Skills, Training and Employment Partnership

West Lancashire Skills, Training and Employment Partnership

DRAFT Minutes of Meeting 18th November 2014

Present:

Councillor Westley WLBC Leader/Regeneration & Estates Portfolio Holder (Chairman) Amanda Jakeman DWP Job Centre Plus Dawn Hughes West Lancashire College Matthew Jackson Intraining John Doyle West Lancashire 14-19 Partnership Greg Swift Quarry Bank House Gill Hughes West Lancashire Council for Voluntary Services/WL Challenge John Mercer Edge Hill University Hugh Shields Groundwork Wigan & West Lancashire Paula Huber West Lancashire Borough Council Tracey Shaw West Lancashire Borough Council/WL Challenge

1. Appointment of Chair

Councillor Westley opened the meeting by introducing himself and confirming with the group his appointment as Chairman.

2. Welcome and Introductions

There were new representatives in attendance therefore individual introductions were made.

3. Apologies

Victoria Hipkiss, Maureen Fazal, Asa Gordon, Nighat Parveen and David Hindley.

4. Minutes of Meeting 2nd September 2014

Agreed as a correct record.

5. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

6. Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE)

6.1 PH provided the group with a presentation on the forthcoming RDPE for Lancashire West, outlining that although funding has not yet received approval from DEFRA, Lancashire West had an indicative allocation of approximately £1.67m.

1 6.2 The funding has been allocated to six priorities for the Lancashire West area, these include:  Support for micro & small enterprises and farm diversification  Support for increasing farm productivity  Support for rural tourism  Provision of rural services  Natural and cultural heritage  Support for increasing forestry productivity

6.3 Representation on the Local Action Group (LAG) is open to anyone who has an interest in the rural area, with the LAG Executive being the decision making group, made up of representation from the public, private and voluntary/community sector.

6.4 Kathryn Mulhearn, the Council’s Senior Economic Regeneration Officer will be replacing PH as the Borough Council and STEP representative on the LAG Executive, with PH continuing to provide support and guidance.

6.5 A decision on the funding is expected from DEFRA in December 2014 contact PH for further information on the programme.

7. West Lancashire Challenge Final Evaluation Report

GH introduced the report, explaining that all comments had been incorporated into the document. The document had also been presented to the One West Lancashire Board in November 2014.

8a. West Lancashire Challenge Digital Inclusion Project Overview

AJ introduced the digital inclusion project, which is being delivered under the West Lancashire Challenge umbrella. AJ explained how she had worked with PH to develop a project bid to secure DWP funding and that the project is intended to support 50 unemployed individuals into employment, training and support with the overarching aim of supporting individuals around the digital agenda

8b. West Lancashire Challenge Digital Inclusion Project Delivery

TS and GH explained the detail of the project, how we are supporting individuals to gain digital skills from awareness-raising of local community venues with IT facilities to creating a CV, email address and supporting with volunteer placements, both within the WLCVS office and within local businesses where appropriate. The overall aim is to support people, through the digital agenda, into volunteering, skills development and ultimately employment.

To date, 70% of those who have been referred have been Council house tenants and 33% of the referrals have been over the age of 50 (one of the target groups).

2 GH gave the group two example cases; the first a skilled tradesman in his early 40’s who had recently been made redundant and was finding job searching and the job seekers allowance process difficult to deal with, TS has arranged for him to meet with a local business to discuss future employment opportunities. The second is a previous business-owner who had lost his business, marriage breakdown and had been struggling with some mental health problems, he is now volunteering on the Community-I initiative within the WLCVS offices which was helping him to re-develop his confidence.

PH commented on how interesting it would be to understand the cost on the public purse of supporting 50 unemployed individuals of benefits and to measure this against the cost of the project (less than £40k) and any successful outcomes. Although this may be difficult to do, there are models available that would enable some financial estimates to be made.

The group discussed the ‘associated’ costs of someone who is unemployed, i.e. health-related costs, mental-health support, housing rent, debt management support, etc., JD also commented on the impact on other family members, in particular children and how an unemployed parent(s) can impact significantly on school attendance and/or achievement.

Universal Credit (UC) was also discussed and how individuals are being supported to take charge of their own finances. The Chairman asked whether UC was working, AJ responded that it had been going very well to date and that there had been no issues for any of the residents of West Lancashire.

9. Supported Apprenticeship Scheme

GS gave a brief update on this initiative, explaining how two businesses he had worked with had been able to expand as a result of taking on an apprentice. TS continuing to work with businesses who are interested in taking on an apprentice and we will still be able to support financially through the initiative. There is still funding available and the New Year will provide an opportunity to review the scheme to encourage more businesses to take participate, in light of the Government’s Age Incentive Grant ending in December.

The Chairman said that it was very onerous for a business to take on an apprentice, GS and TS both agreed explaining that we do have the mechanisms in place to support a business.

10. Skills Funding Agency (SFA) Update

Unfortunately VH was unable to attend the meeting however she had prepared an information paper for the group. The group read and discussed the paper and had a number of questions for VH. PH to send list of questions to VH and circulate responses to the group.

3 11. Any Other Business and Good News Stories

11.1 The Chairman reported that the Borough Council are now Corporate Members of the Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership and have accepted an invitation as an Associate Member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. This enables us to further strengthen partnerships and be involved in relevant meetings and events, with information being fed back to the STEP group. The Chairman also explained how devolving skills and regeneration to districts authorities from LCC would be helpful and could happen in the future.

11,2 DH explained how the Ormskirk campus was having a community launch on the 6th December, 10am-2pm with displays, crafts, etc. with a formal launch in the New Year. In addition there would be an Enterprise Event with market stalls on the 11th December, the College are also launching a ‘Starting Success’ website with case studies of students. DH added that there was free skills support available to businesses, in particular around warehouse and distribution and IT.

11.3 AJ reported there had been a 49% reduction in JSA claimants in the Borough, 57% for the 18-24 year age group, with only 19 individuals 50+ unemployed for over 3 years. The Job Centres now have Wi-Fi facilities for individuals to make claims and job searches with digital champions on hand to support. In terms of UC, AJ updated that two of the pathway areas Warrington and Wirral are now broadening their remit to include couples with children, which will inevitably lead to roll out across West Lancashire.

11.4 JM explained how ‘employability’ is becoming more important than ever for students, and how Edge Hill are developing a new degree for students with entrepreneurial ideas with the long-term plan of setting up a business creating employment opportunities, including potentially apprenticeships, and how they are keen for businesses to feed in ideas. GS asked if someone was interested how would they get involved, JM responded that a business could contact him directly and that the degree course would be advertised as part of the student prospectus. JM also added that although employers expect IT skills, they are finding that graduates do not necessarily have these skills.

11.5 Hugh Shields updated the group on the new Princes Trust programme commencing in Jan 15, traineeships and how they are the most successful Youth Contract deliverer in the NW.

11.6 GS informed the group how he had secured IT related funding to support residents in sheltered accommodation.

12. Date of Next Meeting

Tuesday 24th February 2014 at 10.00am Job Centre Plus offices, Skelmersdale