The Leitch research project has been split into five distinct stages of work. All outputs are available to download. The stages of work are briefly detailed as follows.
Stage 1
Stage 1 of the project analyses the current benchmark position for the West Midlands against the issues of concern to Leitch as compared to all English regions. Using this analysis, estimates for the 'scale of the task' facing the Region can be derived.
Stage 2
Stage 2 of the project models a ‘trends continued’ projection from the baseline position. This uses recent performance in qualification attainment to predict expected qualification attainment to 2020 and estimate the 'scale of the task' to address any remaining shortfall against the Leitch targets.
Stage 3
Stage 3 of the project analyses the potential economic benefits for the Region, in terms of increased productivity and GVA and increased employment rates, if we are sucessful in meeting the targets. This work is based on modelling work carried out by Cambridge Econometrics.
Stage 4
Stage 4 of the project presents summary results from a series of policy workshops held across the Region to discuss the implications of research findings, actions required and the barriers needed to be overcome in order to reach the Leitch targets.
Stage 5
Stage 5 of the project is a synthesis of the key findings from the previous four stages of the research.
Stage 1
Establishing the current baseline position against the targets for the West Midlands as a whole and its constituent sub-regions, thus establishing the ‘scale of the task’ to meet the targets for 2011 and 2020.
Stage 2
Projecting forward from this baseline to estimate the likely position in 2011 and 2020 based on a continuation of recent trends in performance and likely demographic trends and the ‘scale of the task’ to address any remaining shortfall in performance.
Stage 3
Analysis of the potential economic benefits for the region if we are successful in meeting the targets in terms of increased productivity and gross value added in key sectors and increased employment rates across the region and within different groups and communities.
Stage 4
Summary results and supporting material from the policy workshops to discuss the implications of research findings, the actions required and the barriers that need to be overcome in order to meet the Leitch targets.
Stage 5
Synthesis of the key findings from Stages 1 to 4 of the Leitch project.