The Regional Assembly Scrutiny Panel - Regional Strategic Review of Migrant Workers in the South West
The Review will inform the development of a Migrant Worker Action Plan for the South West, raise the profile of the issues and encourage a more coordinated response across a wide range of relevant partners.
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West of England trail-blazers challenge stereotypes at work
Trail-blazing men and women from across the West of England will be sashaying down the red carpet for the premier of a new DVD from the Trading Places project that aims to challenge gender stereotypes at work.
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New website to promote entry-level jobs in the voluntary sector
The Workforce Hub is developing a new website – www.Do-More.org.uk. Do More is dedicated to highlighting entry level jobs in the voluntary sector - and will be a valuable resource for new graduates or people starting their career in the sector.
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Outlook 'remains bleak' for high street while supermarket sales grow
Sales on the UK high street fell for a third consecutive month during the first half of September while supermarket sales continued to grow.
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Businesses at risk from 48-hour working week limit, says BCC
The competitiveness of British businesses will suffer if the Government chooses to end the UK's opt-out of the Working Time Directive and cap the maximum working week at 48 hours, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
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Campaign to help Adults overcome fear of Maths
To help counter this a national numeracy campaign - Maths Takes You There - was launched last week by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) with funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).
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Extra cash this Autumn for a million workers
Around one million workers across the UK will soon have a little extra money in their pockets as the National Minimum Wage increases on Wednesday.
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Working People Want the Right to Ask for Training at Work
A YouGov survey for the TUC and unionlearn has found that 71% of working people would like to see a new legal right to request paid time off for training. In addition, 53 per cent say they would be likely to use it.
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Flexicurity Guide
Flexicurity is a policy approach that attempts to combine flexibility of labour markets for employers and security of employment for employees. It has the potential to substantially enhance the competitiveness of the European economy and create higher levels of employment. The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the Dublin-based EU agency, has drawn on its research results to produce a resource pack containing fact sheets covering the issue from three distinct perspectives: finding the right approach nationally from the Member States, putting flexicurity into practice at company level, and evaluating the impact of flexicurity on workers' lives – as well as providing an analysis of how flexicurity affects vulnerable groups. The resource pack is available online at:
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ADAM Database - UK Homepage Launched
The UK National Agency has launched the UK homepage of the ADAM database. The ADAM database is a fantastic, cost effective way to disseminate your EU projects across Europe. Why not have a look to see what other projects have been funded?
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Innovation and Transnationality ESF Call
A call for proposals for innovative and transnational ESF activities will be launched later in the autumn. The call will invite proposals for regional projects to develop, test and deliver innovative ways of extending employment opportunities and improving workforce skills. Each project will need to involve at least one partner from another EU member state to exchange knowledge, experience and best practice. Up to three projects will be supported in each region. Regional committees are currently choosing which of the themes they want to focus on in their regions. Projects are expected to start in spring 2009 and will usually run for up to three years. Preliminary information, including draft descriptions of the themes, is on the ESF website.
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Mind the gap: Europe's potential skills deficit
Europe, potentially, faces a major skills problem in the near future. Over 20 million new jobs are expected to be created between 2006 and 2020. Another 85 million jobs will be available to replace people who retire or leave the labour market for other reasons. Although more jobs and more job opportunities are forecast, the working age population will fall by around six million.
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Enterprises by size class: overview of SMEs in the EU
The report presents indicators for enterprises in the ‘non-financial business economy’ in the European Union in 2005 and finds that the overwhelming majority of these were small and medium-sized enterprises, with less than 250 persons employed.
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NEW RSP ALLIANCE REPORT - Skills and the Voluntary and Community Sector
On 16 September, the South West Regional Skills Partnership Alliance met to discuss skills and the voluntary and community sector. A number of issues emerged from the presentations and discussions, including:
- The need to better communicate the size, scale and importance of the VCS in the South West.
- The need to ensure that support programmes are genuinely accessible to VCS organisations.
- The need to better manage the current duplication of resources by better understanding the diversity of the sector.
- The lack of a dedicated Sector Skills Council for the Voluntary and Community Sector.
- The need for existing Sector Skills Councils to better understand and engage with the training needs of voluntary organisations within their sector (and of voluntary staff within non-voluntary sector organisations).
- The lack of representation for the VCS in skills planning at national, regional and local level, and associated with this, the need to ensure that the voice of the VCS is heard strategically within the South West region.
- The need to enhance the sustainability of employment within the sector.

The final report is now 'hot off the e-press' and can be obtained by emailing Hannah at the SWRSP, or direct from the SWRSP website, very soon, at the link below.
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New Job Opportunity - STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Partnership Manager
The STEM Partnership Manager's vacancy is for 33 months (until July 2011), fixed-term or as a potential secondment opportunity to the Regional Skills Partnership (RSP). The post holder will manage the RSP’s STEM activity and be responsible for the development of a regional STEM web portal and programme of events which aim to inform and bring together all those interested in developing the STEM skills of the current and future workforce.

RSP STEM activity is one element of a three pronged approach, the other two being: research into the supply, demand and barriers to STEM skills development, and interventions which enthuse and inspire young people to take up and achieve STEM subjects. Together these activities make up STEM SW, an RDA-funded approach to tackling the STEM skills deficit in the South West.

