To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the skill shortages experienced by employers in Suffolk. [97384]

My Department has funded a number of surveys of employers to assess their current and future skill needs. The Employers Skill Survey, funded by my Department, interviewed 27,000 employers across England in 1999 and in 2001, and was carried out on a smaller scale in 2002. The survey results provide evidence on trends in skill shortages, including headline measures at the level of local Learning and Skills Council boundaries.The role of assessing detailed skill needs in regions and localities is the responsibility of Regional Development Agencies and the Learning and Skills Council respectively. However, the Employers Skill Survey 2001 showed that 2.1 per cent. of employers in Suffolk reported skill shortages compared to 3.7 per cent. across England as a whole.