including Tullis Russell and
Diageo projects
Offshore wind energy
Energy Park Fife and
opportunities for inland
manufacturing
Fuel cells and power storage
Hydrogen Office, Energy Park
Fife
Carbon capture and storage
Longannet power station
Anticipated Areas of Green Job Creation in Fife
Research &
Development
100 jobs
Renewable Power
Generation
200 jobs
Fife Energy Park
1,000 jobs
Sustainable
construction
700 jobs
Source: Fife Council, Development Services
17
However, for Fife to become a leader
in renewable energy we must ensure
that appropriate networks are in place
so local supply chain opportunities
are maximised to win business and
investment. This is also true of other
key sectors. The sector networks, such
as Green Business Fife, CreativeFife, Fife
Construction Forum and TechnetFife
have created opportunities and
provided advice and support to Fifebased businesses. These networks will
continue and ensure Fife contributes
more broadly to national targets. A key
target championed by the Scottish
Government that aims to grow the
Scottish tourism sector by 50% by
2015 poses a substantial challenge for
Fife.
To grow Fife’s tourist trade, products
such as golf need to promoted and
marketed more effectively.
A recent review of tourism in Fife
identified the need for greater
engagement with the business
community in Fife-wide decision
making and improvements
to business development and
networking opportunities. This is
being addressed through a review of
tourism partnership working in Fife
and a new service level agreement
with visitScotland. The Promoting
Fife initiative will play a key role
here in aligning local, domestic and
international campaigns – ensuring
consistency and cementing a preferred
understanding of place.
Tourism contributes around £250m
to the Fife economy and supports
12,500 tourist-related jobs. In recent
years, Fife’s tourist industry has seen
increases in visitor expenditure,
rising numbers of visits and gains in
employment. These trends indicate
that there is potential for tourism to
be more lucrative than it is currently.
• Supporting renewable energy projects to transform Fife’s economy for
the future and become a leading Scottish centre within the sector and
creating or safeguarding 2,000 green jobs
• Implement a multi-agency approach to align skills development and
business growth in Fife’s renewable energy sector
• Ensuring that the right support structure is in place for tourism businesses
to contribute to overall growth and provide business development and
networking opportunities within the tourism business community
• Use the ‘Promoting Fife’ initiative to provide targeted and customerfocused tourism marketing that complements activities by partner
organisations, such as visitScotland
• Maintain existing strengths and develop network activity in financial and
business services, construction, creative industries and IT and technology
• Connect niche sectors in Fife to city region activities to benefit from
economies of scale
18
OUTCOME 6 STRONGER
COMMUNITIES ThROUGh
REGENERATION
Economic regeneration aims to
strengthen our communities,
create wealth and narrow the gap
between the most and least deprived
communities. This will be tackled
by reducing unemployment and
promoting job creation in the areas of
greatest need.
convinced of the benefits of recruiting
from these priority groups and young
people motivated to gain work skills
and qualifications. Those who are in
entry level jobs need to be encouraged
and supported to gain the necessary
skills to progress through employment,
ensuring better financial security for
themselves and their families.
within Fife’s most deprived areas,
almost 17% of the population are
without work and, of those who
are unemployed, 20% have been
out of work for more than one year.
Regeneration through renewable
energy will offer a number of
opportunities for many deprived areas
in Fife. The Energy Park Fife and carbon
capture developments at Longannet
have the potential to create a variety of
green jobs and training opportunities
that local people can harness.
To encourage business start-ups
in priority areas, support needs
to be accessible, and appropriate
starter business premises need to
be provided. The ‘Be Your Own Boss’
initiative assists unemployed people
in deprived areas of Fife to look at self
employment and social enterprise
start-up as an option. The initiative
offers free information and training
events, drop-in sessions and advice on
grants. This has been supported by
developing the provision of affordable
business units in Kirkcaldy and Methil.
These facilities offer additional advice
and support on-site for new business
start-ups.
we also need to provide support
programmes and initiatives for those
who are furthest away from the
labour market as well as those who
are “job-ready”. Employers need to be
Town centres are at the heart of
our communities and a focus for
local pride. Fife’s town centres have
experienced new challenges as a
result of the economic downturn.
This has resulted in reduced
footfall, redundancies and retail
vacancies which have, in turn, led
to lack of confidence in retail-led
regeneration schemes and town
centre developments. The partnership
approach taken in Fife has led to the
creation of Town Centre Management
arrangements in Kirkcaldy and
Dunfermline and emerging Business
Improvement Districts in these
towns. Other town centres have also
benefited from support, including
bespoke training opportunities and
a pilot grant scheme to part-fund
shop front improvements. These
measures contribute to improving
the appearance and vitality of town
centres across Fife, benefiting local
communities and the local workforce.
