Are you ready to ELBA? Newham now and in the future – closing the gap
There was a very strong Newham flavour for me this week. I met Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, and then later Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham. If you wanted to talk to two people who have deep and long personal connections to Newham, its people and businesses, you couldn’t find a better pair.
I am just two months into my role at ELBA, so naturally I am interested in the history of the areas we cover – how they came to be how they are, and the recent folklore of what interventions have made a difference and what haven’t. But funnily enough, both conversations soon turned onto the future, and in particular how Newham is changing. There are some facts about Newham that are widely known – Newham’s population is increasing rapidly – between the 2001 and 2011 Census, the population increased by 23%, the second highest increase in the country. The Census showed that Newham has the youngest population, and the most ethnically diverse.
But more recent data on relative deprivation is fascinating. In the most recent publication of the indices of deprivation in 2015 – the first update since 2010- Newham was no longer in the most 20 deprived local authorities in the country; its ranking had shifted from 2nd most deprived to 25th. So, job done? Not quite, nor even by a long way. It is undoubtedly good news that some of the indicators are on an upward trend, particularly the rise in employment rates – and I bet being a host borough for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games was a big factor in the improvements. I cannot prove it, but go and look out over Stratford and the Queen Elizabeth Park now, and compare it to what was there before. There is certainly a connection. But sadly, some of the demographic changes are also just about slightly wealthier people getting shoved east in the drift to find housing.
So, we are all agreed there is quite some way to go. The employment rate in Newham is still only 66% compared to 73% for London and Great Britain, and the proportion of Newham residents in higher level occupations is only 34% compared to 53% for London as a whole (these are all ONS figures btw).
And this is where our conversations were focused on the future – how do we narrow those gaps? I saw also two examples of how we might do it this week.
Firstly, I went to visit ABP who are just about to start construction of their massive development on Royal Albert Dock – 3.3m sq ft of office space and 30,000 jobs, making it London’s next big business district. They are committed to local engagement, and local people cannot help but get many of the jobs created – as long as we make sure they have the skills that employers want, and that’s where ELBA has a role to play, working within a wide partnership to make sure east London people, and young people in particular, know what they have to do and are well equipped to get those jobs.
But this last stat is the most interesting for me.
The proportion of Newham residents with qualifications at Level 4 and above (broadly degree level +) is 43% – well above the GB average of 37%.
This I am sure reflects the young age profile of Newham. But we have to make sure that young people who have worked hard to get themselves well qualified can get into good jobs, and as I have discussed often enough in these blogs, the evidence is showing that family background and connections still count for more in getting through the recruitment barriers. That’s not right, and ELBA corporate partners are among the employers who want to do something about it.
So the complete joy of my Newham meetings last week was with Stephen Timms when we were joined by one of ELBA’s EaGLEs, who coincidentally was one of Stephen’s constituents. EaGLEs is a programme that carefully selects east London graduates and puts them through a pretty rigorous six month programme of training and development, including placements in City and Canary Wharf firms, to give them a launch-pad for great careers. Sparky, articulate, interesting and well able to hold her own with a former Minister of the Crown, our Newham EaGLE was a credit to the young talent of east London. That’s the future and how we will close the gap.
We are recruiting for the next EaGLEs programme right now. If you are ready to ELBA, you will find how to apply elsewhere on this website or our Twitter feed.
BFN
Ian
