www.enfield.gov.uk

Employment and Skills Strategy2014-2017

ForewordThe Employment and Skills Strategy is crucial to achieving the economic growth that Enfield needs. The strategy builds on the Local Economic Assessment which produced a fine-grained picture of Enfield’s economic profile. It recognises some of the work which is already happening and how we will continue to promote Enfield as an area to find employment and do business. The Council cannot do this alone, and this strategy outlines how we plan to take forward our ambitious agenda for employment and skills working collaboratively with our partners.

Our partnerships have never been stronger; from our relationship with our colleges and business agencies, to cater for the skills needed today and anticipate those that will be required in the future, to our development of industry sector forums where issues can be tackled holistically. Our voluntary sector partners’ links into the most deprived communities are helping us to develop interventions that target and support some of the most entrenched issues associated with unemployment.

Enfield's diverse population brings vibrancy to the borough but also presents challenges for the Council. Despite being an outer London borough, Enfield experiences some of the same socio-economic issues faced by inner London. Changes to the benefits system through Universal Credit will bring additional pressures and we are poised to tackle these headlong.

Enfield was the first London borough in 2013 to sign an aspirational Partnership Agreement with Jobcentre Plus and partners to tackle worklessness. Looking beyond our borough boundaries to Enfield’s place in the functional economic area towards Cambridge to the north and central London to the south is opening up new partnerships and initiatives. Jobs and opportunities created through developments in Meridian Water to the south east and better transport connections will allow access to Stansted airport and other employment zones.

Enfield has changed. From the beginning of the 20th century when Enfield was at the forefront of technology and innovation with the invention of the electric lamp in Ponders End to colour television broadcast in the 1960s, Enfield’s history is steeped in industry. To overcome the employment barriers we must recover this pioneering spirit and make Enfield a thriving economy for the 21st century.

Cllr Del Goddard

Cabinet member, Business and Regeneration

Martin Fitches

District Operations Manager, Department for Work and Pensions

Contents Our vision 1

The challenges 2

Where are the future job opportunities? 5

Skills issues affecting employment 10

A changing policy and funding environment 15

Actions and target groups 17

Partnerships 19

Meeting the challenges - priorities for 2014-2017 21

Our vision To make Enfield an even better place to live and work, delivering fairness for all, growth and sustainability and strong communities

This document sets out the Employment and Skills Strategy for the London Borough of Enfield from 2014 to 2017 and how the Council will address unemployment and raise skill levels.

The economic situation has changed significantly since the last Employment and Skills Strategy was published.

The Council recognises the economic impact that the recession has had on the borough and has identified four key ambitions for 2014-17 aimed at improving the employment and skills prospects for local residents and supporting local businesses to recruit and retain local staff:

Enfield’s ambitions for 2014-17 are to: Help people to access and sustain employment

Help local businesses to recruit local people

Help people to increase their skills and qualifications to progress in work

Promote more inward investment to the borough and increase the number of jobs available

Enfield is a borough of contrasts. Over half its residents are in professional, associate professional and managerial jobs, compared with 42% in the wider UK population and 44% in London.1 The median weekly wage of those in work in Enfield is £554.80, which compares well with the UK average of £508.90 but is lower than the London average of £613.30.2

Although figures for benefit claimants are decreasing steadily across all categories, worklessness is still an issue of concern, as 27% of all

working age residents are currently economically inactive.3 Enfield has the seventh highest number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance amongst the London boroughs and has seen the biggest rise in the proportion of working age residents claiming out of work benefits of any London borough since 2001.

The Employment and Skills Strategy is therefore ambitious and designed to address the scale of the challenge Enfield faces over the next three years.

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The challenges Unemployment and economic activity

Enfield has 313,900 residents, of whom 64.8% are of working age. A larger proportion of these (10.4%) are unemployed than in London overall, where the average is 8.9%. More than a quarter – 27% – are economically inactive – not working and not looking

for work. Enfield contains 3.8% of London’s population but provides only 2% of its jobs. Economic inactivity and unemployment is particularly acute in certain areas of the borough, as shown in Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: London Borough of Enfield, claimant count by middle super output area, December 2013

Produced by GIS Team Environment Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Tel 0208 379 3520 Ordnance Survey Licence no. 100019820

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Key facts 5,692 people are long-term unemployed (1.4%) and 3,000 have never

worked.4

In the last ten years, all Edmonton wards (in the south east corner of the borough) have seen an increase in the proportion of working age adults claiming key out of work benefits, despite already having a relatively high claimant count a decade ago.

