Agenda item

Ian Harrison, the Education and Skills Director introduced a report which addressed the issues of increasing participation and addressing youth unemployment.

Mr. Harrison advised the Board that a scheme, known as “Platforms” had been created through work of a 14-19 year old partnership group comprising of the Local Authority, schools, Barnet and Southgate Colleague and alternative provision providers had been started last year.  The Board were advised that the “Platforms” scheme was designed to develop a wide range of options and pilot approaches to gauge which projects were most successful in terms of helping young people to improve their skills, confidence and work readiness.  The Board were advised that eight work streams were piloted, which were:

·         Apprenticeships      

·         Internships

·         Prince’s Trust for young people needing support to motivate

·         Voluntary Sector Placements

·         Graduate Support

·         16-24 Employability Support

·         Enterprise and Stat-up Support

·         Support for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities

Mr. Harrison highlighted the delivery of the projects was by partnership working, and noted the key successes of the partnership working, which were:

·         The main aim of the Council’s Platforms programme was to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training aged 16-24 years in Barnet.  During Phase 1, the JSA claimant count for 18-24 year olds living in Barnet has decreased from June 2012 to June 2013 by 1.1% (approximately 255 young people).

·         By the end of July 2013, Platforms had engaged with over 290 young people, with over 160 young people actively participating over the 8 projects. Over 260 employers were engaged with, and of these over 70 employers actively participated with Platforms to boost their staff capacity and to support young people on the programme. 8 Internship and Jobs Mob placements were converted into full apprenticeships, demonstrating the benefits of a ‘work trial’. 

·         Barnet Apprenticeship Agency established and generated 40 vacancies for young people during the period June 2012/13.

·         There have been 14 new places created in from September 2013 through a partnership between Oak Lodge School and Barnet and Southgate College.

Mr. Harrison then commented of the lessons learnt from the “Platforms” programme, and advised the Board that:

·         Apprenticeship opportunities have been the most difficult to fill and very resource intensive for the number of outcomes generated. The low minimum wage for apprenticeships appears to have put off young people aged 19-24 years, maybe due to overhead costs, such as travel. This is a feature common in London. However, we need to consider the types and levels of apprenticeship opportunities to make sure that we learn lessons from elsewhere in the country which have similar employment patterns where the take up of apprenticeships has been high.

·         There has been a lack of interest in the enterprise support element of the Platforms offer, something reflected at a national level, potentially due to the economic climate and lack of confidence in starting a business at a young age. However, given the high number of small businesses in Barnet, we need to consider what support young people need to encourage more to join this local enterprise economy.

·         Projects aimed at the harder to reach young people found it challenging to encourage take up among young people who lack motivation or face significant personal barriers to work including housing, family and mental health issues. 

·         Some young people were not job ready so required not only motivational support, but also intensive employability skills, which were provided by the Skills and Enterprise Adviser.  Working directly with the young people and the associated business engagement and support is resource intensive.

·         The most successful and popular elements of the Platforms projects were the paid Internships, the Princes Trust projects helping to motivate young people and voluntary sector funded work placements offering nine month placements for young people from the more deprived parts of the borough.

Commenting on sustainability, Mr. Harrison advised the Board that the Council was continuing to support the development of apprenticeships through the Barnet Apprenticeship Training Agency (ATA) which was pump primed to become self-sustaining. 

The Board were advised that several voluntary sector organisations are seeking funding to retain their young person following the end of the 9 month placement and a number of the internship placements have converted into apprenticeships or extended placements, and that the Council would seek to explore innovative and creative funding models to build on this success.

The Board noted that the Job Centre Plus is continuing to work closely with partners to provide a referral mechanism for NEET young people who are eligible for benefits onto suitable projects, and that the Jobcentre Plus continues to provide support for graduates through the Sector Based Work Academy

Members of the Board also noted that Barnet and Southgate College has won the opportunity to manage the corporate training operations and deliver its own retail and catering training (including JCP) at the Hospitality Guild's new "Hospitality House" venue in Finchley from October 2013.  

Mr. Harrison then provided the Board with an overview of the next steps that would be taken, in order to incorporate the lessons learned so far.

Mr. Harrison spoke to of importance of identifying potential funding opportunities to sustain and develop the most successful elements of the Platforms project: paid internships, the Princes Trust projects and voluntary sector funded work placements

The Board were advised of the importance of promoting the creation of apprenticeships within the Barnet economy, including leading through example within the council, other public sector organisations and their associated supply chains., and noted the importance of supporting schools in the early preparation of young people for apprenticeships and the world of work.

Mr. Harrison also noted the requirement to foster the collaboration between schools and colleges to provide a curriculum offers that provides a smooth transition from school to college. (e.g. extending the new collaborative 6^th form between 4 schools and Barnet and Southgate College)

A Member referred to the new provision for young people with learning difficulties as set out in the report, and asked about the possibility of extending this provision back to young people who would already have gone through the system.  Ms. White advised the Board that this was a discussion that was to be had with Barnet and Southgate College.

A Member of the Board commented on the importance of young people being signposted towards the services that were available, and noted the need for young people to undertake work-type placements to gain experience.  Ms. Kennally advised that it was here that school were able to make a real difference through ensuring access to independent careers advice. 

RESOLVED that the Board note the progress made and the lessons learnt.