TACKLING THE SKILLS GAP IN THE WEST MIDLANDS NON-VERBATIM MINUTES

DATE: Wednesday, 2 December 2020

TIME: 15:00-16:00

Method: Zoom Meeting

CHAIR: MP (Con, Stoke-on-Trent North), Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary for the West Midlands

PARLIAMENTARIANS IN ATTENDANCE:

• Jo Gideon MP (Con, Stoke-on-Trent Central) • Jonathan Gullis MP (Con, Stoke-on-Trent North), • Khalid Mahmood MP (Lab, Perry Barr) • Steve McCabe MP (Lab, Birmingham Selly Oak) • MP (Lab, Coventry North West) • Jane Stevenson MP ( North East)

MINUTES

The Chair, Jonathan Gullis MP began the session by thanking all attendees for joining. He set out the focus of the meeting, which would be on the investment in skills in the region and how it can help drive growth and reduce unemployment. He outlined that it was a particularly important issue to him as a former teacher and the MP for a region with a growing number of jobs in new technologies. The Chair introduced the first speaker, Ben Harrison from the Work Foundation, which researches and provides analysis on the UK labour market. Ben Harrison, Director, The Work Foundation Ben Harrison introduced himself and the Work Foundation and outlined the core findings from their new report entitled ‘Learning to level up’, which assesses the Government’s recent Lifetime Skills Guarantee and its potential to improve access to training programmes. He outlined that the report looked in particular at early and mid-career workers and found that lower paid workers were much less likely to receive training. The study found that over 7.5 million mid-career workers have not received any training since leaving full time education, meaning they have no recent experience of engaging in learning and skills development. He added that in May 2020, there were 1.4 million mid-career recipients of Universal Credit who were required to spend 35 hours a week looking for a job in order to access their payments. Ben Harrison also stated that there are approximately 1.4 million mid-career workers with level 3 qualifications in routine and manual occupations who would currently be ineligible for the Lifetime Skills Guarantee or the Kickstart Scheme, but who might benefit from retraining. He recommended that the Government should review eligibility criteria for the Lifetime Skills Guarantee to maximise access and participation among workers on low pay, recognising that some workers who hold a level 3 qualification may benefit from access to further training. He added that this review should remove restrictions on engaging in training for individuals receiving welfare benefits like Jobseekers Allowance and Universal Credit. The Chair thanked Ben Harrison for his contribution and welcomed the next speaker, Dr Julie Nugent, Director of Productivity and Skills at the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). The Chair indicated that Dr Nugent recently led on the West Midlands’ negotiations with Government to secure the first Skills Deal in the country. Dr Julie Nugent. Director of Productivity and Skills, WMCA Dr Nugent outlined the different ways in which the WMCA are responding to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic in addition to tackling long-term, systemic issues in relation to skills in the region. Dr Nugent said that the WMCA has provided a distinct offer of support for young workers, pulling together existing support and new initiatives. She outlined that the WMCA had established youth hubs to reach young people who are not usually engaged in such programmes and created up to 20,000 places for the Kickstart scheme, which she described as a “good short-term measure.” She added that WMCA were operating a ‘Swap Don’t Drop’ programme which offers bespoke training to upskill local people, with a particular focus on developing the skills needed in the health and social care sector and logistics. Dr Nugent outlined that there were many advantages to having a devolved adult education budget, such as in-year budget flexibility with large colleges. In order to improve upskilling opportunities for people in work, Julie noted that the WMCA is expanding its level 3 training offer and is working with employers to understand the areas where skills are most needed. She underlined that this place- based approach is vital to any successful skills strategy, particularly when working with larger employers. Dr Nugent call on the Government to deliver greater regional and local influence over the design and delivery of new initiatives and schemes. Going forward, she argued that new skills programmes are irrelevant if there are no jobs to use them in. She added that there was a need for a more diverse offer for older workers and that WMCA would ensure that local partners would be fully involved in the rollout of new schemes to ensure they are central to the design of new programmes. The Chair thanked Julie for her insight and welcomed the next speaker, David Hesson from Barratt Developments, who would provide an assessment of skills in the construction sector. He explained that Barratt is the UK’s leading housebuilder and directly employs over 6,000 people, supporting over 45,000 jobs, and has recruited around 1,150 new apprentices, graduates and trainees to its Future Talent programmes over the last five years.

