Laura Church Corporate Director, Place and Infrastructure

Luton Inclusive Growth Commission Business, Economy and Skills

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Business in Luton LBC

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Productivity and the Local Economy LBC

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Employment LBC

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Groups 1-3 (Managers, Directors, Professionals & Technicians):

Luton – 34.3% Very Low

East – 46.1%

GB – 45.8%

Groups 4-5 (Admin, Secretarial and Skilled Trades):

Luton – 22.4% A little high

East – 21.5%

GB – 20.6%

Groups 6-7 (Carers, Leisure, Retail and Customer Service):

Luton – 16.6%

East – 16.2%

GB – 16.7%

Groups 8-9 (Process Plant, Machine Operators and Elementary Occupations):

Luton – 26.7% Very high

East – 16.3%

GB – 16.9%

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Unemployment

Luton National Regional

In Employment 70% 75% 78%

Self-Employed 9.5% 10.6% 11.6%

Unemployed 5.6% 4.3% 3.7%

Economically Inactive 25.5% 21.6% 19.3%

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Unemployment by Ward

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1.0

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2.0

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3.0

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Claimant Count Rate

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Earnings

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2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Gross Weekly Median Earnings

Luton Residents

Luton Workplace

England

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Deprivation LBC

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Impact of Welfare Reform

2017 2020 Projection

Households in Crisis 0.5% 11.1%

Households at Serious Financial Risk 25.1% 35%

Struggling Households 8.5% 10.2%

Coping Households 65.8% 43.8%

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Education & Skills

Luton National Regional

GCSE A*-C Inc. English and Maths

49.5% 58.2%

NVQ Level 4+ 33.9% 39% 35%

NVQ Level 2+ 66.7% 75% 73%

No Formal Qualifications

12.9% 7.7% 7.2%

5 Basic Digital Skills 76% 78%

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Gaps in Our Knowledge

Further research is needed to inform our current understanding of some of the economic drivers of inclusive growth including:

• The underlying reasons for low productivity, and a lack of high-quality jobsin Luton

• The reasons for unemployment and economic inactivity and the barriersinto work for many Luton residents

• The reasons for lower educational attainment and the impact this hasupon future opportunities for work and prosperity

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Business, Economy and Skills Summary

• Luton’s business community is strong and growing and is becoming more like therest of the UK economy with more service industries and less manufacturing

• Unemployment and economic inactivity are higher in Luton than nationally with asignificantly higher proportion of inactivity among those staying at home to carefor family

• Luton has a higher proportion of low-paid work and a lower share of high-qualityjobs in professional and managerial sectors

• Productivity in Luton is low and falling

• Average earnings in Luton are significantly lower than the regional level and thiscontributes to growing deprivation and poverty

• An increasing number of households are set to be at serious financial risk andmore than a third of children are in poverty

• Educational attainment is lower in Luton across the board than nationally andregionally and access to the best quality higher education is also lower

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