• Ensure renewable energy developments create employment and training
opportunities to enhance the regeneration of deprived areas
• Development and expansion of social enterprises as a key part of the
local economy and job market in priority areas. This support will include
tailored events and support with funding applications.
• Tackling inequalities through regeneration and promotion of
communities by investing in town centres. This will help to improve
priority areas
• Develop business incubation units in other priority areas, building on the
success of recent provision in Kirkcaldy and Methil.
• Delivering ‘Be Your Own Boss’ programmes throughout priority areas
• Continuing to support town centre partnerships including Town Centre
Management; Business Improvement Districts; and Business Associations,
to ensure that businesses are stakeholders in the future of their town
centre
19
3. How we will get there
Having identified a number of
challenges and priorities for action,
the Fife Economy Partnership
developed corresponding strategic
themes through which the Strategy
can be implemented, monitored and
evaluated.
STRATEGIC THEMES
The strategic themes and objectives
developed for the strategy are
in response to, and reflect, our
overall vision in terms of improving
productivity and participation and
increasing population through the
principles of equity and sustainable
development.
The themes have been developed
as “outcome themes” to reflect the
outcomes that we need to achieve to
realise our vision of a Fife that is the
easiest place to do business and a
leader in renewable energy.
20
The outcome themes and objectives
will form the basis of the annual action
plan which will direct the delivery of
the Fife Economic Strategy.
An Annual Action Plan will be
developed to focus delivery of the
Strategy. Deliverables will be outlined
for each of the outcome themes, each
with a specified timescale.
DELIvERING THE STRATEGY
MONITORING AND EvALuATION
Delivery of the Strategy will be
achieved though coordinated action
from private and public sector
partners. Building on the successes
of the previous strategy, and the new
Fife Economy Partnership (comprising
strong representation from the
private sector) will provide a new
opportunity to align activities and
deliver the objectives in this strategy.
The integrated nature of the outcome
themes demands clear cross-cutting
working relationships between
partners and also within individual
organisations to ensure delivery of the
outcomes.
The revised Strategy will be subject to
review in three years time. Monitoring
on a regular basis will assess the
overall impact of the Fife Economy
Partnership’s activities under each
outcome theme. A monitoring
framework will be developed to
measure the impact of actions and
activities. Overall performance will be
assessed against objectives set out
under the economy theme of the Fife
Community Plan and performance
will be benchmarked through the
Fife Single Outcome Agreement
(SOA) concordat with the Scottish
Government.
4349/OCT09
FINAL DRAFT Feb 2010
OPPO RT UNI TIES FIF E ST RATEGY 2010-2012
1. Introduction
Opportunities Fife is the partnership responsible for driving forward the
employability and skills agenda within Fife’s Community Planning structures.
This is a key priority for Fife Partnership and for Scottish and UK
Governments as it is recognised that meaningful and effective employability
measures are essential for our economic recovery and will help tackle related
issues of poverty, income inequality and health.
The Opportunities Fife vision is ‘to enable the people of Fife to reach
their full employment potentia l and con tribute to a thriving Fife
economy’ .
This strategy brings together More Choices More Chances (MCMC) and
Workforce Plus into an all age employability framework to achieve this vision
for Fife.
This new strategy demonstrates the partnership’s renewed commitment to
tackle unemployment and high levels of dependency on ‘workless benefits’. It
contributes directly to Fife Economic Strategy’s outcome theme ‘Extended
employment and skills opportunities’ and will focus on engaging with those
who are further from the job market, improving skill levels and educational
attainment and ensuring we have a highly skilled, educated and healthy
workforce.
Opportunities Fife will work closely with Fife Economy Partnership, Fife’s
Education and Skills Executive Group and other strategic partnerships to
successfully connect people to learning, skills and job opportunities. In
realising this vision Opportunities Fife will deliver on the Fife Community
Plan’s employability and skills priorities that are agreed through the Single
Outcome Agreement and will contribute to Fife’s future prosperity.
2. Challenges
This strategy is set within the very challenging context of a continuing global
recession which has led to significant job losses and increasing
unemployment levels both locally and at a national level. Data from the Office
fro National Statistics highlights in November 2009 there were nearly 10,000
people registered unemployed in Fife claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA)
– a 75% rise on comparative figures for November 2007. An additional 30,000
1
people are on other ‘inactive’ benefits such as Employment Support
Allowance, Income Support and Disability Living Allowance which represents
a total ‘Benefit Claimant’ rate of 17.8% for Fife – higher than the UK average
and equal to the Scottish rate. This total of nearly 40,000 people reliant on
‘benefits’ presents a significant challenge for Fife’s employability partners.