David Hesson, Regional Managing Director for the Midlands, Barratt Developments David Hesson outlined that he started his own career as an apprentice and “knows better than anyone” the importance of skills programmes. Barratt were on-track to deliver 18,000 homes this year, before the coronavirus pandemic, during which the company took “every measure” to ensure staff and partners were kept safe. David Hesson established that there were several challenges facing the construction workforce, namely an ageing workforce and keeping up to date with new methods of construction techniques. He argued that it is crucial to build diversity in the sector and that Barratt were making important progress in this area. He outlined that 31% of Barratt’s staff are women, which is more than double the sectoral average, but was aware that more remains to be done to improve diversity. He outlined the importance of raising awareness of apprenticeships schemes at Barratt and the wider sector. He also said there was a role for Government to play in ensuring that the Apprenticeship Levy works efficiently to improve equality of opportunity and is more attractive to Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). David Hesson also noted that there was work to be done to create the necessary green jobs in construction and that Barratt was committed to contributing to this effort. The Chair thanked David for his contribution and welcomed the final speaker, Sue Parr from Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). The Chair outlined that WMG is an academic department at the University of Warwick that serves to facilitate effective collaboration between academia and the public and private sectors. Sue Parr, Director, Professional Programmes and Apprenticeships, Warwick Manufacturing Group Sue Parr outlined that 2020 had rapidly changed the job market, with developments such as the new 2030 ban on the sale of the internal combustion engine vehicles having a significant impact on the automotive sector. She argued that many of the upskilling courses being offered are becoming increasingly outdated and argued that it was important not just to tackle the skills gap but create a skills “pool” that identifies the skills that will be needed in the future. Sue stated that WMG are working to establish pathways to make transitions into new roles swifter and be more responsive to the needs of local industry. She argued that it was important to develop shorter courses that met the needs of both individuals and employers to meet immediate demands and allow working to begin as soon as possible. In response to these challenges Warwick University established the Degree Apprenticeship Centre to develop a new approach to skills development. Sue Parr reiterated that many of the apprenticeship standards have been designed for jobs that existed years ago and were not fit for purpose. As such, WMG were working with several organisations, such as the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, to assess how roles in these industries can help frame future skills programmes that are future proofed. Question & Answer Session The Chair thanked all the speakers for their contributions and invited Parliamentary attendees to ask questions to the panel as part of the question and answer session.

The Chair firstly asked the panel for further detail on the barriers to access that low-income people may face when looking to access skills programmes. Ben Harrison said that the discussion should form one part of a wider conversation around the conditions attached to Universal Credit (UC). He argued that if there are elements of the conditions attached to UC which constrain people from attaining jobs, this seems counterintuitive. Julie Nugent added that many of these conditions illustrated a “missed opportunity” and that there is an option to look at short courses and different delivery models so that courses can work better for working people and those receiving welfare support. Khalid Mahmood MP outlined that his constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr has the James Watt Technical College which helps facilitate skills development for important jobs. He added that he was interested in increasing the number of apprenticeships in the engineering sector and securing increased funding for the defence sector. Khalid noted that he was particularly interested in looking at how the defence sector can be supported with additional training for the usage of green and new technologies. He outlined that he was pleased to hear from David Hesson about the work Barratt is doing to improve apprenticeships in the construction centre and called for more funding for further education colleges. Jane Stevenson MP noted that youth employment across Wolverhampton is particularly bad. She added that she was happy that the National Brownfield Institute was coming to the West Midlands and was determined that Wolverhampton would lead the UK in green house building programmes. She also raised the issue of T Levels and outlined that she would be interested to know what the ideal take-up of the qualification in the West Midlands would be. Jane Stevenson also stated that there were great apprenticeship opportunities in the armed forces which she would like to see encouraged. Steve McCabe MP said that a recurring issue from employers was the rigidity of the Apprenticeship Levy. He argued that with ongoing activity in the West Midlands, such as WMG and a range of new technologies, there was a case to be made about approaching Government to secure a pilot for more flexibility in the use of the Apprenticeship Levy and extending it to create a broader training levy. Steve McCabe argued that the West Midlands cannot “afford to wait a year” for Government schemes to come online whilst unemployment is growing. He argued that at present the Apprenticeships Levy looks like an employment tax, rather than an incentive and called for a collaborative approach from West Midlands MPs to lobby the Government. The Chair agreed that at present the Levy does not work for SMEs. Julie Nugent reiterated that the WMCA are pushing for a placed-based approach to skills provision that is respondent to local needs, and for T Levels to be part of a broader technical skills strategy that takes a more holistic view of skills. In relation to construction, she outlined that the WMCA had worked with employers to design courses where there was a particular shortage of skills, allowing young people to enter paid jobs quickly. She agreed that there were many solutions to improving the delivery of skills in the region but endorsed asking Government for an adaptation to the levy. Sue Parr outlined that the panel were all of a similar mind that it was important to work with industry to ensure apprenticeships standards reflect modern demand.

David Hesson said it was important to consider the amount of unused money from the Levy. He added that he attended Bilston Community College and would be keen to work to work with Jane Stevenson on anything related to brownfield regeneration. Jo Gideon MP asked the panel whether the West Midlands should be looking to train “more bricklayers or technicians” to best prepare for future demand. She outlined that from conversations with senior staff of universities there is a move to persuade young people to go to undertake T Levels rather than traditional qualifications. She said that this move should be approached with caution, as she did not wish to see people make assumptions about young people from “left behind areas” that they are not suitable for academic education. Jo Gideon invited David Hesson to come to her constituency to showcase the changing nature of construction work. Julie Nugent argued that the careers model in its current form was completely broken and that there was a need to rethink what careers advice means in practice for young and older people. Ben Harrison added that the Work Foundation study found that structural inequalities in the economy still have a pervasive effect on outcomes. For instance, workers that are women, disabled or from an ethnic minority are more likely to be lower paid jobs despite having the same qualifications as the rest of the workforce. The Chair concluded the session by outlining the opportunities to invest in green technology across the region created by the ‘Silicon Stoke’ agenda. He outlined that attendees on the call agreed that the Apprenticeship Levy needs to be improved, particularly at a time when the West Midlands economy needs additional funding and in the current economic climate. The Chair agreed that the APPG would work on composing a letter to Government regarding the suggestions outlined and to request a meeting to discuss this further. He thanked all those who attended for their contribution to the session and notified attendees that the Secretariat would be in touch to inform them of the next meeting of the APPG for the West Midlands in the New Year.