South East Region

Partnership working

External Relations key objective is to deliver improved employment, skills and customer service outcomes for employers and individual customers. We do this by working in partnership with others and by focusing on improving our communications and customer insight.

Background

(November 2010)

The South East Region is made up of four districts:

• Hampshire and Isle of Wight
• Thames Valley
• Surrey and Sussex
• Kent.

The South East is home to over eight million people (over 15 per cent of the total UK population), which is more than the populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined. This makes it the largest of the English regions. It covers 19,400 square kilometres (7,500 square miles). Over 80 per cent is classified as rural yet 75 per cent of residents live in urban areas.

The region is divided into eight counties, 74 local authorities, two Strategic Health Authorities, and 17 Primary Care Trusts. It contains seven cities of over 100,000 inhabitants.

The region is widely seen as a prosperous region with low unemployment and strong economic activity. However, while many areas in the South East enjoy good standards of living, there are areas of significant deprivation that exist alongside more affluent neighbourhoods. Hastings is in the top 50 most deprived areas and Brighton and Hove, Thanet, Portsmouth and Southampton are in the top 100.

The region has been classified into three broad areas with differing overall economic and skills characteristics, as follows.

Inner South East

Inner South East is characterised by:

• high productivity
• high economic activity
• high concentration of world class companies
• high skills profile
• low dependency on public sector engagement
• relatively young population
• significant pockets of deprivation.

Rural South East

Rural South East is characterised by:

• high economic activity
• highly skilled commuter workforce
• high business density
• deprivation associated with access to services and housing.

Coastal South East

Coastal South East is characterised by:

• low productivity
• lower economic activity rates
• lower skilled workforce profile
• more traditional business activities
• higher dependency on public sector engagement.

There are eight Diamonds for Investment and Growth. These have been identified as the main catalyst areas to drive the region’s sustainable economic growth, with the employability and skills of residents a key component of this.

• www.southeastdiamonds.org.uk

The Diamonds are as follows.

1. Basingstoke (embracing the wider North Hampshire economy adjacent to London and the Thames Valley)
2. Brighton and Hove
3. Gatwick
4. Milton Keynes and Aylesbury Vale
5. Central Oxfordshire
6. Reading
7. Thames Gateway (Kent)
8. Urban South Hampshire.

Regional contact

Lynda Jones – 07920 783 295

• Lynda.Jones4@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

District contacts

Hampshire and Isle of Wight District

Anna Marshall

• Anna.Marshall@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

Thames Valley District

Louise Hall

• Louise.Hall@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

Surrey and Sussex District

Janet Thacker

• Janet.Thacker@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

Kent District

Samantha Beck

• Samantha.Beck@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk