Agenda item

(i)          Joint Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships, the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Local Services and the Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services.

(ii)         Presentation by the Strategic Manager Progression and Learning, Children and Young People’s Services and the Economic Development Manager, Regeneration and Local Services.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships, Corporate Director of Regeneration and Local Services and Corporate Director of Children and Young Peoples Services, which provided Members with an update on progress against the targets which were originally set in the Skills Strategy, and policy developments which would inform decisions regarding the future direction of a Skills Strategy for County Durham. 

Members also received a presentation from the Strategic Manager Progression and Learning and the Economic Development Manager (for copies see file of minutes).

Councillor Crute commented on the employment figures which were not broken down enough to confirm the nature of employment.  Some people included in those statistics were on extremely low contracted hours, but still classified as employed.  The Economic Development Manager confirmed that employment rate figures included full-time, part-time and even those on zero hours contracts.  This masked the true picture of employment in the County.  It was known that some people entered employment on 6-8 hours per week which did not provide a liveable income.  Some further investigation could be made into the GVA (Gross Value Added) figures, to confirm the contribution to Economy per filled job.

The Strategic Manager, Progression & Learning added that part-time employment had reduced from 26% a couple of years ago and was currently estimated at 22.5%.  Councillor Crute replied that some people had more than one part-time job and were still struggling to make ends meet and that the employment figures provided did not provide   a full representation of the quality of employment in the County.

Cllr Crute asked whether employers in the county took up skills development funding. The Strategic Manager Progression & Learning confirmed that engagement between businesses and schools was promoted by the Durham Education Business Partnership and that there were 80 business ambassadors visiting year 11 pupils in schools to assist with the development of employability skills.  The number of ambassadors was lower than it previously had been, however this was an area that was difficult to improve.  The Economic Development Manager confirmed that European funding had been sought to pursue the North East Ambition Programme, in order to investigate business needs. In addition, the Business Magnates Programme continued and the number of schools participating continued to increase.

Councillor Atkinson referred to the 8.5% cohort with no qualifications, confirming that there were still people who very capable of working, leaving school with no qualifications. This was something which had been demonstrated over many years and there was a need to identify these young people and work with them.  He continued that there were a number of young people with degrees who were employed in roles which didn’t require any qualifications and suggested that young people should be targeted sooner to make them aware of all opportunities and options available.  He asked what support was available for 50 plus, people were having to work longer, however they may not want to retrain.

The Economic Development Manager added that a lot of employability programmes were aimed at over 50’s and 60’s, some of whom had potentially found themselves unemployed after many years of working in the same post.  There was sometimes difficulty finding employers willing to take them on a trial basis, therefore they were dependant on the labour market having similar posts to the skills they had acquired.  With reference to graduates working in lower paid jobs, many were unsure of the employment path they wanted to take.  Some would study out of County and not return and this linked to where careers advice/guidance was structured in schools.  He highlighted the importance of to assisting young people in making a decision which was compatible with the available job market upon completion of their course.  The Strategic Manager, Progression & Learning commented that the NELEP was also working on the career gap issue with primary schools.

Councillor Atkinson spoke about the importance of Apprenticeships and his disappointment that there seemed to be such a low take up considering the advantages on completion.  The Chairman advised that there also seemed to be a lack of encouragement from parents, which also could have attributed to the decline in numbers.

Mrs Morris referred to the importance of having business representatives on school governing bodies.  They would be able to feed information directly to schools on important areas to include in their curriculum.  She also considered a skills strategy to be of significant importance and felt disappointed that this was not a priority considering the information given by the NELEP.  She referred to recent radio coverage with regards to local authorities who were prioritising a skills strategy.  The Strategic Manager Progression & Learning confirmed that there was hesitation in renewing the skills strategy, but no suggestion there was not a need for one.  The Business, Enterprise and Skills Working Group leaded the Skills Strategy and therefore it was for them to determine as to whether there was a skills strategy going forward and that there was uncertainty with regards to a number of policy developments and the reason for the lack of commitment at the current time, however, Members could be taken back to the group.  The Economic Development Manager confirmed that some local authorities had been driven to have a skills strategy due to commissioning guidelines.