In 2013, measured by the proportion of people claiming out of work benefits, Edmonton Green was the fourth most deprived ward in London.5

Long term unemployed At 1.4% the long term unemployment rate for Enfield is slightly less than for Haringey and Waltham Forest but above the proportions in Barnet and London as a whole.6 Three thousand residents have never worked. Long-term unemployment amongst older people is growing: 43% of unemployed people aged 50-64 remain unemployed after a year out of work, compared to 35% of unemployed people aged 25-49 and 18.5% of those aged 16-24. However, because the 25-49 year old group is numerically larger, older people constitute a smaller proportion of the

long term unemployed overall: 650 individuals compared to 1,880 25-49 year olds.7

Youth unemployment Enfield is one of the 152 local authorities identified as containing youth unemployment 'hotspots’. The proportion of 16-19 year olds in Enfield who were NEET (not in Education Employment or Training) in August 2013 was 4.86%. While this is close to the overall rate for London (4.8% in June 2013) it is below the England average of 9.1%.8 A high proportion of young people in Enfield who are NEET live in Edmonton.

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Economically Inactive Residents

Only 72% of the working age population (16-64) is ‘economically active’, that is, either in work or claiming unemployment benefits and seeking work.9 Therefore, even if every individual who is currently claiming unemployment benefit found employment, this would not raise the proportion of people in work in Enfield to the Europe 2020 target of 75% employment. For Enfield to achieve the 75% target some of those who are inactive will need to gain work and, on the plus side, as many as 16,300 ‘inactive’ Enfield residents would like a job. In addition, changes to benefit rules mean that more ‘inactive’ residents are likely to seek work. Worklessness rates are highest in the east of the borough.

The ‘inactive’ group includes those discouraged from looking for work and fulltime parents. Lone parents constitute a large proportion of economically inactive adults and this in turn is linked to poverty levels amongst this group.

Almost three-quarters – 70% – of children living in poverty in Enfield live in a family headed by a lone parent.10 Increased opportunities for employment, education and training for this group will be needed to help move people out of poverty.

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Where are the future job opportunities? Current profile of employment

Key facts Enfield has changed from a manufacturing-based economy to a

service-based economy. In the early 1970s, over 50% of jobs were in manufacturing; now it is only 5.8%.

Employment in all sectors apart from “public administration, education and health” and “other services” has decreased by a bigger percentage in Enfield than in London and the UK.

There are approximately 9,900 enterprises providing 92,500 jobs in Enfield, of which 59% are held by Enfield residents.11

Since 2007 Enfield lost large numbers of jobs in banking, finance and insurance while employment in this sector grew in London and the UK.

In contrast other sectors are growing. The Food and Drink sector in particular is increasing. Land left vacant by the closure of factories has been used to create business parks which provide premises for a range of businesses, many of which are in wholesale, food manufacturing and logistics.

Many non-food manufacturing businesses with production operations abroad carry out the “finishing, packing and distribution” parts of their activity in Enfield. Distribution of food and internet-based deliveries has been a particular growth area in recent times.

There has also been growth in ‘green sector’ industries.

A large proportion of employment in Enfield is located on industrial estates. The majority of these jobs are in wholesale and retail, and in manufacturing.

Enfield has a slightly higher than average number of self-employed people compared to London; 12.4% compared to 11.6% across London as a whole.12

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Significant increases in public sector jobs since 2007 have rendered Enfield particularly vulnerable to the impact of public sector cuts. However, self-employment and entrepreneurship are high and look set to increase: as many as 50% of construction workers and nearly 20% of transport and communications workers in Enfield were self-employed in 2005. The current figures are likely to be higher.

Together, these changes have affected - and will continue to affect - employment patterns within Enfield. There is now a need for concerted action to increase growth of jobs, raise skill levels and ensure vacancies are filled locally, ie action on both the demand and the supply

side, to mitigate this trend and reduce unemployment rate.

Where are future jobs likely to come from?Current vacancies Despite having the tenth highest unemployment rate in London, Enfield also has a higher than average number of job vacancies compared to

the London average, suggesting a mismatch in the labour market and the skills base but also – potentially – employment opportunities that could be filled by local people.

However, a survey of local employers indicated that fewer than 10% of respondents saw local recruitment as a positive contribution to the business. A quarter of employers who did not recruit locally said that candidate quality was a major factor.13

New jobs The survey of employers also provides an overview of where new jobs are likely to be seen in the borough and the skill requirements these will bring. Opportunities for growth exist in food manufacturing, wholesale and logistics, construction activity arising from housing growth and retro-fit, and the green industries and low carbon sector.

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Figure 2: The London Stansted Cambridge Corridor

Local procurement is being used to create local jobs and a number of developments are planned. The emerging Enfield Town Centre Management Framework and a new raft of Town Centre Management Action Plans (Figure 3) will help to increase retail opportunities in strategic locations by increasing the number of new businesses, providing jobs that are likely to prove attractive

to young people, women and disadvantaged sections of the community. The future development of ‘café culture’ could support and encourage retail spend. Such initiatives would drive demand for low and intermediate level skills in retail and catering services.

Ambitious regeneration programmes, especially in the more deprived east of the borough, are forecast to create

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approximately 15,000 jobs in Enfield over the coming decades. Jobs will also be created close to the borough, along the Upper Lee Valley area. Transport improvements along the London Stansted Cambridge Corridor (Figure 2) are predicted to provide access to high-skill employment in Cambridge and Stansted Airport, as well as central London. A recent report found the Upper Lee Valley to be “one of the brighter prospects for future growth”, potentially delivering 21,900 jobs in the Upper Lee Valley

opportunity area, plus 15,000 jobs in neighbouring districts.14

At least 3,000 new jobs will be created specifically in construction, retail, leisure and industry in Enfield between 2014 and 2017 to support these new developments.

Further growth areas are predicted in manufacturing, in financial and business services and in transport and logistics arising from the Meridian Water development, a key part of the Mayor's Lee Valley Opportunity Area.

Figure 3: Area Action Plans and Regeneration Areas

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The Meridian Water development comprises an 80 hectare site at the heart of the Upper Lee Valley and will create up to 5,000 new homes, 3,000 new jobs, two primary schools (one linked to a secondary school), a University Technical College, as well as local retail, leisure and community facilities.15 As well as playing a major part in regenerating Edmonton and its surrounding areas, this £1.5 billion project aims to be low carbon, becoming one of the main hubs within

the proposed North London Decentralised Energy Network.

Significant improvements to transport links are also planned. These will build on Network Rail’s recent proposal to implement ‘three-tracking’, improving the frequency of rail services throughout the Lee Valley, including a four trains an hour service at Angel Road Station (soon to be renamed Meridian Water). Amongst other things this will enable more local people to access jobs by rail.

What this means for Enfield Enfield is moving towards increased job density, but the gap between the

number of jobs available and the working age population remains significant and cannot be ignored.

Based on these data an additional 60,000 jobs would need to be created immediately to pull Enfield up to the London average job density.

After population and job density projections for 2021 are fed into these calculations the difference reduces to approximately 55,000 jobs, given the planned regeneration work and the projected fall in London’s average job density in contrast to that of the borough.16

At the same time, additional work opportunities developing outside the borough, along with the multiplier effects of regeneration, are likely to help further increase job availability for Enfield residents.

Enfield and its partner boroughs in the Lea Valley Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) will need to track new job projections and skills predictions to ensure the borough benefits from this economic growth.

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Skills issues affecting employment There have been improvements to the qualifications profile of residents since the last strategy was published, but some skills deficits remain.

Key facts17 Enfield residents have slightly lower skill levels than the London average,

with 47.9% qualified to NVQ3 or above, compared to 54% across the capital.

The proportion of the working age population with no qualifications has declined by 30% since 2007 to 9.6%; however this remains above the London average, which is 8.4%.

The number of highly qualified residents with NVQ level 4+ has risen by more than the average London percentage increase (19.3%, as opposed to 10.3%) but remains behind the London average of 41.9%.

The proportion of 19-year-olds in Enfield who lack a level 3 qualification is amongst the lowest in London, but some areas of the borough have particular challenges with regard to skill levels. In addition, employers cite a lack of “soft” or employability skills as a prime reason for not hiring local residents to fill vacancies. This needs to be addressed.

Schools to the east of the borough perform significantly below borough averages at all key stage levels. In those wards few pupils progress to

sixth form or higher education. The lowest attaining group by gender and ethnicity are white British boys.

There are three colleges of further education in Enfield: Barnet and Southgate College; the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CHENEL); and Capel Manor, a specialist land-based sector college. The London universities are all within easy reach. Almost two-thirds – 64% – of young people in Enfield go to university following school or college.

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Key facts There are 19 secondary schools in the borough: one is a selective school

and one is independent. Four are academies - two of these were amongst the first of the Mayoral Academies.

Between 60 and 75% of pupils gained good GCSE grades or equivalent at five of the comprehensive schools; at eight schools between 50% and 54% of pupils gained good GCSE grades or equivalent; and at four schools between 33% and 48% of pupils gained good grades.

A University Technical College is planned as part of redevelopment work.

Three colleges of further education are located in or close to the borough.

Approximately 1% of young people in the borough entered apprenticeships in 2012.

Currently 64% of young people from Enfield enter higher education.

Schools Performance across secondary schools is varied. Two of the lower performing schools have become Academies and are now improving.

The ‘participation age’ was raised to 17 in 2013 and from 2015, young people will be required to continue in education or training (or work in a post that includes recognised training, such as an apprenticeship) until their 18th birthday. This is likely to further raise interest in and demand for apprenticeships, as the main option for those who want to leave school and enter work at 16.

Colleges There is a mismatch between supply and demand in local FE, with provision exceeding demand in some

sectors, while in others – primarily IT, adult social care and health care, business, administration and governance and finance, accountancy and financial services – demand by residents outstrips local supply. Only 26.8% of local employers thought that local training provision met their needs. More than half thought it was inadequate, but this varies with sector: about 70% of manufacturing employers thought provision was inadequate, compared to 53% in retail and 40% in hotel and catering.18

In 2013 the Coalition Government introduced loans for FE; the majority of people who want to retrain (and are not funded by their employer) will now need either to take out a loan or finance the training from their savings. It is unknown how this will affect demand.

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Apprenticeships, traineeships and other vocational training Traineeships were introduced in 2013 for 16- to 24-year-olds (and up to age 25 for young people with learning difficulty assessments). These offer a work placement and work skills training along with a range of support and flexible training to help individuals develop their skills and progress into an apprenticeship or other employment. Enfield has already stated its intention to deliver traineeships for 16-24-year-olds.

Enfield supports apprenticeships through its apprenticeship team that works with the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise Enfield to raise awareness of and interest in apprenticeships amongst employers.

Enfield also organises an annual programme of jobs and apprenticeships fairs and is itself a major employer of apprentices.

There has been a rapid rise in uptake of apprenticeships in the past year, with an increase in apprenticeship applications in the borough from 6,690 to 8,990 between 2012 and 2013.19 However, the supply of apprenticeships falls short of demand and more apprenticeships in the borough (over 7 in 10) are at level 2 (rather than level 3) than elsewhere. Strength of local demand suggests that further apprenticeship opportunities would be valued.

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The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London hosts an Apprenticeship Training Agency (ATA). This is a coordinating and administrating body that ‘hires’ apprentices to employers – in particular to small- and medium-sized employers, who might otherwise be unable to offer an apprenticeship – therefore enabling access to a full apprenticeship experience through a series of apprenticeship placements. Raising awareness of the Apprenticeship Training Agency facility amongst small- and medium-sized employers within Enfield needs to be a priority.

Capel Manor College plans to establish a pan-London Centre to help develop young entrepreneurs in the land based and related industries across greater London. The initiative is currently at the planning stage but if successful will provide job opportunities for young people during the timescale of the Employment and Skills Strategy.

University Technical Colleges (UTCs) UTCs are colleges for students aged 14 to 18. They specialise in technical studies and are sponsored and led by a university and local employers. Plans are in train to build a UTC linked to Anglia Ruskin University in the Meridian Water development area. The project aims to deliver a balanced technical and applied education programme to meet the needs of local business and commerce across the London Stansted Cambridge corridor.

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Information, advice and guidance (IAG)

Local Authorities have a statutory duty to provide IAG and support for young people aged 16-18 who are not in employment, education or training. Enfield offers the ‘Next Step’ service for young people aged 16-18 who need guidance. Schools and colleges are required to commission IAG for young people in education and training while from age 18, the National Careers Service (NCS) assumes this responsibility. The Council works with secondary schools to provide a conduit for the provision of careers information to students and parents, such as the jobs likely to become available as a result of the regeneration activities planned in and around the borough.

In Enfield, in addition to the NCS telephone advice service and NCS online careers IAG is available at Citizens Advice Bureaux, Prospects offices and through advisors at Jobcentre Plus and Work Programme providers. Enfield also provides careers IAG through its in-house job brokerage service JOBSnet and its Learning and Skills for Work Service.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) There has been significant non-UK born migration into the borough. Many migrants need to learn English and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision can play a vital role in helping people into work. Nearly a quarter of households in Enfield have some level of ESOL need. The highest level of ESOL need is seen in the Edmonton wards and Bowes. Many of those needing ESOL provision also have literacy needs.20

The total number of available ESOL places consistently falls short of demand. This has a direct impact on residents’ ability to access work and training. Changes to eligibility criteria mean that only those on active benefits are now entitled to free ESOL. Enfield has levered in funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) to offer basic skills training (Basic ICT, Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL) but there is potential for more to be done, including offering support for workplace ESOL initiatives.

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A changing policy and funding environment Population Growth and Universal Credit

The borough’s working age population is twice that of the number of available jobs. The population is growing steadily and is projected to do so in the future. Growth in population, combined with the impact of Universal Credit, means that there will be more demand for jobs in future.

Whilst it is difficult to predict the impact of migration to the borough, it is likely that as housing is relatively more affordable in the area, Enfield will experience an increase in workless families within the timescale of the strategy. Therefore, by 2015, Enfield could have a higher proportion of Universal Credit claimants than other London boroughs, potentially having a major impact on employment in the borough and adding further both to the unemployment figures and housing pressures.

This will place additional demands on Children and Young People’s

services, at a time of considerable budgetary pressures. There is a clearly accepted association between poverty and children being at risk. In some areas of Enfield, such as Edmonton Green, almost 90% of lone parent families live in poverty.

The Work Programme There have been significant changes to the way in which programmes to support employment and skills are designed, delivered and funded. Jobcentres can refer unemployed adults to specific skills training funded through the Skills Funding Agency’s Adult Skills Budget. The Work Programme is the major initiative aimed at helping the long-term unemployed into a job by offering personalised support which may include skills training.

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Challenges

While developments along the Lee Valley Corridor will provide job opportunities, these may not all be within the immediate reach of residents, due to the identified skill gaps. Also, at present the various opportunities are not articulated in a way that can be used to influence providers of employment support (recruitment agencies, Jobcentre Plus etc.) and skills services (local colleges and training providers) to focus their efforts appropriately. Enfield will play a key role in clarifying future needs and mediating between employers and the various providers and support agencies.

A further challenge is that as funding increasingly becomes conditional upon achieving sustainable employment outcomes, at the same time the labour market, although improving, is still slack. This may lead providers to focus their efforts on those easier to help and potentially to neglect those furthest from the jobs market, serving to further polarise an already bi-modal local labour market. This is why services like the Council's in-house job brokerage service, JOBSNet, which helps those furthest from the labour market into training and employment, are so valuable. 21

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Actions and target groups Action is needed to increase the number of jobs in the borough, raise skill levels and to help businesses to recruit local people. In putting plans in place to ensure that residents benefit from growth Enfield will prioritise the following key target groups.

Long term unemployed The Council will work to re-engage those who have been unemployed for over a year or have never worked, address individual barriers to work and bring a substantial number of these residents towards economic activity. National schemes to help specific groups, such as the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Entrepreneurs, will be actively explored.

Economically inactive Helping some of Enfield’s 16,300 residents who are currently classified as inactive and have said they would like a job to become economically active would lead to a significant improvement in the borough’s employment rate. Lack of public transport, childcare and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision are key barriers preventing people becoming economically active, and the Council must look for ways in which these can be overcome.

Lone parents constitute a large proportion of those who are economically inactive, contributing to

child poverty. Enfield will increase the number of parents of pre-school children engaging with pre-employability programmes and will facilitate access to work by ensuring the availability of affordable and accessible childcare, school places and ESOL provision, and affordable housing and transport. Finding innovative ways in which to engage with and offer IAG to lone parents who are economically inactive will also need to be a priority.

A shift towards highlighting and encouraging flexible employment options and self employment would help women move into employment. Flexible options are likely to attain even greater importance in future years as elder care responsibilities are likely to become as significant a barrier as responsibility for childcare in preventing access to work. The Council will therefore seek to increase flexible work opportunities throughout the borough.

