Labour Market Partnership Action Plan 2025 - 2027

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1. Executive Summary

Mid and East Antrim Labour Market Partnership (LMP) was established in March 2022, working in partnership with employers and stakeholders to support those seeking employment, provide upskilling support for better employment, improve access to the labour market for those with disabilities and promote skills pathways.

The Labour Market Partnership is funded by the Department for Communities.

The partnership has been built on key principles of partnership, personalisation, inclusivity, skills enhancement and sharing best practice which are embedded in the design and delivery of interventions to address local labour market challenges in Mid and East Antrim.

In October 2024 a review of the 2024/27 Strategic Assessment was carried out by Mid and East Antrim Labour Market Partnership LMP to review employability outcomes and local labour market conditions in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Area.

This exercise was undertaken to ensure that the priorities identified continue to reflect priority employability and labour market issues in the area and was informed by analysis of information provided by statutory partners, as well as the results of ongoing engagement and consultation across the council area.

The 2025-2027 LMP Action Plans provide an opportunity to build on the lessons learnt to date and to explore solutions to address issues in an ever-changing labour market.

These plans have been developed with support from Ulster University Economic Policy Centre and a wide number of stakeholders who have contributed to the assessment of the local labour market and in generating ideas for interventions to be delivered in 2025-2027.

MEA LMP is cognisant of the ever-evolving strategic landscape and has shown its ability to flex delivery to meet strategic outcomes and the requirements of the local labour market.

These local and national strategic plans include:

1.1 Programme for Government ‘Doing What Matters Most’

The draft Programme for Government 2024-2027 'Our Plan: Doing What Matters Most' has been published by The Executive and is currently subject to an equality screening exercise.

The Plan sets out an ambitious agenda of change for Northern Ireland set around three key Missions:

People: Working to support everyone at all stages of their life to ensure they have the chance to succeed by improving life opportunities.
Planet: Harnessing the potential of a green growth economy while ensuring an equitable transition to a sustainable and affordable society as we take responsibility for decarbonising our economy and society.
Prosperity: Improving our economic productivity while making sure that the economy that works for everyone.
In addition to the Missions, there is a cross-cutting commitment to: Peace, to make sure that everyone feels the benefit of a growing economy, improved environment, and a fairer society.

1.2 Mid and East Antrim Community Plan: a Council focused on Putting People First

The Mid and East Antrim Labour Market Partnership is central to the delivery of the Borough’s Community Plan – Putting People First.

Through four central themes, the plan seeks to achieve the vision of “Mid and East Antrim will be a strong, vibrant, safe and inclusive community, where people work together to improve the quality of life for all”.

The theme “Progress in education and employment”, focuses on the following outcomes:

We have a skilled workforce able to adapt to a changing economy.
Our Borough provides opportunities for all and supports people to achieve their potential.

Five strategic priorities have been identified:

We have skills development programmes targeting areas of high growth or need.
We provide a range of education pathways to employment.
We reduce or remove the barriers to our people achieving their potential.
We value lifelong learning.
We encourage entrepreneurship and vocational training.

The Labour Market Action Plan supports these outcomes, and the four crosscutting themes which underpin the Community Plan, as evident in Council’s own strategies and policies:

Tackling poverty.
Prioritising the most vulnerable.
Addressing inequalities in our Borough.
Valuing the views and contributions of our residents.
Valuing our environment.

The Council’s Corporate Plan (2024-2028) fully supports the vision of the Community Plan, and ‘Progress in education and employment’ theme through the ‘People’ pillar, which focuses on:

Working in partnership with employers and stakeholders to support those seeking employment, providing upskilling support, improving access to the labour market for those with disabilities, and promoting skills pathways.
Promoting the benefits of offering apprenticeships and work experience opportunities to enhance skills development and bridge the gap between education and employment.
Leading by example to improve equality, accessibility, and inclusion across the borough by embedding it into everything we do.

1.3 Department for Communities

Department for Communities (DfC) lead the Labour Market Partnerships to design, procure and implement a fresh suite of employability provisions/initiatives to support people into meaningful employment.

The DfC is the lead department for a number of indicators, through which progress on these outcomes will be measured:

Indicator 17: Economic inactivity rates excluding students.
Indicator 32: Employment rate of 16–64-year-olds by deprivation quintile.
Indicator 33: % of people working part-time who would like to work more hours; and
Indicator 19: % of population living in absolute and relative poverty.

1.4 DFE Sub-Regional Economic Plan

The Plan notes that disparities across the region in economic performance have been getting worse, with the economy facing key challenges around employment, productivity, disposable income and economic inactivity, all areas where we perform poorly compared to our nearest neighbours.

The Plan aims to see employment providing better rewards, people benefitting from better jobs wherever they live and that those jobs and the lifestyles they support to be greener.

Skills underpins the four priorities outlined in the plan, namely: Increased Productivity, More Good Jobs, Regional Balance, Decarbonisation.

These disparities are even more pronounced at a sub-regional level.

