SKILLS shortages must be addressed if prosperity is to increase in the North-East, Government minister Ivan Lewis said last night.
The Minister for Skills will meet employers and training providers later today, to find solutions to the problem.
The results from the so-called skills summit at the Samsung Centre at Wynyard, Teesside, will be used to help draw up a Government skills strategy.
Recent figures show:
* 27 per cent of North-Easterners have poor literacy and 28 per cent poor numeracy compared with an average in England of 24 per cent;
* The region has the lowest earnings figures in England while employment is projected to grow at a lower rate
* A quarter of North-East employers have reported that at least a third of workers lack sufficient skills
* Eighteen per cent of people of working age are qualified to at least NVQ level four, compared with 24 per cent in England.
Mr Lewis said: "CBI research shows nearly a third of firms are expecting to recruit fewer people without qualifications in the next three years. The North-East faces a significant skills shortage, which we have to overcome. "
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