Yorkshire and the Humber has seen strong levels of growth in the last 10 years, and the region’s economy is performing well. Now worth around £75bn, the economy of Yorkshire and the Humber makes up around 7.3 per cent of the UK total. Gross Value Added has increased by 26.6 per cent since 1998, becoming the second highest rate of all English regions.
Yorkshire and Humber is home to over five million people, concentrated largely in West and South Yorkshire. The region’s population is changing in terms of age profile: over 16 per cent are now 65 and older; 35 per cent are 30 to 54 years old; and 26 per cent are under 30. There is a decrease in the population under 10 years old. These figures are similar to the national trend of an increasingly ageing population.
Migration patterns for the region have been quite steady with a net increase of 500 people between April 2005 and March 2006. This was down from a 5,800 net increase from the previous year. In a similar vein to other areas of Northern England, there has been a ‘brain drain’ towards the South. Recent graduates are often unable to find work in the region and move south to seek work elsewhere. In order to combat this, Yorkshire Forward have funded ‘Graduates Yorkshire’ a service matching Yorkshire and the Humber university graduates with employers in the region. The RDA recognises that to keep the graduates in the area, they must provide the opportunities. This is supported by the Yorkshire and Humber Graduate Destinations Survey (2004), which concluded that 44 per cent of graduates who find employment straight away stay in the region.
Seven key industries have been identified by the region to be particularly important to the local economy. They are advanced engineering and metals; bioscience, chemicals; digital industries; environmental technologies; food and drink, and healthcare technologies. In total, these seven sectors contribute between 300,000 and 350,000 jobs to the area. Some of these areas are thriving, with digital industries and environmental technologies expecting sustained growth in the coming years. Other sectors have not fared as successfully, most notably the chemical industry which has seen employment fall by around 20 per cent between 2000 and 2004.
In 2005-06, the region had 194,485 students in higher education, 10 per cent of the total number of students in England. The region has eight universities, as well as four higher education and 30 further education colleges. At local authority level, North Yorkshire, East Riding and York continue to compete well when compared to the rest of England. The region overall performed slightly better than the English average. However, the improvement in pupils achieving no qualification was below the national figure.
The Yorkshire and Humber region has the second highest number of young people with no qualifications – 3.6 per cent compared to the England average of 2.6 per cent. This is most significant in Hull (7.2 per cent), Bradford (six per cent) and Sheffield (5.9 per cent). The most recent figures for the region indicate that there are over 15,450 young people not actively participating in employment, education or training. It is clear there will need to be a big improvement if the region is going to produce a highly skilled workforce to compete with the demands of the future.
Yorkshire and the Humber has seen significant improvements in education and skills levels. Yet the region still has fewer skilled people than the most successful regions. The Learning and Skills Council National Employer Skills Survey highlighted that 26 per cent of vacancies in the region were considered by employers to be ‘skills shortage vacancies’. This is slightly worse than the national average and these vacancies are often highly skilled jobs. The region will require more skilled people in the future if it is to remain competitive and continue to prosper.