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West Midlands Local Skills Report Annex B - Evidence Base 2022

Introduction table

Indicator

Theme

  • Destinations

Where are we now

  • 80.2% of state-funded mainstream schools and colleges went in to a sustained education, apprenticeship, or employment destination as of 2019/2020 cohort

Change over the last year

  • this is a slight worsening on last year where the corresponding figure was 80.4%

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Last available data is 2017/2018, during which the figure was higher at 81.1%

Relative to peer group

  • The corresponding UK figure for the same year was 80.7%. It has also worsened and was 81.2% in 2017/2018

Theme

  • Destinations

Where are we now

  • 5.7% of proportion NEEt or not known in West Midlands (NUTS1) Region. Highest in Shropshire (10.3%) followed by Birmingham (8.5%)

Change over the last year

  • Remains unchanged

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Significantly decreased compared to 7.3% seen in 2016

Relative to peer group

  • Slightly higher than the England average of 5.5%. Higher than London (4.0%), East (4.3%) and North West (5.3%) and on par with North East (5.7%) and lower than South West (6.0%), East Midlands (6.2%) and Yorkshire and Humber (6.3%)

Theme

  • Destinations

Where are we now

  • 70.1% of children reach a good level of development at age five across personal, social and emotional development, as of 2018/2019

Change over the last year

  • this is up on 69.8% in 2017/2018

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • And significantly up on 58.4% in 2013/2014

Relative to peer group

  • The England average is higher at 71.8%

Theme

  • Destinations

Change over the last year

  • The ratio has slightly decreased from 7.22 for 2019 to 7.15 this year

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Housing continues to become less and less affordable with the ratio increasing from 6.5 in 2015

Relative to peer group

  • The England average is still performing worse at 7.84 whereas West Midlands as a region was performing better at 6.78

Theme

  • Demographic

Where are we now

  • The West Midlands (3-LEP) 5 year band estimate population stands at 4,215,900 in 2020.

Change over the last year

  • This is a 0.49% increase compared to 2019

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Compared to 2016, the population has risen by 2.66%

Relative to peer group

  • This is faster than the UK's 5 year population growth of 2.18%

Theme

  • Demographic

Where are we now

  • West Midlands (3-LEP) house price to median earnings ratio was at 7.15 for 2020

Change over the last year

  • The ratio has slightly decreased from 7.22 for 2019 to 7.15 this year

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Housing continues to become less and less affordable with the ratio increasing from 6.5 in 2015

Relative to peer group

  • The England average is still performing worse at 7.84 whereas West Midlands as a region was performing better at 6.78

Theme

  • Workforce

Where are we now

  • The Black Country has the best gender pay ratio, with women earning 92.5% as much as men as measured by median gross hourly pay for full time workers. The corresponding proportions for CWLEP and GBSLEP were 76.1% and 87.2% respectively.
  • Overall the regions gender pay gap is similar to the UK average, but the ratio is notably poor in Coventry and Warwickshire

Change over the last year

  • The equivalent figures for 2020 were considerably better, with proportions of 95.8%, 80.2% and 85.7% indicating a concerning deterioration in pay ratios since the pandemic

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Compared to 2016, we have a mixed picture, with BCLEP having improved on 90.0% GBSLEP having improved on 84.4%, but CWLEP worse than the 82.2% it recorded in 2016. The overall picture is similar.

Relative to peer group

  • The UK is in the middle at 88.1%

Theme

  • Workforce

Where are we now

  • West Midlands (3-LEP) employment rate of working-age population stood at 72.6% in 2020

Change over the last year

  • Employment rate remained the same only slightly increasing by 0.04 pp

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Improvement from the 2015 figure of 68.3%

Relative to peer group

  • UK average was at 75.1% closing the gap slightly when compared to last year

Theme

  • Workforce

Where are we now

  • the mean workplace based earnings for West Midlands (3-LEP) was at £37,122 in 2021

Change over the last year

  • this is a slight increase of 1.4%

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • This is an improvement from the annual workplace based earnings figure of £32,027

Relative to peer group

  • England average is at £38,876 which has seen a 1.3% decrease compared to the figure last year

Theme

  • Workforce

Where are we now

  • There were 174,645 total claimants between West Midlands (3-LEP) for October 2021, 31,440 of these claimants were 16-24 years old

Change over the last year

  • This represents a 15.9% decrease vs October 2020 for the overall claimants. Similarly 16-24 claimants has decreased by 26.6% vs last year

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Claimant (16-64) has increased by 148.4% vs October 2016. Claimants 16-64 also increased by 94.6%

Relative to peer group

  • A year on year decrease of 22.16 in claimants for the UK. 16-24 claimants group saw a bigger decrease of 33.66%

Theme

  • Growth and productivity

Where are we now

  • Coventry and Warwickshire recorded a £37 hourly GVA, followed by GBSLEP on £32.5 and BCLEP on £27.8

Change over the last year

  • These are all increases on last year, where respective figures were £36.6, £32.2 and £27.5

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Much higher than 2014 figures of £31.7, £28.9 and £25.8

Relative to peer group

  • The UK GVA is higher, at £35.2, than GBSLEP and BCLEP, but lower than CWLEP

Theme

  • Growth and productivity

Where are we now

  • Coventry and Warwickshire recorded a \£59k hourly GVA, followed by GBSLEP on £52k and BCLEP on £46k

Change over the last year

  • These are all increases on last year, where respective figures were £59, £51 and £45

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Much higher than 2014 figures of £52, £47 and £41

Relative to peer group

  • The UK GVA is higher, at £57k, than GBSLEP and BCLEP, but lower than CWLEP

Theme

  • Growth and productivity

Where are we now

  • West Midlands (NUT1) region had a total expenditure of £2,258 million for 2020

Change over the last year

  • 4.65% decrease

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • 17.4% increase in comparison to the 2014 figure

Relative to peer group

  • West Midlands (NUTS1) Region is the 4th largest contributor at 8.4% of 2020;s Businesses R & D expenditure after London (12.5%), South East (20.4%) and East of England (21.7%)

Theme

  • Growth and productivity

Where are we now

  • Nominal (smoothed) GVA (B) per hour worked for the West Midlands (ITL1) was at £31.30

Change over the last year

  • a 1.20% increase in nominal GVA (B) versus the 2018 figure

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • 2014 figure stood at £27.80, same as East Midlands

Relative to peer group

  • Amongst the ITL1 Regions, West Midlands remained 7th whereas South West has over taken North West for 5th place at 31.9

Theme

  • Provision

Where are we now

  • 45,300 undergraduates and 25780 postgraduates completed courses in the West Midlands in 2019/2020

Change over the last year

  • This is a fall on the 2018/2019 figures of 46,685 for undergraduates, but a rise on the postgraduate figure of 25,535. However the overall trend is a decrease

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • Compared to 2014/2015 figures of 40,735 undergraduates and 21,290, there has been a significant increase

Relative to peer group

  • When compared to population the West Midlands produces almost exactly the same number of university graduates as the UK, at 1.19 graduates per 100 population for both

Theme

  • Provision

Where are we now

  • combined FE and apprenticeship achievements were 158,230 in the West Midlands in 2018/2019

Change over the last year

  • this is down on 167,960 in 2017/2018

Direction of travel (five year trend)

  • and down further on 212,160 in 2014,2015

Relative to peer group

  • The totals for England have followed the same downward trajectory for combined FE and apprenticeships.