North East

The Regional Strategy Evidence Library is designed to speed access to the research that shapes the new Regional Strategy, and it is also intended to be of interest to those working on Local Economic Assessments and related local strategies. New reports will be added continually so that this archive of research and evaluations remains up to date.

This product is the result of cooperation between NERIP, One North East and the Association of North East Councils, and will be accessible from all three websites. There are currently around 300 research reports in the library, produced and/or commissioned by a wide range of organisations in the region. You can search the library by policy theme, or you can search for evidence using a keyword of your choice.

Anyone wishing to contribute research material to the library, or with queries, should contact Gavin Bewick.

For many years, a bi-annual State of the Region Report has been produced in the North East. NERIP took responsibility for the report when we came into being in 2004, and since then three hard-copy State of the Region Reports have been published under the NERIP brand. Our report aimed to provide a neutral, evidence-led profile of the economic, social and environmental issues facing the region. Following consultation with our customers last year, we decided to replace the old, paper-based format with a new State of the Region, available on-line only. This has many advantages:

- We will maintain the narrative and the data so that the new State of the Region should always be up to date - and never out of date

- There are no constraints on the number of words used - the new State of the Region can be extended to cover new topics, or new analyses, whenever it needs to be

- The new product has 'download data' icons throughout, so that those wishing to access a spreadsheet containing data used can do so at the click of a button

- We can include links to websites that provide more information on the given topics, or which give a different interpretation of the subject

- Hard copies of different sections of State of the Region can be printed out as pdf files

We are keen to know what you think about the new State of the Region. If you are aware of reports that we should be linking to, please let us know about them. Rebecca Hulbert is the editor of the new State of the Region, and colleagues from a wide range of organisations have contributed sections. To all those who have been involved in its production, a big thank you.

We are sub-titling this year's NERIP Annual Conference 'Coming out of the Recession'. The conference is an opportunity to hear about a variety of research projects produced by academics, consultants and public sector professionals, which will inform and influence the forthcoming Regional Strategy and which should also be of interest to those preparing Local Economic Assessments. As the North East begins the process of economic recovery, we have asked all the speakers to give a view on how the subject of their research, be it economic, social or environmental, will fare as the economy improves.

We are delighted that the morning's keynote speaker will be Alan Welby, Director of Strategy at One North East, while in the afternoon the keynote speaker will be Vera Baird QC MP, Assistant Regional Minister for the North East and Solicitor General.

The topics to be presented include:

- The regional economy and the recession (Dr Alan Little, One North East)

- Closing the employability gap for ethnic minority groups (Mark Wright, Equality and Human Rights Commission)

- Connections between deprivation and employment (Professor Rob MacDonald and Dr Tracy Shildrick, Teesside University)

- The economic geography of the North East (Dr John Mooney, NERIP)

- The economic implications of climate change (Alice Owen, Associate Director of ARUP and a member of the Sustainable Development Commission)

The conference, to be held in Newcastle on 3 December, will also feature presentations around the new State of the Region, and the latest features of the NERIP website.

A full agenda can be found here, together with details of how to register for the event. Please note there is no charge for attendance.

Meeting the skill needs of employers and industry is fundamental to achieving high productivity.  This becomes even more important in times of recession when firms have to be effective in every aspect of their day to day business. Learning providers have to collate and understand these needs so that they can respond to this demand.

The Sector Skills Councils have responsibility for expressing employer views and while they have good national information, it is up to a wide range of organisations to complement this information with intelligence that stems from their own research activities and interface with employers. This is vital since the differences between regions are often far less pronounced than the differences within a region.

The Sector Skills Information Project will consider ways in which our regional and sub regional skills information can be improved and to ensure that partners, employers and individuals can easily access the most up to date and relevant information.

The project is a collaboration between One North East, the Learning & Skills Council (LSC) and the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils (TASSCs).  The Alliance will take the lead role in ensuring that the information we disseminate is authoritative and reflects the views and needs of employers.  The project will utilise the networks and research already in existence and it is hoped that a wide range of partners (both users and providers of information) will get actively involved.  

At the end of the project the North East will have:

a. A sustainable system of providing information and support to the Sector Skills Councils 
b. Accessible and organised ‘bottom up’ intelligence about skills and employment needs
c. A Who’s Who in the skills sector together with a synopsis of their requirements
d. Established protocols to ensure that each skills partner understands the system and their own role in making it work.

For more information please contact Liz Robson (0191 229 6623) liz.robson@onenortheast.co.uk

NERIP is looking to recruit a really good GIS specialist, with a track record in spatial data analysis. More details can be found here.