In response to a further question from Mrs Morris, the Strategic Manager Progression & Learning confirmed that in relation to work related learning, schools did not receive funding from the Council and Governing Bodies were being encouraged to appoint business representatives.

The Economic Development Manager commented on a number of changes which would impact on a skills strategy, therefore it was important to look at the timing of a refresh, to make sure that it reflected the new Strategic Economic Plan.

Councillor Adam was disappointed that there was no confirmed skills strategy considering the work which had been done by the Committee previously and he referred to the figures in the report which were contradictory to the report by NELEP.  He also suggested that people were failing to study NVQ’s and choosing to study at HNC or HND level instead.  The majority of employers in the County were small to medium entities who had no resources or time to train people.  There were issues with T Level Pilots failing as employers lacked time and resources, there were also issues with Health and Safety and employers not prepared to take on the responsibility at work experience level.  Councillor Adam queried the rationale in trying to create high end jobs as there was a possibility that without the correct skillset, they were being filled by people who did not reside in North East.

The Strategic Manager Progression & Learning confirmed that data for County Durham was considered to have improved with regards to skills and qualifications, but there was still a high number of people without qualifications.  The data was resident based and referred to the 100,000 target, confirming that of the 63,000 new jobs already created, it was unknown how many were high level posts. 

The Economic Development Manager confirmed that NELEP’s rationale was to create more and better jobs and this would act as an anchor to bring more business and retain employees in the area.  The Chief Executive of NELEP recognised inclusion and progression was key not only in chasing higher jobs, but ensuing there was a clear pathway in the education system.  There was a focus on newer jobs which perhaps were not required before, such as in the digital market, and they were commissioning services to ensure that this area was included.

The Strategic Manager Progression & Learning confirmed that only 7% of the budget was made up with government funding and the overall budget for adult education in the North East was £700,000.  The majority of funding was sought from the EU and because it was such a low budget, it was targeted towards adults with no skills.   There were concerns with regards to the shared prosperity and how it would be distributed amongst the different areas.  The Strategic Manager Progression & Learning would be happy to recommend a new skills strategy, but there had to be a commitment from employers and colleges in order for it to be successful.

In response to a query from Councillor Howell with regards to GVA (Gross Value Added) per filled job, the Strategic Manager Progression & Learning advised that she would seek  further breakdown of information and also with regards to the employment data.

Councillor Howell was optimistic with regards to the T Level Pilots, but queried the lack of recent data and asked how it could be monitored more efficiently.  The Economic Development Manager confirmed that the Skills Advisory Panel were looking at getting more recent data however he was aware that some of the data included in the figures was generated by the Local Authority and could only be released following the end of an academic year.  Information with regards to the labour market was more up to date.  The Strategic Manager Progression & Learning confirmed that the delay was 15 months and the data in the report was from the 16/17 academic year.  Information from further education colleges was expected by the end of March and this would give an indication of the number of apprenticeships.

The Economic Development Manager confirmed that in relation to the reduction in apprenticeships, there had been reforms which had impacted on the way that funding was allocated with employers using their own budget.

The Strategic Manager Progression & Learning confirmed that the reduction in apprenticeships may be offset by an increase in Further and Higher Education.

Councillor Maitland noted that there was an age limit of 64 years, however the current retirement age was 67 and this would only increase in future.  She queried whether there were opportunities for people outside of the threshold.

The Strategic Manager, Progression and Learning confirmed that there were older learners, but they had to secure alternative funding.  The Economic Development Manager confirmed that the National Retraining Scheme could have some influence over the way older people were supported to access qualifications.

Resolved:

       i)          That the report and presentation be noted.

     ii)          That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee include in its future work programme for 2019/2020 a further progress update on the Skills Strategy.