Jobcentre Plus data also shows the number of job vacancies notified to job
centres has reduced by a quarter over the last year. Following experiences of
past recessions in the 1980’s and 1990’s, the Office for National Statistics
(2009) highlight that job losses are predicted to increase for the foreseeable
future. After the 1980s recession, unemployment levels did not return to their
pre-recession position at any point before the beginning of the next recession
in the early 1990s. Following the 1990s recession, the economy recorded
positive economic growth towards the end of 1991, but it took until 1997 for
unemployment levels to return to their pre-recession positions. This serves to
illustrate how long a challenge this will be for the Fife labour market to return
to conditions prior to the credit crunch. Add to this the expected budget cuts
and job losses in the public sector, and the scale of the challenge is even
greater.
Inevitably when the competition for jobs gets tougher, it is those who are
already disadvantaged with limited experience and skills that are pushed
further from the job market. Young people in particular are taking up a
disproportionate share of the unemployed with 30% of all JSA claimants now
under 25 years of age. Former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee
member, Professor David Blanchflower warns that we are at risk of losing a
generation to unemployment.
Other groups who require additional support as they struggle in the face of an
increasingly competitive job market include lone parents, those with health
issues including mental ill health, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, exoffenders and those facing other barriers such as overcoming substance
misuse or homelessness. The increase in unemployment is also having an
impact on child poverty levels with fewer families finding work as the route out
of poverty and across the UK there are almost 2 million children living in
households with no working adult.
Employability support has a crucial role to play in strengthening our most
disadvantaged communities where reducing unemployment and creating jobs
is a key element of our regeneration efforts. There is still much work to do in
closing the gap between disadvantaged communities and more prosperous
communities. The latest Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)
published in November 2009 highlights pockets of enduring poverty and
inequality in Fife. In the worst 20% datazones, one in three of the working age
population is claiming benefits compared to one in twenty in the best 20%
datazones.
A summary of Fife’s labour market trends outlining the challenges ahead for
the employability and skills agenda is included in Appendix A.
2
3. Employability Pathway
To enable the people of Fife to reach their full employment potential and
contribute to a thriving Fife economy, the Opportunities Fife partnership is
committed to working together to improve the ‘employability pathway’ for
clients and to achieve the maximum impact with the resources available.
‘Employability’ is defined as the combination of factors and processes which
enable people to progress towards or get into employment, to stay in
employment and to move on in the workplace. The employability pathway
describes that journey from initial engagement to sustainable employment –
illustrated below. Clients may enter at any stage of the pathway and services
need to be flexible to meet individual client needs. The key focus for the
Opportunities Fife partnership is to ensure we have effective partnership
arrangements in place to provide a cohesive ‘employability pathway’ equipped
to tackle collectively the current challenges facing individuals and employers
in Fife.
Fife Employ ability Pathw ay
Emplo yab ilit y is t he c om binat ion of fa ctors and proc ess es which e nab le p eopl e to progre ss
towards or get i nto e mpl oy ment, to st ay i n e mplo ym ent an d to m ove on i n the w orkpl ace
Stage 1
Clien t
Engagement
C
L
I
E
N
T
S
Engaging with
target clients
either through
outreach or
within agency
settings,
supporting
access to
employability
services
Stage 2
Individua l
Needs
Assessment
Undertaking
initial
assessment of
client needs
and assets
using a
common
assessment
framework and
preparing
client Action
Plans
Stage 3
Specialis t
Support
Supporting
individuals to
overcome
specific
barriers such
as disability,
ethnicity,
substance
misuse, lack of
confidence/mo
tivation,
childcare,
money issues,
etc providing
signposting
and preemployment
support
Stage 4
Employabi li ty
Support
Providing direct
delivery of core
skills, job
search,
enterprise
support, career
guidance, job
related training
and
qualifications,
work tasters
and
occupational
health support
Stage 5
Job
Placeme
nt
Involved in
employer
engagement,
job placement
and brokerage
and job
coaching
Stage 6
Sustaining
Employmen t
&
Progress ion
in Providing
Work inwork training
and support,
mentoring, job
development,
employer
support and
occupational
health support
Ef fe cti ve Ca se Man age me nt a nd usi ng FO RT ( Fi fe On line Re ferr al and Tra cking) to mea sure pr o gressi on
3
E
M
P
L
O
Y
E
R
S
4. Policy Context
For the employability sector there is a wide ranging national and local policy
context covering education and skills, employment, poverty, health and
inequality.
National policy:
Wel far e Re for m – The introduction of Flexible New Deal and the roll out of
Employment Support Allowance are seen as key elements in reducing welfare
dependency, increasing economic competitiveness and in reconnecting the long
term unemployed with the labour market.
Skill s for S co tla nd - A Lifelong Skills Strategy, sets out the Scottish
Government's objectives for developing a cohesive lifelong learning system
centred on the individual but responsive to employer needs.
Curri cul u m for E x celle nc e - Aims to achieve a transformation in education in
Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from age
3 to 18. Significant statements about Skills for Work, Life and Learning are made
in the recently issued Building the Curriculum 4.