Despite the lowest tertiary attainment rates, Mid and East Antrim ranks among the highest areas for people in work, the lowest economic inactivity level, and more employees earning above the real living wage and who feel more secure in their job.

The LMP hope to support the newly formed Local Economic Partnership in pursuit of its goals to ensure a more inclusive economy for all.

1.5 10 X ECONOMY: ECONOMIC VISION FOR A DECADE OF INNOVATION

The Department for the Economy has outlined its economic ambitions for a ‘10x Economy’, a concept to deliver a ten times better economy with benefits for everyone in Northern Ireland.

The strategy aims to make a significant impact on the economic, societal, and environmental wellbeing of the population with a Decade of Innovation designed to unlock the unique opportunity to drive growth and inclusion.

The aim of the strategy is to see a tenfold increase in innovation while also achieving a fairer distribution of opportunities for people to participate in and benefit from our economic growth.

The MEA LMP Action Plan hopes to contribute to the positive outcomes detailed in the 10x strategy by supporting more people to enter the labour market, providing opportunities to reskill and upskill, increasing access to better jobs and supporting entrepreneurs.

The 10x Vision is guided by the 10x objectives, grouped into three pillars of activity: innovation, inclusive growth and sustainability.

MEA LMP hope to closely align the LMP Action Plans to this as we move towards 2030.

1.6 Shared Prosperity Fund

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund was previously managed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Northern Ireland Office, providing £126,854,145 of new funding across Northern Ireland up to the end of March 2025.

The new Labour administration’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is currently reviewing the plans for the levelling up agenda post March 2025.

MEA LMP will continue to engage with the department via SOLACE and with stakeholder organisations to keep abreast of developments to ensure no duplication of delivery particularly around economic inactivity.

1.7 Belfast Regional City Deal

The Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) is a significant programme of investment with up to £1bn expected to be invested over the next 10–15-year period.

Job creation is one of the primary benefits expected across both the construction and operational phases of project delivery.

As a key partner to the Deal, MEA is committed to its success as the potential benefits from these investments will have significant impact on the borough.

We are keen to maximise the impact of the Deal by ensuring the skills are in place to meet the demand created and that the benefit reaches across the region to all communities.

The MEA Labour Market Partnership is well placed to help inform and deliver the interventions needed to prepare the market for new jobs and ensure that the local workforce is appropriately prepared.

Council, college, and university partners have already committed to this through both the overall Deal and in the Memorandum of Understanding to better understand and respond to the employment opportunities arising through the BRCD investment and to improve access to and awareness of existing provision through enhanced co-ordination and joint working.

MEA LMP will work with these partners around key and emerging areas including construction, advanced manufacturing, tourism and digital.

A range of partnership and project opportunities have been identified as the City Deal projects progress into construction phases over the next number of years in two key areas:

Carrickfergus Regeneration - The concept design proposals are nearing completion, and three of the six public engagement sessions have taken place.
The Integrated Consultancy Team for the i4C Innovation Centre in Ballymena was appointed in June 2024 and the concept design phase for the project has begun.
The Operator for the i4C is expected to be appointed in February 2025 to commence pre-operations activities.
Gobbins Phase II - The Integrated Consultancy Team was appointed to develop the designs for The Gobbins Phase II in March 2024.
The concept design phase is closing in on completion.
Public engagement events are planned for the near future.
Council are progressing with the review of options for the Post Project Operating model.

1.8 PeacePlus

The PEACEPLUS Programme has 6 themes, which encompass 21 individual investment areas.

MEA developed a programme of activities, co-designed with the local community over a lengthy period, and submitted the Mid and East Antrim PEACEPLUS Local Community Action Plan to SEUPB in June 2024.

This Action Plan falls under Investment Area 1.1 of Theme 1: Building Peaceful and Thriving Communities of the PEACEPLUS Programme.

The co-designed Action Plan when approved, will enable the MEA PEACEPLUS Partnership to establish and deliver priority actions for the borough to make a significant and lasting contribution to peace and reconciliation in the area.

The Action Plan will also complement existing Council strategies including Community Planning and Good Relations strategies.

The Action Plan is centred around 3 core themes falling under Investment Area:

Local community regeneration and transformation.
Thriving and peaceful communities.
Building respect for all cultural identities.

The Action Plan will also enable and empower the MEA PEACEPLUS Partnership to self-determine and deliver priority projects on a cross-community basis, which will result in improved, shared and inclusive local services, facilities and spaces and make a significant and lasting contribution to peace and
reconciliation.

The Action Plan is currently under consideration by SEUPB, with an outcome expected before the end of the 2024-25 financial year.

1.9 MEA LMP Themes:

The following themes have been identified as local priority:

• Economic Inactivity
• Unemployment
• Disability
• Skilled Labour Supply

The plans also include provision to meet the following priorities:

• Supporting action on climate change by enabling green jobs
• Addressing the disability employment gap
• Utilising opportunities arising from City & Growth deals
• Supporting the aims and implementation of the Skills Strategy; and
• Promoting diversity and inclusion.

Labour Market Partnership