Agenda and minutes

To be notified of the appointment of any substitute members.

Councillor Louise Marshall was in attendance as a substitute member.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

You are also requested to complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 December 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 December 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

A report and presentation on current skills gaps in the local economy and strategies to address these.

The Sub-Committee received a report and presentation on the current skills gaps in the local economy and strategies which are in place to address these.

The data presented to the Committee showed that currently in North Tyneside:

·        Employment rates are significantly lower than in 2019

·        Employment is in line with national and regional rates

·        Economic activity amongst older age groups has fallen since 2019

·        Economic activity has increased for 16 – 24 age groups

·        Biggest increase in economic inactivity is due to long term sickness

·        Skills levels compare favourably nationally and regionally but residents with no qualifications is still too high

·        The number of jobs per resident (job density) is low

·        Vacancies in health and social care sectors still the highest with skills needs reflecting this

The Sub-Committee were advised that the public sector (national hub for HMRC/DWP) is an important employer, alongside a growing education and health sector, there is also a large, advanced manufacturing sector centred around Nissan with an increasingly important low carbon economy, including offshore wind technologies, electrification/batteries and onshore wind and geothermal.  There is a thriving tech sector including Sage, consultancy, games etc and growing opportunities around screen industries / large rural and coastal economy, ranging from upland hill farming to niche fishing industries.

Within the Low Carbon Sector there are around 7,600 individuals employed in the sector.  Businesses have a high turnover relative to the size of workforce.  The workforce is expected to grow considerably over coming years.  There is growth potential in electrification, offshore wind and heat networks and modelling suggests: direct wind supply chain could reach 3,500 jobs in the next 10 years with 3,300 to 13,300 net additional jobs could be created from the heat networks pipeline in the North East’s economy by 2033.

With regards to employment, a population of 1,968,000 with 105,000 residents who are unemployed or inactive and want a job, we have 55,340 businesses who provide 820,000 jobs.  There are some specific employment clusters, the biggest being professional services and digital companies are based in city centres and business parks.  The labour market trends reflect data already provided for North Tyneside with an increase in Economic Inactivity and a demand in Health and Social Care

With regards to job quality, the average pay in the NEMCA area is lower than any of the UK’s other regions.  The extent of part time working is similar to nationally, females are much more likely to work part time.  North East workers are more likely to be in non-permanent employment than nationally.  Employment rates in the North East are much lower for disabled residents, groups of ethnic minority and women.

In some areas, a significant concentration of both deprivation and  affluence, exacerbating inequalities and creating more polarised communities and a higher percentage of children in low income families than nationally.  The extent and severity of deprivation is more common in the North East than nationally, particularly health and employment related deprivation. Wages have not increased in line with prices, with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item TS22/23

To consider priorities for inclusion in the work programme for 2023-24.

As previously agreed the item for the next meeting would be “The Impact of House building on the Local Economy”.

The next Committee meeting will be held on 19 March 2024 at 6:00pm

The next meeting of the Thriving Sub-Committee will be held on Tuesday 19 March 2024 at 6.00pm.