- Access to jobs and job security is a concern for communities in the recession
- Local employers identify skills, training and knowledge economy jobs as priorities for the future
- Employers feel that business links with schools, better working together and exploiting university business links are essential
- Local companies suggest that in the medium to long term all local authorities should work together to improve local infrastructure – particularly roads but also train transport and ICT
- They also recommend that local authorities and public agencies should streamline procurement processes and cut bureaucracy to enable local companies to access contracts