Achi e ving our P ot enti al - A Framework to Tackle Poverty and Income
Inequality in Scotland including an intent to address Scottish Government targets
relating to eradicating child poverty by 2020. The Framework explicitly recognises
that a contribution is required from the private sector supported by the fact that one
third of the poorest 30% of households in Scotland have at least one adult in paid
employment.
Equall y Well- A Scottish Government Ministerial Task Force report on reducing
health inequalities published in 2008, explicitly makes the links to employability by
stating that healthy life expectancy needs to be increased across the board to
achieve sustainable economic growth.
He alth Wor k s – A Scottish Government review of the Healthy Working Lives
Strategy which highlights new drivers to bring employability and health closer
together linking NHS services and local employability services.
Local Policy:
Fife Co m m uni ty Pl an an d Singl e Ou tco me Agree men t ( SO A) – Sets out
Fife Partnership’s approach to delivering a shared vision for improving the quality
of life in Fife and sets targets for skills and employment also reflected by Fife
Council’s Big 8 ambitions.
Fife Ec ono mi c S tra teg y 200 9-20 20 – Outlines a new direction for the Fife
economy including extending employment and skills opportunities.
The Fair er Fi fe Fr a me wor k - Outlines Fife’s approach to addressing
inequalities, poverty and deprivation and identifies five key indicators of change
including reducing income–poverty by getting more people into sustainable
employment and by promoting financial inclusion.
Join t H eal th I mpr ov e men t Pla n ( JHIP) - Provides a partnership framework
for improving health and well being.
Fife Adul t Lit era cie s Ac tio n Plan – Provides literacies support for over 4,000
adult learners in Fife per year including workplace literacies in partnership with
employers.
4
5. Strategic Objectives
The high level target for Opportunities Fife is to achieve an 80% employment
rate by 2020 (in line with Growing Fife’s Future – Fife Economic Strategy).
Figure 1 in Appendix A indicates the enormity of this challenge as Fife never
reached an 80% employment rate prior to the current recession. Taking
account of projected population changes over the period 2009 to 2020, this
sets a target of an increase of 15,500 more people becoming economically
active by 2020 (See Appendix B). In achieving this target there will be a
strong focus on reducing inequalities and supporting those who are most
disadvantaged in the labour market.
Using 2009 as a baseline, Opportunities Fife will strive to achieve the
following strategic outcomes over the period 2010 to 2012:
Strategic O utcomes 2010-2012
1
Re du cing un e mplo y me nt:
Increase the percentage of Fife’s working age population in
employment to 80% - an increase of 5,000 becoming economically
active by 2012 and a further 10,500 by 2020
2
Narr o w the in equ alit y gap
Narrow the claimant rate between the 20% most deprived areas and
the 20% least deprived by 4% - 1,750 people into work or training from
20% most deprived areas
3
Mor e C hoi ce s Mo re C han ce s
Reduce the number of young people (aged 16 to 19) not in education,
employment or training from 1,830 to 1,400
Increase the number of young people (age 16-24) employed by public
sector organisations in Fife (targets to be agreed with Fife Council and
NHS Fife)
4
Barrier s to wor k
Increase investment in tackling barriers to employment through
attracting £5m investment in targeted support measures (eg ESF,
Fairer Scotland Fund, Deprived Area Fund, Wider Role)
5
Em plo yer en gag e men t
Work with public and private sector employers to create pathways to
sustainable employment opportunities for key target groups -150
employers engage with Opportunities Fife employment support and
1,500 job outcomes achieved
6
Skill s de velo p men t
Increase the participation in in-work learning to 30% and decrease the
number of working age population with no qualifications by 10% (2,000
people)
5
7
Cul tur e o f en terpri s e
Support Fife Culture of Enterprise Framework and promote
entrepreneurship through delivery of 300 awareness raising sessions in
school, college and community settings
8
He alth Wor k s
Work with employers and NHS Fife to deliver the local
recommendations set out in Health Works including the ‘Fit for Work
Service’ proposal – targets to be agreed
5.1 Reducing U nemployment
Issues and challenges: Reducing unemployment is increasingly
challenging in an economic downturn and particularly so in the face of
continued job cuts in the private sector and anticipated cuts in the public
sector. Unemployment is a lagging indicator so even when the economy
recovers it will still be some time before employment begins to rise again. The
key challenge is the number of people without work – currently around
40,000. Of this total almost half (around 20,000) are in receipt of Employment
Support Allowance (ESA) or Incapacity Benefit and almost 7,000 are lone
parents or carers. Many of these clients face significant barriers including
health and caring responsibilities and we will work with Jobcentre Plus and
other partners to continue to make inroads to getting people back to work
through a range of programmes and initiatives.
