Integrated Urban Development Plan (pdf) - Make It Kilmarnock

major impacts on town centres, including Kilmarnock.
• But choices haven’t been open to everyone – Al the
academic evidence on commuting patterns confirm that
people with higher skills are more likely to commute for
jobs – with the higher wages they achieve off-setting the
increased costs of travelling. Those in low paid jobs are
less likely to travel, and those out of work can face major
barriers in terms of travel to work.
• A higher skilled workforce, but greater polarisation: As
the Scottish economy has transformed into a service
sector economy we’ve had to get smarter and develop
new skills. Many jobs need higher level skills and
today more than one in three people in employment in
Scotland has a degree. This has been underpinned by a
massive expansion of higher and further education.
• Unemployment and the legacy of worklessness – This
economic transition has left those with low level skills
further behind. People with low levels of qualifications
can typically access only low skilled, low paid work
and are four times as likely to be unemployed then
the average worker. There is also strong evidence
that worklessness is being passed from generation to
generation, especially in communities that have been
hit hard by de-industrialisation.
• These trends have tended to reinforce the importance
of cities and engines of economic growth. Glasgow and
Edinburgh have seen the strongest jobs growth across
the country over the last 10 years , have seen the greatest
diversity in terms of the types of new jobs, and have
attracted around three quarters of all known inward
investment into Scotland. They have partly succeeded
as a result of this ability to draw on large pools of
skilled labour from around the city region, their better
connectivity and their world class education and research
bases. Finally, the Scottish economy is emerging from the
deepest since the recession since the end of the Second
World War. Early evidence in the local impacts of the
recession suggest that Kilmarnock has been hit hard.
Importantly the post recession period is one that is likely
to be characterised by lower levels of economic growth,
lower levels of public sector funding and less private
finance available in development markets.
Where is the Kilmarnock economy today?
Table 1.1: Kilmarnock: Key Economic Indicators
Kilmarnock* East Scotland
Ayrshire
Employment Growth
Total Jobs 2009 19,383 39,160 2,382.487
Jobs Growth 2003- -755 -1,689 75,491
2009
% Jobs Growth 2003- -4% -4% 3%
2009
Kilmarnock* East Scotland
Ayrshire
Employment Growth
- rounded
Total Jobs 2009 19,400 39,200 2,382.500
Jobs Growth 2003- -800 -1,700 75,500
2009
% Jobs Growth 2003- -4% -4% 3%
2009
Source: ABI & BRES
Labour Market
Participation
Out-of-work benefit 19.3% 18.1% 14.9%
claimants
IB / ESA Claimant 9.4% 9.9% 8.7%
Rate 2010
JSA Claimant Rate 6.4% 7. 3% 4.5%
2011
East Scotland
Ayrshire
Workforce
Qualification 2009
NVQ Level 4+ 31% 38%
NVQ Level 3 14% 16%
NVQ Level 2 18% 14%
NVQ Level 1 11% 10%
Other Qualifications 8% 8%
No Qualifications 12% 9%
% of working age population, Source: APS, Percentages do not add up to
100 as those in Trade Apprenticeship are excluded
16 | MAKE IT KILMARNOCK BOARD | EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL