Issues for the Observatory to take forward…

The quarter four 2008 (PDF, 685KB) edition of the Observatory’s new-look The Oracle newsletter, is now available.
This edition reviews our 2008 annual conference, “Better Evidence, Better Policy” with reports on all of the talks and workshops from the day, as well as the main issues that we will be taking forward in 2009.
Podcasts of the [...]

Local migration statistics resource guide

Anne Green, David Owen and Duncan Adam from the Warwick Institute for Employment Research have prepared a resource guide on local migration statistics (PDF, 2.7MB) on behalf of Local Government Association analysis and research.
The guide should assist local authorities and their partners in developing local population and migration estimates and trends.
The guide focuses on the strategic importance of international [...]

Graduate recruitment and the ‘credit crunch’

According to a student briefing recently issued by the University of Birmingham’s Careers and Employability Centre, prospects for graduates seeking employment remain positive in the downturn.
Graduate recruiters and employers who actively recruit University of Birmingham students within a range of sectors and professions report that they intend to continue to recruit graduates at the same level as [...]

LSC publish 2008 Regional Strategic Analysis

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has published its 2008 Regional Strategic Analysis Report (PDF, 1.63mb).
The report forms a key part of the Learning and Skills Council’s annual business cycle. Its purpose is to underpin the Regional Commissioning Statement for 2009/10 by providing the evidence to inform decisions about strategic priorities and the learning provision to [...]

Recognising regeneration excellence in the West Midlands

The RegenWM Prizes 2008 showcase good practice and recognise excellence in regeneration projects in the West Midlands across a range of categories:

Creating outstanding places
Successful community engagement
Best regeneration team
Most transferable good practice
Environment and people
Good practice in equality and diversity

RegenWM provide a range of case studies on regeneration excellence from across the region, including the Prizes 2008 [...]

Census white paper sets out plans for 2011

The government has published a White Paper, Helping to shape tomorrow, setting out plans for the 2011 Census. The Census will take place on Sunday 27 March 2011 and will be the first undertaken by the new UK Statistics Authority.
Unlike previous Censuses, most of the forms will be posted out this time, with only around 5% being [...]

Latest health survey for England published

The latest findings and trends identified from the Health Survey for England has been released by National Health Service Information Centre.
The Survey is a series of annual surveys designed to measure health and health-related behaviours in adults and children living in private households in England.
The latest trends report shows that obesity has increased among [...]

The economic downturn – impact on skills and the labour market

Our November 2008 briefing paper on the Economic Downturn, produced by WMRO’s Skills team, examines how the current economic climate is affecting the West Midlands in terms of skills and the labour market as a whole.
Here are the key headlines for quarter 3 of 2008:

West Midlands produced 3rd strongest regional growth in England, according to latest GVA per head figures

The 2007 Regional and 2006 Sub-Regional Gross Value Added (GVA) data are released today by the Office for National Statistics. Indexed GVA per head (where UK=100) for the West Midlands in 2007 was 86.0, a marginal decrease from the revised 2006 index value of 86.1. GVA per head in the West Midlands rose from £16,300 [...]

2008 Black Country education barometer published

The Black Country Observatory has published the Black Country Education Barometer 2008 today.
The report indicates that Black Country schools are starting to close the gap with the national average GCSE performance.
There was a 6.6% increase in the percentage of Black Country pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (compared to 4.2% nationally) and an 8% rise in [...]

West Midlands population projected to grow by near 3% between 2007 and 2012

The National Statistician’s annual article on the population has been published by the Office for National Statistics, covering the theme of aging and mortality, investigating the underlying demographic trends contributing to the UK’s population growth. The report also highlights key sub-national demographic statistics.
The UK’s population is projected to increase from 61 million in 2007 to [...]

Sharing intelligence from Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire

Yesterday, I attended the Coventry, Solihull and Wawickshire Researchers’ Forum to demonstrate the Regional Resource Catalogue and show how the data and intelligence in the catalogue might support the work that they’re engaged in, and also to encourage further contributions to the catalogue from members of the forum to help share their data and intelligence [...]

Heart of enterprise: West Midlands feature in the Guardian

Wednesday’s Guardian newspaper included a special supplement to the Society Guardian all about the West Midlands, Heart of enterprise. If you missed it, all of the articles are available online.
The supplement includes commentary by Ian Austin MP, who re-iterated points made during his inaugural speech as Regional Minister for the West Midlands at the Observatory’s [...]

Investment in skills critical to survive the downturn

Continued investment in training and skills is key for business survival in the current economic downturn, according to new research released by the West Midlands Regional Observatory .
The Regional Skills Assessment for 2008 reports that in the five year period from 2003 to 2007, increased investment in skills and training significantly reduced skills shortages in [...]