Priority Actions:
• Partnership approach to maximise subcontracting opportunities for
Flexible New Deal contracts in Fife
• Implement outreach and engagement strategy and robust referrals to
other agencies to reach those furthest from the labour market
• Introduce case managed support to sustain progression over a
sustained period
• Introduce a Common Assessment Framework to improve the client
journey and assist with referrals and information sharing
• Tackle child poverty through proactive targeting of low income families
and lone parents
• Prepare health and employability action plan to drive forward Health
Works proposals at a local level
• Build capacity within the voluntary sector to reach target groups
through voluntary sector employability forum
5.2 Narrow the Inequality G ap
Issues and Challenges: The latest SIMD data published in November
2009 highlights enduring poverty and deprivation in Fife’s most disadvantaged
communities. Concerted action through the Fairer Fife Framework and across
a range of partnerships is required to address this. The key challenge for
6
Opportunities Fife is to improve accessibility and targeting of employability
services in deprived areas and to invest in longer term support in recognition
that clients will need support over a sustained period of time in order to
progress.
Priority Actions:
Deliver Fairer Scotland Fund employability programme:
• Proactive engagement in deprived areas through Opportunities for You
outreach and engagement service including door-knocking and interagency working
• Targeted support for homeless people in Glenrothes through Gilven
House, support for ethnic minority communities through Equal and
Next Steps programme for alcohol and drug users
• Working for Families programme including childcare solutions,
personal development and money advice
• Enterprise and social enterprise awareness raising in disadvantaged
areas through Business Gateway and BRAG
• MCMC programme for those young people most at risk of disengaging
• Employment support programme including intermediate labour market
waged placements; in-work training and support; and new approaches
to progress clients from minimum wage jobs
• Participate in collaborative work programmes in targeted areas to
contribute to Building Stronger Communities
• Joint staff development programme to improve client’s journey towards
employment
5.3 More Choices More Chanc es
Issues and Challenges: The impact of the recession on young people in
Fife is severe and a co-ordinated programme of support is in place to prevent
young people becoming lost to unemployment. Evidence from the past tells us
that young people who experience unemployment are scarred for life so it is
particularly important that we help them avoid the trap of long term
unemployment. This support starts within schools to prevent young people
from becoming ‘not in employment, education or training’ at the end of
compulsory schooling. Interventions are then focussed on getting young
people into education, training and employment and providing adequate
support to help them sustain these outcomes.
Priority Actions:
• Improve the analysis and reporting of information in relation to specific
at risk groups and implement early intervention strategies
• Support the development within schools of successful transition
intervention programmes
• Develop a range of mechanisms to support and retain students and
robust mechanisms for reporting early leavers
• Develop a targeted focus on outcomes for children leaving care
• Further develop the Fife Opportunities database in line with Scottish
Government E-prospectus proposals
7
• Develop case management support to sustain progression for targeted
young people
• Deliver a broad range of employability and skills programmes to meet
aspirations of young people and labour market opportunities
5.4 Barri ers to W ork
Issues and Challenges: The multiple barriers facing many long term
unemployed people include lack of current skills, transport, childcare, other
dependent care, poverty and debt, health including mental health, housing,
substance misuse, domestic abuse and criminal convictions. A network of
agencies may need to provide specialist support and the challenge for
Opportunities Fife is to ensure that client’s diverse needs are met. Fife Rights
Forum has developed Fife On-line Referral and Tracking (FORT) system
which employability partners are developing as a tool to aid referral to a wide
range of organisations and monitoring of client progress and outcomes.
Priority Actions:
• Delivery of partnership ESF Priority 1 programme tackling worklessness
targeting those with multiple barriers to employment
• Address financial barriers through implementing financial inclusion and
employability front line training programme and partnership arrangements
with CARF to provide dedicated money advice service for specific client
groups
• Increased use of FORT system for more effective referral and tracking of
client progress
• Effective delivery of discretionary funds to provide practical assistance for
transition to work or training.
5.5 Employ er Engagement
Issues and Challenges: Feedback from employers has consistently raised
the issue of disjointed and multiple approaches from employability partners.
There is no central point for employers where they can access advice and
information on the range of employment programmes and incentives making it
difficult for them to engage and fully participate. Clients are not currently
accessing the full range of possible employment opportunities and equally
employers are not accessing the full pool of potential talent because providers
do not currently have mechanisms to share market intelligence or
opportunities. The key challenge for Opportunities Fife is to better serve the
needs of employers and will take the lead from the Fife Economy Partnership
who will identify a representative to ‘champion’ a co-ordinated employer
engagement approach.
Priority Actions:
8
• Develop an Opportunities Fife ‘employer offer’ and work proactively
with employers to create employment pathways for key client groups
• Capitalise on employment opportunities afforded by major capital
projects such as second Forth crossing, CVF Aircraft and key growth
sectors including renewables, tourism, retail, care and sustainable
construction
• Working proactively with public sector agencies as significant
employers of target client groups
• Deliver a responsive redundancy support service through PACE
(Partnership Action for Continuing Employment)
• Introduce measures to increase job sustainability and increased
retention levels including vocational rehabilitation – see 5.8.
