Agenda item

Lela Kogbara, Assistant Chief Executive, Strategy and Community Partnerships, was present and outlined the proposed Scrutiny Initiation Document for the scrutiny review.

During consideration of the Scrutiny Initiation Document the following main points were made –

·         It was noted that the Employment Commission has now reported and the BEST team will be merged from 1 April 2015 to form a new Learning, Skills and Employment service. The new structure brings together the strategic business engagement functions, the job brokerage and recruitment functions and the front line employment support functions together with Adult and Community Learning

·         The Council successfully bid for approximately £2m from the London Enterprise Pane to provide resources until March 2017 to support the employment agenda. This means that the Council has resources to develop the work of BEST, Islington Working for parents and careers work in Children’s Services. The bid included assistance for the over 50’s in finding employment

·         The Chair stated that he would wish the Committee to look at the lessons learnt from the experience of the BEST team in order to feed them into the new structure to ensure a better experience for residents and to see where delivery gaps in the Council so these can be addressed

·         The BEST team did not provide direct employment support for young people

·         There were 1.3 jobs for every resident in Islington and there was a need for employers to give young people a chance. Kings Cross development had 35,000 jobs available however employers could select from across the country and from Europe and there was a need to persuade employers to take on local people

·         There were a number of groups that proved difficult to get into employment such as those with mental health disorders and heat there was strong evidence that some residents were being excluded from employment because they had BME names

·          In relation to posts within the Council there was a lack of advancement for BMEstaff in higher graded posts. The Council did have an inspiring leadership programme for BME staff which applied to all grades

·         In response to a question it was stated that work was carried out with schools and employers worked with schools but these tended to be one off events but there were proposals for Children’s Services to engage and work more with schools

·         A Member enquired whether more work was going to be undertaken on New River Green to engage residents to get them back into employment. It was stated that this was the intention and that as this had not gone well to date further efforts would need to be made, possibly by actually engaging residents by going onto the estates

·         In response to a question it was stated that it was hoped that there would be progress within 6 months and lessons had been learnt from the experience of the BEST team

·         The Chair stated that there had been a number of residents in his ward that had dealt with the BEST team and that there had been problems with the service especially with the attitude of some of the staff and residents not being notified of interviews or staff had not responded to e mails. The Assistant Chief Executive stated that the examples quoted appeared to be more staff not doing their jobs properly and that if she was provided with details she would investigate these

·         In response to a question about whether the increase in employment in the borough being due to economic conditions it was stated that it was thought the improvement in Islington was largely due to the measures put in place by the Council, as youth unemployment had fallen in Islington, however this was not the case in the majority of the rest of the country

·         It was stated that Islington had a good spread of jobs at all levels and there were 1.3 jobs for every working age person in the borough

·         In response to a question it was stated that the Assistant Chief Executive would provide details of the number of apprentices who had gained full time employment following completion of their apprenticeship

·         A Member expressed the view that some employers kept raising the requirements of qualifications for jobs. It was stated that employers were able to recruit skilled workers from a global market

·         In response to a question it was stated that those residents with disabilities were less likely to and when they were employed they were likely to be in lower grade posts

·         Social mobility was a problem in Islington

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Scrutiny Initiation Document be approved subject to the following amendments –

Objectives of the review – the addition of an additional objectives as follows – To review the lessons learned from the BEST team to ensure that a more effective service is provided to residents and to look at social mobility in the borough and how this can be improved

(b)  That the Assistant Chief Executive provide details of the number of apprentices who have obtained full time employment following completion of their apprenticeship

The Chair thanked Lela Kogbara for attending