Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services that provided members with information on programmes available to support young people into employment, education and training in County Durham (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning was in attendance to present the report and deliver a presentation (for copy of presentation, see file of minutes).

The presentation provided members with details of the overview of participation in learning; programmes to support young people; programmes to support those with disabilities; challenges and actions.

Members were advised that the overall cohort of 16-17 year olds in County Durham was 11,170 as at June 2022 and this was the largest cohort in some time. Of this figure 579 were not in education, employment or training (NEET), 424 of which were available to the labour market and 155 were not, additionally there were 79 young people whose destination was not known, this could be that the young person had moved house, or they did not want to engage.

The Strategic Manager advised that approximately 90% of the cohort participated in learning however it had remained at this figure for some time although the service had carried out several exercises to increase it but was in line with regional averages.

It was highlighted that it was of particular concern to the service that 155 young people were not available to the labour market out of choice. It could be that these young people were suffering mental health issues, physical health issues, or they could be carers, however the number was growing. For the 16 – 18 cohort in 2021, 26.1% were inactive and chose not to engage whereas in 2022 there was a rise to 33% of the 16 -18 cohort being inactive. The Strategic Manager highlighted concerns that inactive young people could become inactive adults which was not good for them or the economy

Information was given on the trend from 2019, to 2022 the Strategic Manager advised that it was best not to focus on 2020 and 2021 which were affected by the pandemic. Members were advised that a reason for the participation in learning figures stagnating was that more young people wanted to work and were seeking apprenticeships. Comparing 2019 to 2022 figures 947 young people had an apprenticeship this year. Members were advised that some young people were in jobs without training, which was a concern to the service as they would prefer them to be in jobs where they received training.

Members were then given information on the DurhamWorks Programmes which include Durham Works, Durham Works 3 and Durham Works Futures. It was highlighted that the funding for the original DurhamWorks ended December 2021 but the gap has been filled with the three current programmes, the funding for these programmes started in January 2022 and would continue until December 2023.

In addition, there was also Durham Help that supported the young people on the programmes who experienced low level mental health issues that were causing a barrier to progression. Members were advised that three mental health practitioners were currently working with 73 clients and were oversubscribed. The Strategic Manager added that staff on the Durham Works Programmes also worked with young people affected by mental health issues and that mental health was the biggest factor affecting young people and there was lots of work ongoing to address this.

Among the challenges the service was facing was that although there was a buoyant labour market and jobs were relatively easy to come by the types of jobs were usually low skilled, low paid, no training given, and these jobs were not secure and more at risk during an economic downturn. The numbers of young people claiming Universal Credit was increasing and the service were monitoring this.

There were higher levels of economic inactivity due to mental health problems and there were also issues with engagement. Although staff were proactively engaging with young people prior to their appointments they did not attend, some young people were lacking the motivation or the ability to be contacted.

A major concern for the service was that funding for all the Durham Works Programmes comes to an end in December 2023 a significant piece of work was ongoing to address this, and the service was looking at the budget. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund has £9million for People and Skills element. There was a gap in quarter one of 2024 and the service was working on what was needed, there was lots of things happening but no conclusions as yet.

Members were advised that the service was using initiatives to attract more young people to Durham Works Programmes, such as if a young person on the programme introduces a friend, they would receive free leisure vouchers if that young person joined the programme. The service had recently employed a young person’s engagement worker who was getting information and messaging out to young people and target social media used by young people by age group. The service works with the construction, hospitality and warehousing sectors and were looking to work with construction green skills and that the teams were well connected. Members were advised of the flexi fund that helped young people with transport costs, equipment and interview clothing.

The Chair thanked the Officer for her presentation and asked members for their questions.

Councillor Walton referred to the 155 young people who were not available to the labour market and asked how many were not accessing the programmes with metal health being the only factor. She then asked if those not engaging with services was out of choice or if this due to their mental health.

The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning responded that some chose not to engage with the service, but some could not engage such as those who were young carers and those suffering from mental health issues. The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning advised that unfortunately she did not have the figures to hand but would circulate the information outside of the meeting.

Councillor Walton then referred to the decreasing trend in NEETs and Not Known, that was positive, but commented that it would be useful to have an idea of those who were choosing not to engage and those who could not engage.

Councillor Sterling asked how many employers were part of the DurhamEnable and how good was the pool of employers and if it was easier to get employers. She indicated that hospitality was desperate for staff and there seemed to be a gap connecting these two and if they could possibly look into giving incentives to businesses and try different opportunities.

The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning indicated that the teams were not working with the same employers as they did not have a pool of employers and were working across the county all of the time with a whole range of employers. The team were good at job carving for DurhamEnabled participants which allowed for parts of the job to be ‘carved’ to another young person. There was an employer grant scheme for DurhamWorks 3 and DurhamWorks Futures which paid for 50% of the young person’s salary for up to six months.

Councillor Sterling commented that members could be used a resource.

Mrs Gunn referred to lower-level jobs and commented that someone had to do those jobs and asked if the schemes were working with employers to try and limit those negative aspects such as zero-hour contracts.

The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning responded that jobs without training was an area of concern, as the employers who were not doing any training with young people expected them to start work and immediately know what was expected. This was difficult for anyone but even more so for a young person without much experience if any and was problematic. They did their best to talk to employers about training but if a young person was in the job and they were happy it was difficult to get employers to then train them. The priority for the service was the young people and not the employers and the funding was to get the young person into the job in the first place. However, the service was no longer constrained by the European Social Fund (ESF) rules and there was more that could be done to support employers when they initially take on a young person and commented that employers value the work that the teams do.

Mrs Gunn then referred to the funding and asked if any of the funding was at risk.

The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning responded that the funding would be spent in line with expectations and the budgets were monitored carefully. The service had to report to the Department for Work and Pensions quarterly, but they monitored the budgets on a monthly basis and would maximise the funding.

Councillor Coult referred to young people who were NEET or their destination not known and asked if the service engaged with parents and what kind of support or reaction did the service receive.

The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning indicated that they received mixed support from parents some were engaged and were active in their encouragement while for those young people who chose not to engage there was usually something going on at home supporting that decision or making it difficult for them to engage and commented that each circumstance was different.

Councillor Andrews referred to young people living in rural areas with limited access to transport and asked if this had an impact on their employment.

The Strategic Manager Progression and Learning responded that living in a rural area could impact on their ability to find employment, but they had worked with young people and gave an example of the Wheels to Work Programme, where a young person gained access to a scooter to get them around. She also advised members that they try and find local employment for those young people living in rural areas.

The Chair indicated that it was clear that staff were working hard and asked the Officer to thank the staff on behalf of members. It was good to see an increase in apprenticeships, but it was concerning that some young people were not receiving any training. She referred to the incentives on offer for young people that was a good idea and asked the Officer if she could provide members with an update at a later meeting.

Resolved: (i) That the report and presentation be noted.

(ii) That the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee continue to receive further progress reports on participation in learning and programmes available to support young people into employment, education and training in County Durham.