• Create transitional employment opportunities through Future Jobs
Fund, Community Task Force and Fife Intermediate Labour Market to
prepare people for future jobs.
5.6 Skills Development
Issues and Challenges: The failure in past recessions has been in not
supporting people to get the right skills to take advantage of the opportunities
in the upturn or to move into areas of work not affected by the recession. A
key priority will be to ensure that people have the right skills to take advantage
of opportunities offered by forthcoming major engineering and construction
projects and other public sector capital projects. Growth is also anticipated in
renewables, tourism, low carbon construction techniques, retail and care
sectors. There will be a continued need to focus on delivering core
employability skills to help people become job-ready – including confidence
building and motivation, timekeeping, communication, literacy and numeracy,
entrepreneurship and IT. An application for European Social Funding Priority
2 – ‘Upskilling the Workforce’ has been submitted and if successful will put
added investment into enhancing the skills of those already in work.
Opportunities Fife will work closely with Fife Economy Partnership to develop
Fife’s skills action plan to ensure that local people are suitably qualified to
take advantage of employment and progression opportunities and play their
part in contributing to and benefiting from sustainable economic growth.
Priority Actions:
• Commission skills review to inform Fife’s future skills needs for
renewables and other known growth sectors
• Develop skills action plan involving employers, Skills Development
Scotland, schools, training providers and College/University sector to
meet Fife’s future skills needs
• Work with employers and economic development colleagues to deliver
ESF Priority 2 ‘Upskilling the Workforce’ programme
• Capitalise on training opportunities afforded by major capital projects
and key growth sectors
• Deliver bespoke and flexible training solutions for individuals and
employers.
5.7 Culture of Enterprise
9
Issues and Challenges: Fife Culture of Enterprise Framework is based on
the premise that our future economic success will depend on our ability to
develop a culture that both encourages and values enterprise and provides a
supportive environment for entrepreneurial activities. A key challenge for
Opportunities Fife is to ensure that people we engage with have the
opportunities to develop more positive attitudes to enterprise and enterprising
behaviours as well as contributing to improved performance on
entrepreneurship and business success.
Priority Actions:
• Develop an enterprising ethos embedded in education from early years
through Curriculum for Excellence
• Deliver awareness raising sessions in priority areas and follow on
support for enterprise
• Develop enterprising behaviours as part of core employability skills
through community based learning, skills and employability
programmes.
5.8 Healt h Works
Issues and Challenges: Ill-health is estimated to cost the British economy
£100 billion a year in lost productivity, lost tax and increased health and
welfare costs. The Scottish Government report ‘Health Works’ states that
there is increasing evidence to show that improving health and wellbeing of
the working age population will increase sustainable economic growth.
Equally it has been long recognised that for most people, being in work is
better for their long-term health than being unemployed, and that
unemployment can severely damage health in the longer term. A key
challenge for NHS Fife and Opportunities Fife is to define the local pathway
for providing support to those for whom health is a barrier to retaining or
returning to work. Alongside this is the introduction of a ‘fitnote’ to replace the
current ‘sicknote’ that will aim to keep people in work where it will help their
recovery. This will present a real challenge to prevailing attitudes to health
and work amongst employers, employees and healthcare staff.
Priority Actions:
• Public sector bodies in Fife to become exemplars and champions for
Health Works
• Opportunities Fife partners to promote importance of workplace health
as part of ‘employer offer’
• Opportunities Fife to develop joint action plan with Fife Health and
Wellbeing Alliance and Fife Economy Partnership in response to
Health Works review.
6. Delivering the Strategy
10
The Opportunities Fife Strategic Group (OFSG) is made up of senior
managers from Jobcentre Plus, Skills Development Scotland, Fife Council,
Scotland’s Colleges Fife, CVS Fife, NHS Fife and representation from the
employer led Fife Economy Partnership. The group is responsible for
developing and driving policy direction for ‘employability and skills’ and will
provide strengthened leadership for delivery of the strategy.
The group reports to Fife Partnership through the Education and Skills
Executive Group and Fife Economy Partnership (see Appendix C).
An Action Plan will be prepared to focus on delivery of Opportunities Fife
Strategy 2010-12 and this will be taken forward through three programme
delivery groups with supported from Opportunities Fife Task Team:
•
•
•
More Choices More Chances
Client engagement and progression
Employer engagement
A Quality and Performance group assists the OFSG in monitoring progress
and making recommendations on best use of funding streams and
programmes to meet strategic objectives. This group will also develop a
quality framework and use peer assessment to introduce improvements to
services across the partnership. A data sharing protocol has been developed
alongside a shared platform for performance monitoring through Fife Online
Referral and Tracking (FORT) system. A monitoring framework will be
developed to measure progress and impact of activities and regular progress
reports will be communicated via Opportunities Fife website
www.opportunitiesfife.org.uk.
