Agenda item

Report of Nicki Jenkins, Head of Economic Programme and Skills at Nottingham City Council and Matt Lockley, Team Manager, Economic Development, Nottinghamshire County Council

Matthew Lockley, Nottinghamshire County Council presented the report on Skills and Employment and highlighted the following key points:

(a)  The Partnership approach to employment and skills has a long history in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire with most local authorities having already had some form of local structures relating to this.  Until recently there had been the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Employment and Skills Board which has now been replaced with a more streamlined approach through the N2 Skills and Employment Board (SEB).  The terms of reference for this new Board reflect the changes to the policy and seek to align the SEB with both the EPC and D2N2 Skills and Employment Commission.

(b)  The SEB is expected to work with and across partners, commissioners and providers to ensure that skills and employment in the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire labour market match the current and future needs of employers.  The bulk of the European Funding for skills and employment will be devolved to the D2N2 LEP in late 2014 and includes the entire European Social Fund (ESF) allocation which is targeted at improving skills and employment levels and tackling social exclusion. 

(c)  The priority areas agreed by the SEB are Children and Young People, Economic Inclusion and Sector Growth (focus on retail, health and social care). 

(e)  The next steps are to:

·  understand the current investment in N2 across the skills and employment landscape;

·  seek opportunities to secure more local control;

·  consider ‘co-commissioning’ approaches with mainstream providers, Further Education (FE) colleges and to add value to the existing and planned investment;

·  influence the D2N2 Skills Commission and ensure that the future ESF programme is responsive to our needs;

·  align local partners’ investment, where possible to create programmes that are more than the sum of their parts.

During discussion the following comments and feedback for the SEB was provided:

(f)  Employability is a major issue and currently schools are strictly focused on outcomes based on the curriculum and some are no longer offering employability skills in terms of work experience etc.  FE colleges are also focused on providing courses which would be guaranteed to fill and these may not relate to the priorities or skills that are actually needed by business.  Some form of incentivisation is needed.

(g)  Given the lack of plumbers, electricians and construction workers and the focus on building homes, offering vocational courses should be a priority for schools and FE colleges.

(h)  There is concern that some FE providers are based in different LEP boundaries and that subsequently the priorities may differ.

The following additional information was provided in response to councillors questions:

(i)  The LEPs do not work in isolation and the concern relating to the FE college based in Lincoln having a site in Newark will be explored to identify how the priorities are decided and shared.

(j)  Construction is one of the priorities in the D2N2 plan. The priority areas proposed by the SEB are Children and Young People; Economic Inclusion and Sector Growth.

RESOLVED 

(1)  to note the report;

(2)  for the feedback discussed above by the EPC to be reported back to the Skills and Employment Board;

(3)  to request that regular progress and update reports are submitted on Skills and Employment to the EPC by the Skills and Employment Board.

Reasons for the decisions:

It is important for the EPC to understand the terms of reference for the new SEB but also to have input into the setting of priorities as well as influencing the work of the SEB.

Other options considered:

None.