Languages in Regional Strategy
The need to address language and intercultural skills is explicit in a variety of key policy documents and strategies.
These are listed below.
The NW Regional Economic Strategy (RES)
The RES (2006) identifies the importance of language skills for business to compete internationally and states that
'the global market requires more people to have language skills, which are currently under-developed in the region'
Liverpool's Destination Management Plan
Under priority 4 - 'to deliver a warm Liverpool Welcome throughout the City Region' -, this plan states as a required action the improvement of 'standards and customer service at all customer-facing tourism businesses through quality programme, tackling recruitment issues, customer service and language training and skills shortages and gaps.'
Greater Manchester Skills Priorities
This document, published in March 2006, states that
'foreign language skills were... highlighted as lacking amongst applicants across several occupations, illustrating the higher than average demand for these skills amongst applicants for Greater Manchester organisations'
and also states that
'foreign language skills [were] lacking amongst applicants for: Managers, Associate Professionals, Personal Service and Elementary Occupations'.
The document calls for an increase in the numbers of young people 'taking Maths, Sciences and Foreign Languages.'
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