This strategy will be reviewed in 2012 in line with the three year review of Fife
Economic Strategy. Overall performance will be assessed against objectives
set out under the education, skills and employment themes of the Fife
Community Plan and performance will be benchmarked through the Fife
Single Outcome Agreement.
APPENDIX A
Labour Market C hange in Fife
11
1. Introduction
The Fife labour market has experienced significant change since the 1980s.
Then renowned for its capabilities in industrial manufacturing, Fife has since
undergone a period of transition, now offering a wider range of employment
opportunities, particularly in the services sector. To fully understand labour
market performance, long-term trends have been outlined that identify
persistent issues in Fife’s labour market.
2. Employment Trends
Fife’s employment rate tends to perform comparatively well against national
trends. Fife is fortunate to have benefited from a rapidly rising population, at a
time when net-immigration to Scotland has been relatively static which has
helped ensure a suitable labour supply. A greater number of services job
opportunities also enabled a wider number of people to obtain employment.
The strength of employment growth in Fife, compared to the national average
is reflected in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Employment Rate of Working Age Population, 1999-2008
80.0
78.0
Rate (%)
76.0
74.0
72.0
70.0
Fife
Scotland
68.0
66.0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Population Survey/Local Labour Force Survey
3. Unemployment Trends
12
Since December 1992, both Fife’s and Scotland’s unemployment rate have
gradually fallen. Figure 2 highlights how unemployment trends in Fife have
reduced in-line with the national experience. These significant reductions
throughout the past decade have meant that Fife’s unemployment rate started
from a lower point than at the beginning of the 1980 and 1990 recessions.
However, as ONS (2009)1 highlight; since unemployment began to rise in
2008, the pace of such rises has outstripped the initial rises in past
recessions. Importantly, even when JSA claimants were falling, Fife’s
Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claimant rate never actually fell below the
national average, meaning there may a combination of harder-to-reach or
disengaged claimants in Fife’s labour market.
Figure 2: Jobseeker Allowance Claimants (JSA) of Working Age Population,
1999 - 2009
6.0
Fife
Scotland
UK
5.0
Rate (%)
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Source: Office for National Statistics, Claimant Count
In 2009, JSA claimants comprised around a third of the total numbers of
benefit claimants. Other benefits include Employment Support Assistance
(ESA) (formally Incapacity benefit), Income Support, Lone Parent benefit,
Carers Allowance, Severe Disability benefit, Disabled and Bereavement
benefit. In-line with the trends in JSA claimants, total benefit claimant
numbers fell throughout the last decade but have since begun to rise sharply
since the beginning of recession. Figure 3 (overleaf) shows that total benefit
claimants in both Fife and Scotland have remained persistently above the UK
average since at least 1999. The impact of the recession on total benefit
claimants in Fife now appears to be having a more pronounced effect as
reflected in the Fife average now overtaking the Scottish rate.
Figure 3: Total Benefit Claimants of Working Age Population, Sept 1999 –
Aug 2009
1
ONS, (2009), The Impact of the Recession on the UK Labour Market, UK Government
13
20
19
18
17
Rate (%)
16
15
14
13
Fife
Scotland
UK
12
11
10
1999/00
2000/01
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
Source: Office for National Statistics, DWP Benefits
4. Educational Attainment Trends
Despite discouraging unemployment trends in Fife over the past decade,
there have been significant improvements in educational attainment. Figure 4
illustrates the number of people of working age in Fife who have no
qualifications has fallen by 17,500 (-9.2%), whilst at the higher end of
attainment, those achieving NVQ Level 4 or above has risen by 25,200 people
(+9.6%). However, this does appear to have had a negative impact on those
entering trade apprenticeships; although the -3.3% fall in Fife between 1999
and 2008 is in-line with the Scottish trend.
Figure 4: Qualification Levels of the Working Age Population, 1999 & 2008
Qualificati on L ev el
19 9 9
20 0 8
Ch a ng e bet we e n
19 9 9- 20 0 8
%
%
Num b er
Num b er
Num b er
%
% with NVQ4+
48,000
23.1
73,200
32.7
25,200
9.6
% with NVQ3 only
32,000
15.4
40,100
17.9
8,100
2.5
% with NVQ2 only
25,000
12.1
33,200
14.9
8,200
2.8
% with NVQ1 only
24,000
11.7
25,800
11.5
1,800
-0.2
% with Trade Apprenticeships
23,000
10.9
16,900
7.6
-6,100
-3.3
% with other qualifications
18,000
8.8
15,000
6.7
-3,000
-2.1
% with no qualifications
37,000
17.9
19,500
8.7
-17,500
-9.2
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Population Survey/Local Labour Force Survey
5. Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)
14
A more detailed and comprehensive geographical and social breakdown is
provided by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2009. The SIMD
compiles data on income, employment, health, education, housing and crime
to provide a detailed picture of area-based deprivation. The SIMD 2009
reports that 8 of the 453 datazones in Fife are within the lowest ranked 5% of
all the datazones in Scotland. Figure 5 outlines that these same eight
datazones were also Fife’s lowest ranked in the SIMD 2006. The increase in
rank represents poorer performance in the indicators measured in the SIMD.
