Agenda item

Andrea Stark, Director of Employment, Skills and Culture, introduced the report which summarised progress on implementing the agreed recommendations of the Post-16 Education, Employment and Training review.

The following main points were noted in the discussion:

·         Officers thanked the committee for their recommendations, which had helped the service to develop a more strategic approach. It was commented that the integration of the Progress team into the iWork service had resulted in better business engagement with the team, and this was having a positive people on young people engaging with the service.

·         The Committee’s recommendations were being considered alongside the recommendations of the Fair Futures Commission, which also sought to improve careers advice and progression support for young people.

·         It was reported that an increased number of schools were welcoming the support of the Progress team.

·         Work was underway to provide greater employability support to young people in alternative provision. This involved partnership work between the council, New River College, and the BIG Alliance. This work was in its early stages, however officers reported that there was a huge amount of goodwill on all sides and the partners were enthusiastic about this work.  It was commented that industry-led careers education was limited in mainstream education settings, so providing this support to vulnerable pupils in alternative provision was considered to be an innovative approach.

·         It was commented that Islington now had one of the highest rates of young people in apprenticeships in London, however further work was needed to ensure that young people could access apprenticeships in all employment sectors. It was highlighted that Islington had many innovative tech businesses that young people would be keen to work for, but did not know how to access these industries.

·         Officers reported that the most challenging recommendation to implement had been engaging with school governors on careers education matters. It was advised that the council would re-engage with governors on this issue in autumn 2018.

·         It was reported that the Progress and iWork team now had more accurate information on how taking up work could affect a young person’s family’s benefits entitlement, and bespoke advice was provided to parents as required.

·         A member asked how a significant increase in cultural entitlement and work experience would impact on the school curriculum. In response, it was advised that the council wanted schools to include careers education as a core part of their curriculum from primary school onwards.

·         A member expressed concern that some young people became NEET after choosing an inappropriate college course, and asked what was being done to support young people in choosing appropriate pathways. In response, it was advised that the council was developing an emphasis on the breadth of pathways available to young people in the local area. A local labour market analysis was currently underway, and the results would be shared with schools, parents and young people to help them better understand the employment opportunities locally and how to access them.

·         Officers had identified young people with high rates of absence or who had not sat their GCSEs, and would be engaging with them over the summer to ensure that they had identified an appropriate pathway as soon as possible.

·         In response to a question, it was advised that many local businesses did want to engage with the council and offer work experience or apprenticeships, however these opportunities were generally offered by corporate services firms with significant CSR (corporate social responsibility) budgets. There was a need to engage with all sectors in the local economy.

·         A member noted that the scope of the Committee’s review of Post-16 Education, Employment and Training did not include evidence from school sixth forms and colleges - the main providers of post-16 education – in respect of their role in developing pathways for young people and supporting them into employment. It was suggested that this may be an area suitable for further scrutiny in future. Following the meeting, it was advised that officers were due to commission a Local Skills Strategy that would assess the role of sixth forms and colleges and may be a useful reference for future work, should the Committee decide to revisit the topic.

The Committee thanked officers for their attendance.

RESOLVED:

That the 12-month update to the scrutiny review be noted.