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Younger people

There is increasing provision of employment-related services for young people, both Council-led and from the Voluntary and Community Sector, and a refocusing of Jobcentre Plus priorities on young people. Action is needed to tackle unemployment and non-engagement in education and training amongst young people, as this group is the least likely to access mainstream out-of-work provision. The Council will focus on creating more job opportunities, opening up high-quality progression routes, guaranteeing back-to-work support and better preparing young people for entering work.

A key challenge in improving the future employment prospects for young people in the borough will be ‘future proofing’: looking ahead to predict the sorts of jobs that will be available and the skill sets that will be needed to ensure that today’s five-years-olds will be able to access jobs locally if they wish to. This will require monitoring and updating of employment intelligence and close working with colleagues in education to ensure that education and training provision is designed with those future needs in mind.

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Partnerships

A major feature in this new Employment and Skills Strategy is the Council’s role in co-ordinating and facilitating strong, effective local partnerships bringing key agencies together to achieve common goals.

These positive working relationships will enable Enfield to continue to address unemployment and low skills and support local businesses more effectively over the next three years and beyond.

Working with other agenciesEnfield was the first London borough to instigate and sign up to an ambitious Partnership Agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions Jobcentre Plus (JCP) agency and Work Programme providers to agree a joint action plan to tackle unemployment. The Partnership Agreement addresses areas where traditional organisational boundaries can impose barriers, such as data sharing, and seeks to work

collaboratively to help local businesses and improve employment prospects for residents. Work to date has included:

JCP advisors being seconded to work within the local authority

Specialist work to tackle gang culture

Bespoke courses being designed by local colleges to meet specific local skills gaps.

Signing the Partnership Agreement

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Another of Enfield’s partnership structures, the Employment and Enterprise Board, brings together business support agencies, voluntary sector partners, local Further Education colleges and other stakeholders. Their role is to tackle entrenched worklessness problems such as low skills, low pay and mental health problems which present barriers to accessing sustained employment.

Working across physical boundaries The Council also looks beyond its borough boundaries to its position as a functional economic area in the sub-region. Partnership agreements using the model described above are being developed along the London Stansted Cambridge corridor. The borough works closely with neighbouring boroughs Haringey and Waltham Forest on employment programmes such as the North London Pledge (NLP) programme which assists unemployed residents to find work. Enfield’s JOBSnet service has been delivering advice support and job brokerage as part of the NLP since 2006. The NLP has been recognised as an example of best practice in ensuring people in the sub-region access and sustain work.

Many of these partnership initiatives are funded though European monies and in 2012 Enfield embarked on a strategic Knowledge Transfer project called JobTown, designed to review practice across Europe in tackling youth unemployment, both cyclical and structural. JobTown brought together 11 European cities to develop practical action plans to address the issue. As a result Enfield is exploring a relationship with Thurrock Council and the Port of Tilbury, with the port’s expansion being expected to create some 46,000 jobs some of which could be accessed by Enfield residents.

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Meeting the challenges - priorities for 2014-2017

Enfield and its partners recognise that these issues are linked. There is little to be gained from improving training programmes if jobs are not available, and to ensure that jobs are available employers must be persuaded to invest in the borough, create jobs and recruit local people. It will not be sufficient to aim at ‘more of the same’ – Enfield’s ambition is to see the skill demands of employers rise and skill levels of residents rise in response to that challenge. At the same time, Enfield recognises that if employers are unable to recruit staff with the necessary skill levels it will face challenges in persuading them to set up or expand their operations in the borough.

A particular priority for Enfield therefore will be to ensure that the borough uses its influence to bring

higher level skills into the area as part of the plans for regeneration and development. Supporting the development of higher skill levels in existing employees and residents will also play a part in improving the skills profile of the borough.

Earlier sections indicate the ways in which the employment and skills environment in the borough have changed since the last strategy was developed. The 2014-2017 Strategy sets out the priorities the borough needs to address over the next three years taking these factors into account. Action will be needed on several fronts if these ambitions are to be achieved by 2017 and the Council has identified five strategic priorities that need to be addressed in order for Enfield to realise its employment and skills ambitions:

PRIORITY 1: Capitalise on the employment and training opportunities arising from regeneration programmes.

PRIORITY 2: Use council levers to increase business growth and employment in Enfield.

PRIORITY 3: Improve education, training and provision of information, advice and guidance to improve residents’ employment outcomes.

PRIORITY 4: Take action to maximise opportunities arising from macroeconomic change and funding.

PRIORITY 5: Steer partnerships and mobilise partner resources to maximise benefits to residents.