The post holder will also undertake specific work for the STEM SW steering group, liaise with other relevant RSP standing groups and actively support other regional organisations in their STEM skills activity.

For a detailed job description, please contact Chris Jillard via the SW RSP.

There’s more on the work of the South West RSP at:
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Latest - Economic & Labour Market Review
Interesting snippet from the Review: "People who work in the City of London had the highest earnings, with median fulltime gross pay of £834 a week as at April 2007. The lowest pay was for people who work in Torridge, South West, at £313 a week."
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New analysis of UK household inflation
The report links the spending patterns of 6,000 households with prices data from the national Retail Prices Index and shows that housing, food, gas and electricity make a greater contribution to the inflation rate of low-income households than to higher income groups.
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Employment rate falls to 74.7%
There has been a fall in both the number of people in employment and the employment rate. The number of unemployed people, the unemployment rate and the claimant count have all increased. The number of inactive people of working age has increased slightly but the inactivity rate is unchanged. The number of vacancies has fallen. Growth in average earnings including bonuses has increased but earnings growth excluding bonuses is unchanged. Working age employment rate was 74.7 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter. The number of people in employment decreased by 16,000 over the quarter.
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Sustainability Now e-bulletin
The latest monthly e-bulletin from Sustainability South West is now out. This issue includes:
- The Future of Food – special guest editorial by Amy Robinson, SSW Member & Sustainable Development Manager, Bordeaux Quay restaurant
- SSW seeks a Sustainable Health Manager
- Embedding sustainability into the South West post SNR – Make your voice heard
- SSW responds to proposed changes to draft RSS – last chance to respond
- Government release statistics for CO2 emissions at Local Authority level
- Sust’Ometer
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Commission for Rural Communities: Do you recognise rural?
This leaflet explains what 'rural proofing' means for policy-makers and deliverers. Rural proofing is a commitment by Government to ensure that domestic policies take account of rural circumstances and needs.
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Continuing Vocational Training Survey 2005
This report is based upon results derived from the third EU-sponsored Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS3) undertaken in the UK in September-December 2006, and covering the reference period of 2005.
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Train to Gain employer evaluation: sweep 1 research report
Key facts that emerge in this survey include:
- Eight employers in ten (80 per cent) have been satisfied with the skills brokerage service, with the highest levels of satisfaction seen in relation to the impartiality of advice offered by skills brokers, along with their knowledge of the local provision market.
- Just under two-thirds (64 per cent) of employers who have been in contact with a skills broker have made a commitment to training as a result of the Train to Gain service.
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The future of further education: an opinion survey
This major opinion survey delivered by LSN in partnership with the Guardian further education pages, investigated whether the sector's workforce supports the government's vision for the future, the degree of consensus, and people's own visions for the future.
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Training and workforce development in SMEs: myth and reality
In this paper the authors attempt to challenge conventional wisdom about the role of SMEs in the training and development of the UK workforce, arguing that their contribution is more significant than an uncritical reading of the statistical and research evidence might suggest.
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Forum of Private Business (FPB) - Small-business Skills Survey
The FPB undertook a survey of 1,500 members in July 2008 to respond to the higher-level skills consultation by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and to support the FPB’s campaign ‘Promoting Business Growth’. The survey was conducted online, and was promoted through stand-alone emails and reminders in the FPB’s weekly eNewsletter.
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The Impact of Business Involvement in Education
The review, which selected only the most robust quantitative research, aimed to find out the measurable effects of employers in terms of both attainment grades of school pupils and outcomes such as attendance and continuity in post-secondary education. A small number of studies were identified that provided evidence of measurable improvements in grades and none that suggested a negative impact on attainment.
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Adult FE and the Economic Downturn - 16 October 2008, London
This Campaign for Learning briefing will examine whether we need a more flexible Adult FE system that can respond to the economic cycle. During periods of stable and steady economic growth the balance of public funding can be directed at an employer-driven system of Train to Gain and Adult Apprenticeships. Conversely, during an economic downturn, employer demand might be low, but adult demand might rise as those fearing the loss of their jobs need to be up-skilled and re-skilled.
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Job mobilities in Europe -17 October 2008 Brussels, Belgium
Based on representative data collected in six European countries, the papers presented during the conference analyse the current mobility flows and the explanation of the corresponding consequences for society, economy, demographic development, gender equality, and quality of life in Europe. The findings of the study identify new challenges for the economy and suggest a change of political strategies directed to job mobility.
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2015: Creating a Culture for Learning to Learn - 4 November, London
How do current policy initiatives fit with learners’ attitudes to learning?
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HERDA-SW Annual Conference - 13 and 14 November, Tobay
This year's event will focus on the future role of Higher Education (HE) and will be addressing key issues for the South West in its development, and the role HE plays in society, the region and the wider environment.
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WELFARE TO WORK 08: Delivering a 21st century workforce - 26 November 2008, Business Design Centre, London
Increasing UK competitiveness requires a skilled, motivated and rewarded workforce. Join a 400-strong audience as this groundbreaking conference examines the key government strategies that will enable the UK workforce to make the successful transition from benefits to sustained work.
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