Neighbourhood Employment and Skills Template
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FINAL Updated: 20th April 2009 Neighbourhood Employment and Skills Plan Great Bridge (2008 – 10) 1 FINAL Updated: 20th April 2009 NEIGHBOURHOOD EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS PLAN (NESP) FOR GREAT BRIDGE WARD, SANDWELL 1. Introduction 1.1. Name of Neighbourhood/Ward Covered This Employment and Skills Plan is for Great Bridge ward. Great Bridge is one of three wards in Tipton Town in the northwest of the borough. For the purposes of this Plan, the pre-2004 ward boundary has been used, because this is the area that has been used in the calculation of the Sandwell Local Area Agreement (LAA) ward targets. Further, the analysis undertaken to identify priority wards across the borough was based on data for pre-2004 ward boundaries. Most official economic data is also based on these boundaries. Fig. 1: Tipton Town’s Ward Boundaries, with Great Bridge Ward Highlighted 1.2. Vision and Purpose The City Strategy’s purpose is to provide a single Employment and Skills Plan for each priority ward, bringing together the work of the local authority, JobCentre Plus (JCP) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The aim is to equip local people with the necessary skills and competencies for sustainable employment and to provide employers with an adequate supply of labour to meet their current and future skill needs. 2 FINAL Updated: 20th April 2009 1.3. Relevant Local Group The Employment and Skills Panel is responsible for managing the delivery and scrutiny of the NESPs. This entails consultation with partners and the local community, providing a forum for examining delivery. There is a clear report back mechanism on the progress via the Economic Regeneration and Skills Division so that groups can see that their views are taken into account and acted upon. Where delivery gaps occur the Sandwell Partnership will take responsibility for overcoming them. 2. Analysis of Need in the Neighbourhood 2.1. Labour Demand – Employment Profile Great Bridge is ranked fourth out of all Sandwell wards in terms of number of jobs located in the ward. Male employment within Great Bridge ward is fairly similar to the borough average. Female full-time employment is slightly lower than the borough average while female part-time employment is the same as the borough average. Fig. 2: Employment in Great Bridge Great Bridge % Sandwell % Male Full-Time 54 51 Male Part-Time 7 6 Female Full-Time 19 23 Female Part-Time 21 20 Total 100 100 All Male 61 57 All Female 39 43 Total 100 100 All Full-Time 72 74 All Part-Time 28 26 Total 100 100 Base 9,031 126,104 Source: ABI 2006/NOMIS Figure 3 shows ‘Distribution, hotels and restaurants’, to be the largest employment sector in Great Bridge ward, with a significantly higher number of people employed in this sector than in the borough. Although the data provides an idea of employment opportunities within the ward, it should be noted that the area within which the ward’s residents work will be much wider than this (for further information see the Travel to Work section, page 5). Fig. 3: Industry of Employees, 2006 Employees- Employees- Industry Group Ward % Sandwell % 1 : Agriculture and fishing (SIC A,B) - - - - 2 : Energy and water (SIC C,E) - - - - 3 : Manufacturing (SIC D) 1,602 19.0 27,873 22.4 3 FINAL Updated: 20th April 2009 4 : Construction (SIC F) 1,653 19.6 7,075 5.7 5 : Distribution, hotels and restaurants (SIC G,H) 2,919 34.5 29,135 23.4 6 : Transport and communications (SIC I) 299 3.5 7,611 6.1 7 : Banking, finance and insurance, etc (SIC J,K) 985 11.7 16,058 12.9 8 : Public administration, education & health (SIC L,M,N) 862 10.2 27,636 22.2 9 : Other services (SIC O,P,Q) 131 1.6 9,121 7.3 Total 8,451 100 124,509 100 Source: ABI 2006/NOMIS. Some values suppressed due to confidentiality restrictions (Statistics of Trade Act 1947). Totals and percentages given are of the non-confidential data only. Please note that Figure 4 relates to the industry in which Great Bridge residents work, as opposed to Figures 2 and 3 which relate to employment in workplaces based within the ward. The industry employing the greatest number of residents in 2001 was ‘Manufacturing’ which employ higher proportions than Sandwell. ‘Wholesale, retail and repair of motor vehicles’ was also a sector employing a high proportion of people in the ward. Fig. 4: Industry of Residents in Employment, 2001 Number in Industry Group ward % Sandwell % All people 16-74 in employment 5,036 Agriculture, hunting, forestry 18 0.4 0.3 Fishing 0 0.0 0.0 Mining and Quarrying 5 0.1 0.1 Manufacturing 1,568 31.1 26.0 Electricity, gas and water 57 1.1 0.9 Construction 342 6.8 6.3 Wholesale & retail, Repair of Motor Vehicles 1,033 20.5 18.7 Hotels and Catering 178 3.5 4.2 Transport, Storage and Communication 338 6.7 6.8 Financial Intermediation 100 2.0 2.9 Real Estate, Renting & Business Activities 422 8.4 9.4 Public Admin. & Defence 162 3.2 4.1 Education 210 4.2 6.0 Health & Social Work 427 8.5 10.3 Other 176 3.5 4.1 Source: 2001 Census, Key Statistics - People in employment aged 16-74 Self Employment Self employment is not necessarily to be taken as an indicator of good economic health for either the locality or the individual. It can represent an individual’s inability to find employment opportunities in the area. However, current government policy is based on the premise that economic activity contributes to overall output of the local economy and that a locality with a low level of economic activity is not fulfilling its full potential. Information and data on this aspect of formal economic activity is difficult to obtain at ward level and estimates as to the size of Sandwell’s informal economy remain as 4 FINAL Updated: 20th April 2009 elusive as ever. At this time it is unclear as to how throughput data in relation to enterprise support is to be obtained as the region’s new Business Link delivery model is not yet up and running. The 2001 Census of Population shows Great Bridge to have 315 people in self employment, or 4.2% of the 16-59/64 year old population. This proportion is below the borough average and less than half of the national rate (9%). This gives the ward the 4th lowest rate of self employment of the 24 wards in Sandwell (2001 Census of population). Local Employers Significant local companies in and around the ward are: • Target Clean (West Midlands LTD), Ryders Green Road • Asda, Great Bridge Street • E.ON UK PLC Central Networks, Toll End Road • Mitsui Babcock Energy Ltd, Birmingham New Road • JBS Industries Ltd, Ryder Street • Laird Security Hardware Ltd, Ryder Street • MTM Ltd, Ryder Street • Avery Berkel Ltd, Ryder Street Opportunities Tipton is generally losing employment to housing. There has been a large amount of residential development in the Tipton area in recent years and this is set to continue. There are several proposed developments with planning permission in Great Bridge. Larger residential developments are proposed or under construction at New Road/Horseley Heath, Great Bridge High Street, Brickhouse Lane South, Upper Church Lane and Toll End Road, equating to approximately 190 properties. The main new development for potential employment in the ward is the new retail unit and industrial units on the Muntz site near Great Bridge town centre. Other potential opportunities exist nearby in neighbouring wards. These include several new industrial units in Oldbury (on the Autobase Industrial Estate and Hainge Road), two new units at Delta Point in West Bromwich and a new asphalt plant and ancillary facilities in Wednesbury. The ward will should benefit from the proposed Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro line. Travel To Work Activity There are 1,098 residents of Great Bridge who also work in the ward. Another 6,491 workers travel into the ward to work while 3,963 travel out of the ward to work. This results in an overall net flow of workers commuting into the ward of 2,528. Within Sandwell, the largest proportion of people commuting into the ward come from neighbouring Tipton Green and Princes End. Great Bridge residents commuting to other parts of Sandwell tend to travel to neighbouring wards and also to Oldbury and West Bromwich Central which have considerable employment opportunities. Large numbers of people travel to work in Great Bridge from Dudley and smaller numbers come from Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton. Of the Great Bridge 5 FINAL Updated: 20th April 2009 residents travelling outside the borough to work, the majority travel either to Birmingham or Dudley. Fig. 5: Journey to Work Movements within Sandwell Work in Great Bridge Live in Great Bridge Origin No. % Destination No. % Abbey 35 0.9 Abbey 3 0.1 Blackheath 57 1.5 Blackheath 35 1.0 Bristnall 64 1.6 Bristnall 3 0.1 Charlemont 163 4.2 Charlemont 31 0.9 Cradley Heath and Old Hill 38 1.0 Cradley Heath and Old Hill 25 0.7 Friar Park 115 2.9 Friar Park 13 0.4 Great Barr 80 2.1 Great Barr 13 0.4 Great Bridge 1,098 28.1 Great Bridge 1,098 32.8 Greets Green and Lyng 192 4.9 Greets Green and Lyng 224 6.7 Hateley Heath 175 4.5 Hateley Heath 60 1.8 Langley 79 2.0 Langley 38 1.1 Newton 91 2.3 Newton 9 0.3 Old Warley 42 1.1 Old Warley 0.0 Oldbury 89 2.3 Oldbury 280 8.4 Princes End 354 9.1 Princes End 148 4.4 Rowley 69 1.8 Rowley 11 0.3 Smethwick 39 1.0 Smethwick 21 0.6 Soho and Victoria 20 0.5 Soho and Victoria 71 2.1 St.