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The Council will seek to influence policy, budgets and future funding and use its legislative and financial powers to their fullest extent to create the conditions necessary for local economic growth and local jobs for local people.

The Council will use its Procurement Toolkit (Community Benefits Toolkit) and make appropriate use of planning powers to ensure that social and community benefit considerations are incorporated into invitations to tender. The Council will prioritise its use of levers, especially around planning, to increase business growth and employment in the borough, maximising use of S106 Agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy agreements, to influence developers to meet their duties under these agreements and will monitor compliance.

The Council will play a bigger role in ensuring that planning for local education and training provision is more robustly linked to future development opportunities. Enfield will also explore the ways in which demand for ESOL can be met.

The Council will work closely with employment and skills partners and with businesses to explore how skills demand can be better predicted. It will ensure that improved forecasts are fed through into improvements in the planning and design of education and training provision. The Council already plays a large role in publicising apprenticeships to employers and this work must continue. The Council will work with sector bodies to encourage and support identified growth sectors

and to encourage supply chains to procure staff and goods locally.

The Council will liaise with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to ensure early notification is received of any large-scale redundancies or planned closures within the area. The Council will work with its partners to ensure information is acted upon quickly to alleviate and tackle such developments.

There needs to be further analysis of the jobs available, their nature, the types of contract and the wage levels on offer. While the provision of jobs requiring lower level skills will enable some residents to access the jobs market for the first time, there needs to be a focus on ensuring that jobs

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requiring higher level skills also become available as a result of developments. Without this there will be minimal impact on economic prosperity in the borough and few longer-term prospects of advancement for recruits at lower levels.

Ways must be found to provide access to better-paying jobs – or enabling support for progression into these posts – by lone parents, if poverty is to be alleviated amongst these families. Training options to support lone parents to raise their skill levels (or to retrain in areas in which there are identified skills gaps) are required, along with work to persuade employers to offer more flexible working arrangements and support for self-employment.

Through prioritising these initiatives, the Council will support Enfield residents through ensuring there are clearer pathways into work and opportunities to access development of the appropriate skills required for future jobs, thereby enhancing the prospects of everyone currently without work.

Review The Council will start to review and update this strategy and associated action plan approximately one year before it expires, with a view to having a refreshed strategy in place from 2018.

1 Source: Nomis, Employment by Occupation, unadjusted, April 2012 – March 2013 http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/gor/2092957698/report.aspx 2 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/march-2013/sty-average-weekly-earnings.html 3 http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/2038431881/report.aspx#tabeinact Note that the term ‘economically inactive’ refers to those people who are not in work and who have not actively sought work in the last four weeks and/or are not available to start work in the next two weeks. 4 Renaisi (2013), Employment and Business in the London Borough of Enfield: A research study into employment, unemployment, local businesses and the work to support these groups. Report commissioned by the London Borough of Enfield. 5 http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/indicators/pchart/csv-files/Out of work benefits by ward.xlsx 6 August 2013 data http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/gor/2013265927/report.aspx#tabwab 7 Calculations based on August 2013 data for JSA claimants available at: http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/gor/2013265927/report.aspx#tabwab 8 Data for Enfield NEET rate in August 2013 provided by London Borough of Enfield; London data for June 2013 sourced through: http://data.london.gov.uk/datafiles/employment-skills/neets-borough.xls 9 http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/2038431881/report.aspx#tabeinact

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10 London Borough of Enfield: The Drive Towards Prosperity Strategy 11 Renaisi, ibid. 12 http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/2038431881/report.aspx 13 Renaisi, ibid. 14 Oxford Economics (2012), Investment and Regeneration in the Lea Valley Corridor 15 http://www.enfield.gov.uk/news/article/328/meridian_water_unveiled plus updated figures provided by London Borough of Enfield 16 GLA Economic Intelligence Unit 17 http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/gor/2013265927/report.aspx#tabwab; http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/indicators/topics/low-educational-outcomes/19-year-olds-lacking-qualifications-by-borough/; Employment and Business in Enfield People Facts and Figures 18 Renaisi, ibid. 19 Figures provided by London Borough of Enfield 20 Charles B (2012), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision. Report to Enfield Residents’ Priority Fund Cabinet Sub Committee Meeting 21 http://www.enfield.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/8744/enfield_jobsnet-making_the_difference

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Contact Employment and Skills Commissioning Manager

Tel: 020 8379 4789www.enfield.gov.uk