Commissioning Research

BELP works with partners to identify critical issues that impact upon the Bucks economy and skills requirement in the County. Commissioning research where appropriate to investigate further and to collect evidence on which to base decisions.

BELP is currently analysing the skills needs of businesses in Buckinghamshire. Copies of the final report will be available on completion. Contact Nicolle Gibson on 01296 383805 or email: Nicolle@belp.co.uk for more information. 

Bucks Observatory

BELP is preparing the Local Economic Assessment, contact Rupert Waters on 01296 383807 or email rupert@belp.co.uk for more information.

Latest Data

15th July 2010: The number of Buckinghamshire residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance fell by 342 in June to stand at 5,917 or 2.0 per cent of working age residents.  This second successive monthly fall takes the claimant count below 6,000 for the first time since January 2009.  Buckinghamshire continues to have the fifth lowest claimant count rate of all county council areas, markedly below the 2.6 and 3.8 per cent recorded for the South East and Great Britain respectively.

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16th June 2010:  The number of Buckinghamshire residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance fell by 695 in May, to stand at 6,259 or 2.1 per cent of working age residents. This is the largest fall in a single month since November 1996. The county's claimant count rate is markedly below the national and regional rates which stand at 3.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively and is the fifth lowest of all county council areas behind Surrey, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Devon. There were 2,436 vacancies notified to Job Centres in May, an increase of 731 over April. There are now 2.6 claimants for every notified vacancy, the lowest ratio since November 2008 and well below the 3.8 recorded across the country as a whole.

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19 May 2010: The unemployment rate in Buckinghamshire jumped to 4.7 per cent in the year ending September 2009, up 0.9 percentage points over the year to June 2009, representing an additional 2,200 people out of work. Despite this increase, Buckinghamshire continues to have the second lowest unemployment rate of all county council areas.

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