In total, 83 of Fife’s datazones are in the lowest 20% of datazones in
Scotland.
Figure 5: SIMD Comparison of Fife’s Lowest Ranked Datazones
SIMD 2009
Rank
SIMD 2006
Rank
Templehall
135
316
Gallatown West
150
161
Sinclairtown Central
174
354
Ballingry West
197
272
Methilhill East
272
296
Aberhill
283
361
Methil Memorial Park
286
308
Kirkland South
323
431
Source: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006 & 2009, Scottish Government
A total of 43,279 people of working age live in Fife’s lowest ranked 20% SIMD
datazones. The total number of benefit claimants in these datazones is
14,100 (32.6%) including 3,666 claiming JSA (8.5%). A total of 54,627 people
of working age live in Fife’s highest ranked 20% SIMD datazones. The total
number of benefit claimants is 3,270 (5.9%) including 827 claiming JSA
(1.5%). Closing this gap will take concerted efforts over a period of time and
on a range of fronts including employability and skills. To reduce the gap in
total numbers of claimants as a percentage of the working age population by
just 4% will require 1,750 people from the worst datazones to move from
benefits to work or training.
6. Child Poverty
The Government’s target for a reduction in child poverty to 1.7 million is now
unlikely to be met in 2010 and research carried out by Joseph Rowntree
Foundation (JRF) has forecast that the target will be missed by at least
600,000. Significant progress has been made in reducing the number of
children in low income non-working households but this progress has been
wiped out by a rapid increase in the number of children in low income
households where at least one adult is in paid work. The increase in
unemployment is expected to result in more children from non-working
households going into poverty and significantly two thirds of these children
live with a lone parent.
15
Figure 6: Children in poverty
Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
7. In-work poverty
In work poverty is largely a function of low pay and low hours and has been
increasing steadily before the onset of recession. Fife does not have as high a
proportion of low paid workers as some areas (low pay tends to be
concentrated in rural areas), however almost a quarter of Fife’s employees
earn less than £7 per hour and the average wage in Fife is significantly lower
than the Scottish average. As noted above, in work poverty impacts
significantly on child poverty levels and if it’s ignored then the drive to lift
children out of poverty will stall and the move from worklessness to work
becomes less attractive.
Figure 7: Employees Earning Less than £7 an hour, 2008
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours & Earnings (ASHE)
APPENDIX B
16
Estimate of c hanges in w orking age population 2008 –
2020
GROS Estimate of working age population in 2020
224,203
80% economic activity rate in 2020 (Estimate)
179,362
Economic activity rate in 2008 (82.2%)
184,000
Estimated change in the No. of people who are economically active
-4,638
GROS Estimate of working age population in 2020
224,203
80% Employment rate in 2020 ( Estimate)
179,362
Employment rate in 2008 (76.5% )
171,100
Estimated NET increase in the No. of people in work Required
8,262
Sources: General Register of Scotland (GROS). ONS, Annual Population Survey ©crown copyright, 2009.
NOTES: Estimated Working age population is based on the total of all males aged
16-64 and all females aged 16-59 and is taken from the total of the estimated
individual age bands from the General Registers Office for Scotland.
NET increase is defined as the number of extra people in work. This is after those
people who have lost their employment have been factored into the total number of
new jobs created.
To achieve an employment rate of 80% the economic activity rate will have to
increase to a higher level.
The number of adults not in work in Fife at December 2008 was over 39,000.
To achieve an Employment rate of 80% an economic activity rate of 90% is a
more realistic requirement. This would require the number of economically
active people in Fife to be increased by 15,541 from its current level of
184,000.
The change in the eligibility rules for people who would have claimed
Incapacity Benefit now having to claim Employment Support Assistance will
lead to increases in the number deemed to be economically active however
local initiatives targeting those claimants who are on long term incapacity
benefit should be considered.
APPENDIX C
17
FIFE PARTNERSHIP BOARD
EXECUTIVE
GROUP
EDUCATION &
SKILLS EXECUTIVE
GROUP
FIFE ECONOMY
PARTNERSHIP
Opportunities
Fife
Strategic Group
Quality and
Performance
Group
Opportunities Fife
Co-ordinator/Task Team
MCMC
Delivery
Group
Client
Engagement
Delivery
Group
Employer
Engagement
Delivery
Group
Local & Thematic Networks
18

Skills Development Scotland and Fife Council workshop

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