Page 18 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan

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2.2.2 SWOT Analysis for GMW
Good quality of life and good life expectancy Quality of the environment
Strong social capital
High educational attainment
High employment levels
Available land
Technical resources
Heritage and Culture
Natural Resources
Strong entrepreneurial culture
Proximity to industrial regions
Home to two high quality HE institutions
Weaknesses
Innovation
Renewable energy sources
Natural environment & landscape
Enterprise zone and local growth zone developments
A higher zone status for the Severn Valley Developing East-West economic links through the Marches LEP
Growing the knowledge based economy Apprenticeship levy
Break the low skills/low productivity cycle Sectors compatible with the rural economy
& links to HEI
Increasing the participation of females in traditionally male dominated sectors Widening skills of older workers through reverse mentoring
An improving broadband network
Threats
2.3 Economic Performance
2.3.1 Gross Value Added (GVA)
Strengths
Lower qualified workforce
Ageing workforce
Below average productivity levels
Poor ICT & transport infrastructure
(especially mobile phone coverage)
Population changes & migration
Reliance on micro businesses within the economy Brain drain – loss of talented individuals
Low population density
Higher cost of living & service provision Underemployment
Lower proportion of those in employed in
higher occupational groups
Access to market
Poor connectivity in some areas
Opportunities
The effects of Brexit
Apprenticeship levy
Global economic uncertainty
Lack of affordable housing
Economic stagnation – Low GVA Disconnect between education system & employers
Withdrawal of centralisation of services Changing political landscape
Cuts to funding
Reduction in public sector employment National living wage
Competing in a global market
Brain drain – loss of talented individuals Lack of investment in infrastructure
The South West and Mid Wales regions continue to lag behind the UK and Wales averages, indexed values indicate that the South West Wales figure has remained relatively constant at 67.1 since 2009. The positive is that the Mid Wales region has displayed an increase in indexed values from 61.6 in 2009 to 66.9 in 2015.7
The economic performance of the region relative to the UK has remained static across the South West and Mid Wales region. This is of importance as it highlights that existing interventions and support for the region has not resulted in sustained economic growth relative to the rest of the UK economy.
7http://rlp.infobasecymru.net/IAS/themes/economy/labourmarketintelligence/economicperformance/tabular? viewId=1959&geoId=34&subsetId=127
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales Policy Context