MIDDLESBROUGH COUNCIL

EXECUTIVE REPORT

SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE NOT IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT OR TRAINING

Executive Member for Supporting Communities: Councillor Mick Thompson

Executive Director for Economic Development and Communities: Kevin Parkes

14th July 2015

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1. This purpose of this report is to update the Executive on the work undertaken to drive a significant reduction in the number of young people not in education, employment or training, and the potential opportunities to support further improvements.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

2. The report recommends that the Executive notes the recent progress in reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training, and endorses the Council’s role in the European funded Youth Employment Initiative.

IF THIS IS A KEY DECISION WHICH KEY DECISION TEST APPLIES?

It is over the financial threshold (£150,000) It has a significant impact on 2 or more wards Non Key X

4. DECISION IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE

For the purposes of the scrutiny call in procedure this report is

Non-urgent X Urgent report

If urgent please give full reasons BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION

Background

5. A key part of the Council’s vision for Middlesbrough is to develop “a learning town in which families and communities thrive”. Achieving this vision in the long-term will require our young people to have access to the same learning and employment opportunities as their counterparts across the country, if Middlesbrough is to keep pace with progress elsewhere.

6. The economy in Middlesbrough is experiencing positive growth, and continues to provide opportunities across a range of sectors, whilst both unemployment and youth unemployment are falling. The challenge presented by such growth is to ensure that local people are appropriately equipped to compete effectively for jobs, or are engaging with the education sector to prepare themselves for future opportunities.

7. Although supporting people to maximise their economic contribution is a valid aspiration across all age groups, it is particularly important in the 16 to 18 age group, as evidence shows that disengagement from the economy at this stage has a disproportionately more damaging effect on individuals, and can take significantly longer to reverse. As a result, the 16 to 18 age group are a key focus for the Council’s efforts to support a growing economy, and are a key component of ongoing work around youth employment. As part of this work, the Council aims to minimise the number of young people who are classed as Not in Education, Employment or Training or NEET.

Supporting NEETs

8. The Council has provided support to NEET young people for many years, through various incarnations such as Connexions and IYSS, and has monitored the progress of that age group closely. The number of young people classed as NEET has also been a long-standing performance indicator collected by successive governments, due to its role in reflecting the economic health of an area.

9. Due to the economic challenges that Middlesbrough has traditionally faced, minimising the number of NEETs has been a difficult task and is one that has often been a key focus of Government inspections around school improvement or youth services. Performance against this key measure has not been easy to achieve, as numbers have remained stubbornly high over many years, despite changes to the infrastructure. This inability to significantly reduce the number of NEETs in Middlesbrough has therefore been identified as a negative in many inspection reports, and has been a key line of enquiry on numerous Government visits.

10. Although some progress has been made in recent years, the most recent challenge to the high number of NEETs in Middlesbrough arose through the Ofsted inspection of school improvement in January 2014 that identified that Middlesbrough’s rate of 9.7% was still unacceptably high compared to a national average of 5.3%. The post inspection action plan identified that a significant reduction in the NEET figure was required to demonstrate progress towards closing the gap with the national rate. Stretching targets were agreed, requiring the figure to be reduced from 9.7% to

2 7.74% for 2014/15, 5.78% for 2015/16 and 3.82% for 2016/17. These are measured each year using the three month average for the period November to January.

Recent Progress

11. The re-inspection of Middlesbrough’s school improvement function in January 2015 coincided with the publication of the latest NEET data. As a result of significant efforts to increase the level of support provided to individual learners, and closer working relationships with schools, the number of NEETs in Middlesbrough has reduced sufficiently to achieve the first stretch target of 7.74%. This represents a reduction of 40% since 2011, as shown below:

12. The key elements of success in reducing these numbers have been identified as:

a. investing time in detailed monitoring of data tracking young people’s destinations upon leaving schools and other learning providers; b. pushing schools and other learning providers to supply more up-to-date tracking information, which allows more responsive targeting of information, advice and guidance for those most at risk of becoming NEET; c. responding quickly to people dropping out of provision, to target a swift return into learning, before non-participation becomes a habit; and, d. taking a pro-active approach to ensuring NEET young people are engaging with externally funded projects and initiatives that can provide them with additional support.

13. Continuing this rate of progress will however be difficult as a number of structural challenges exist that will limit the extent to which the NEET figures can be influenced by the Council. These challenges include the way that data is collected and reported across different school management structures, and variations in how information, advice and guidance is provided within the full range of educational establishments. We have also reached a situation where the amount of investment required to reduce the NEET figures further becomes disproportionately high, as those hardest to help make up a bigger proportion of the remaining cohort.

3 14. Overcoming these structural and financial challenges will require a fresh look to be taken as to the role of the Council in supporting NEETs. This work will take place over the next six months in consultation with schools, to ensure the most effective relationships are in place around data sharing and the targeting of additional support on those individuals most in need.

