Agenda item

Andrea Stark, Director of Employment, Skills and Culture, and Lorraine Blyth, Post-16 Participation Manager, introduced the report that provided an update on the committee’s review of Post-16 Employment, Education and Training.

The following main points were made in the discussion:

•                  The Chair stated that the scrutiny review was carried out in 2017-18 and that she felt that the review did not sufficiently address the role of school sixth forms and colleges. It was advised that this would be reviewed further at a later date.

•                  Officers summarised recent developments in the council’s employment support services, stating that the services had progressed significantly since the time of the scrutiny review.

•                  Recent service developments included an employment and progress coach being based within the Youth Offending Service and the capacity and expertise of the iWork service being increased with the result that the service was able to offer more employment coaching and was also working to develop the coaching skills of young people to enable them to support their peers.

•                  Islington had 820 young adults claiming jobseekers’ allowance. However, data available to the Public Health service indicated that up to 2,000 young adults were NEET (not in education, employment or training).

•                  Islington Council was providing consultancy support to schools on how to develop their employment support offer.

•                  At the time of the scrutiny review there was a particular concern about the employment support available to young people in Alternative Provision and New River College. Since the review had concluded, New River College had received new funding from the Richard Reeves Foundation to develop their employment support offer and this had made a significant difference to young people who were not in mainstream education. The Chair declared a personal interest that she was a governor of the Richard Reeves Foundation.

•                  The council was funding some community groups to work with young people who were not well suited to traditional employment pathways. 

•                  A member noted that the initial scrutiny review highlighted concerns about the support available to young people dropping out of college; namely, how the support available to these young people had developed in recent years. In response, it was advised that the council’s Employment and Skills team was now providing tutors, as well as employment coaches, as it was recognised that some young people needed additional support to remain in education.

•                  In response to a question, it was advised that a number of young people engaging with the Youth Offending Service had learning disabilities. It was important that progression support for those young people was tailored to their specific needs. The service had recently engaged with an Educational Psychologist and this had helped the service to better understand the needs of the cohort. 

•                  The service had significantly increased the amount of engagement with employers in recent years. Officers were working to support employers in developing apprenticeships and other training opportunities. The importance of maintaining positive working relationships with employers was emphasised.

•                  In response to a question, officers explained how the council fostered good working relationships with employers. It was explained that the council sought to work with employers in a range of sectors and of all sizes. While some larger employers were keen to provide training and work experience opportunities though their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, smaller employers tended to need additional support from the council. The council could encourage smaller employers to offer training and other opportunities by offering small financial incentives.

•                  In response to a question from a member of the public, it was advised that Arsenal Football Club engaged with the council on employment and work experience opportunities.

•                  A member of the committee queried the quality of careers advice and guidance provided in schools. In response it was noted that the quality of careers education had been a challenge for many years, however schools understood the importance of careers education and had appointed dedicated staff to oversee their advice and support offer. The council arranged borough-wide learning opportunities for school careers leads and this contributed to staff CPD. 

•                  The council was in the early stages of drafting a borough-wide Skills Strategy that would guide the work of the local authority, schools and employers in future.

•                  The Committee requested a short report to a future meeting on the performance of school sixth forms and colleges in preparing young people for further education, employment and training. It was requested that this include demographic information on the sixth form and college cohort. 

The Committee thanked officers for their attendance.

RESOLVED:

That the update on the scrutiny review of Post-16 Education, Employment and Training be noted.