European Social Fund - Youth Employment Initiative

15. One opportunity to increase the level of support that is available to young people who are either classed as NEET or are at risk of becoming NEET is the European funded Youth Employment Initiative. An allocation of £25 million has been made through external sources including the European Social Fund for the reduction of NEETs in Tees Valley between 2015 and 2018. Bids are currently being prepared through a consortium of local authorities along with private and voluntary sector delivery partners to secure this funding against three key elements:

a. transition education and employment mentoring and support from a team of local case-workers for NEETs aged between 15 and 29; b. personalised education, employment and enterprise pathways for NEETs aged between 16 and 18; and, c. tailored route ways for NEETs aged 15-29 years to enter Tees Valley priority employment sectors.

16. Securing this level of funding for Tees Valley will assist greatly in further efforts to reduce the number of NEETs in Middlesbrough, although it should be noted that the funding is not available to assist in the creation of additional jobs, and therefore needs to be aligned with existing job creation opportunities to stimulate a real reduction in those looking for work.

17. Hartlepool Council are leading on the preparation of bids for the two stage process that should be complete by October 2015, with delivery due to commence by the end of 2015.

18. The Council’s involvement as a key partner in the bids will not necessarily mean that any of the delivery will be undertaken by the Council, as the majority of activity will be contracted out through Hartlepool Council, as the co-ordinating body. Other than some smaller elements of delivery that may be bid for through the Community Learning Service, it is not envisaged that any funding or contractual obligations around outputs will flow through the Council. The Council role will be one of working with schools and colleges to identify and track individuals at risk of becoming NEET, referring them into appropriate pathways of support. The Council will however still be responsible to the Government for the overall number of NEETs aged 16 to 18 in Middlesbrough, and will need to engage fully with the European funded delivery partners to ensure the additional resources impact upon this cohort.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT (IA)

19. An Impact Assessment has been undertaken for the overall approach to supporting youth employability. No negative impacts have been identified as part of this assessment.

4 OPTION APPRAISAL/RISK ASSESSMENT

Option Appraisal

20. The following options have been considered as part of the development of the approach:

a. Seek to deliver the three externally funded elements of the Youth Employment Initiative internally – rejected as the wider network of partners in the private and voluntary sector are better placed to provide the specialist support required for the hardest to reach individuals. As the NEET numbers reduce, the specialist nature of the work required to make further gains will increase. At present, this would not represent ‘core business’ for the Council and is best provided externally. The Council will however need to engage fully with the delivery partners to ensure the NEETs being engaged by the Council are being referred into effective pathways.

b. Decrease the Council’s existing role in supporting NEETs, placing greater emphasis on schools to engage and track former pupils – rejected as although increasing the role of schools would increase the quality of engagement and tracking activity, the Council would still ultimately be responsible for the overall number of young people who are NEET. Whilst this duty remains in place, the Council needs to be pro-active in ensuring that the individuals classed as NEET or at risk of being NEET are supported fully.

Risk Assessment

21. As the duty to monitor and report the number of young people who are NEET lies with the Council, the issue will always be present as a risk in any inspection or area assessment. The need to change the relationship with schools to enable more pro- active tracking of young people will carry additional risks (as any new approach would), but ultimately the risk of the numbers rising should be able to be managed more closely.

22. Engagement with the European funded Youth Employment Initiative will also bring the usual risks associated with externally funded programmes, although the risk to the Council has been minimised by taking on a ‘non-delivery’ role in the partnership. The Council will not therefore be contractually responsible for the non-achievement of outputs. Strategic Finance will be involved in the endorsement of any partnership agreements or service level agreements relating to Middlesbrough Council’s engagement with the overall programme.

FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND WARD IMPLICATIONS

23. Financial – the engagement, tracking and reporting of NEETs is a key part of the Supporting Communities service, and is appropriately resourced through the core budget. No additional financial issues would arise from engagement with the Youth Employment Initiative, other than those identified above.

24. Ward Implications - the Council’s approach to NEETs is aimed at supporting young people across all wards in Middlesbrough. 5 25. Legal Implications – there are no legal issues identified with the approach to supporting NEETs.

RECOMMENDATIONS

26. It is recommended that the Executive:

a. notes the recent progress in reducing the number of young people in Middlesbrough who are not in education, employment or training; and,

b. endorses the Council’s engagement with the European funded Youth Employment Initiative.

REASONS

27. Although numbers of young people classed as being not in education, employment or training are reducing, engagement with opportunities such as the European funded Youth Employment Initiative would be required to sustain similar rates of progress in future years.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

28. No background papers were used in the preparation of this report.

AUTHOR: Richard Horniman TEL NO: 729568 ______Address: Website: http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk

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