Youth Unemployment Review

The findings of the Community Scrutiny Youth Unemployment Sub-Committee

November 2016

“Allerdale – a great place to live, work and visit” Table of Contents 1. Introduction...... 3 2. Context ...... 4 Local context ...... 4 National and European context ...... 5 3. Report of Findings ...... 7 3.1 Schools and education...... 7 3.1.1 Schools...... 7 3.1.2 Raising The Participation Age ...... 9 3.2 Health, welfare and wellbeing...... 11 3.2.1 Childhood Obesity ...... 11 3.2.2 Deprivation factors ...... 11 3.2.3 Child poverty...... 12 3.3 Labour market factors ...... 16 3.3.1 Employment and unemployment...... 16 3.3.2 Worklessness ...... 18 3.3.3 NEET: Not in Employment, Education, or Training ...... 18 3.4 Qualifications and skills ...... 21 3.4.1 Qualifications...... 21 3.5 Apprenticeships ...... 22 3.6 Transport ...... 23 4. Current approaches...... 25 5. Summary ...... 33 6. Recommendations...... 34

2 1. Introduction

This enquiry was established by Allerdale Borough Council’s Community Scrutiny Committee and conducted by a Sub-Committee of Members. The following were the members of the Sub-Committee: Councillor Tony Annison, Councillor Carole Armstrong, Councillor Joseph Cowell, Councillor Jim Lister, Councillor Celia Tibble, Councillor David Wilson and Councillor Martin Wood.

The Sub-Committee developed the scope for the enquiry to include a focus on the available data around employment, unemployment and NEET young people (those not in education, employment or training); the availability and effectiveness of local provision; issues facing employers in recruitment, such as the factors that young people do not ‘sell’ themselves particularly well, and that young people lack aspiration; and issues to do with transport.

The enquiry took place during August 2015 and November 2016. It included initial formal meetings with Members receiving presentations from invited speakers, from which some content is included here. It also included a call for evidence from partner organisations, and extracts from the responses received are built into the report.

The period of enquiry, longer than originally intended, has resulted in the inclusion of both currently available data and other data which may appear older yet is the most recent available at the time of writing.

The enquiry was completed through desk research including an examination of several recent reports on related subjects. The following publications and reports have been drawn upon:

 LGIU briefings  Against The Odds, Audit Commission, 2010  Cumbria Observatory Labour Market Briefing (monthly)  Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership Skills Investment Plan 2016-2020  Skills and Employment in Cumbria: Evidence Base 2016, prepared for Cumbria LEP by York Consulting  The State of Rural Cumbria, compiled by ACTion with Communities in Cumbria, December 2013  Allerdale Business Growth Strategy 2016 (in draft at time of writing)

3 2. Context

Local context

Much of the data in this brief review of young peoples’ employment prospects in Allerdale has been drawn from a document called About Allerdale, prepared as part of the process to refresh the Council Plan for 2016-17. Additional data is drawn from national sources, with much of it provided via Cumbria Observatory.

The estimated whole population of Allerdale in 2014 was 96,500. Data from the Census 2011 shows that the population of Allerdale rose from 93,487 to 96,400 (2001-2011), a rise of 3.1%. This small growth (less than half the rate of increase of England & Wales) was driven largely by in-migration to the area rather than natural increase.

At 2015, Allerdale had 4,520 enterprises. Allerdale has parts of the district in the Lake District National Park to the east and the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the northwest. The tourism industry provides 6,208 people who live in the area with employment; manufacturing has 6,000 employees, 16.3% of the district’s workforce; the energy sector also has a particularly large influence on the whole of West Cumbria due to the location of Sellafield (located in the adjacent Copeland district).

Although the overall claimant rate is similar to the Cumbria and national rates, youth unemployment rates in Allerdale are well above Cumbria and national levels. 17% of those aged 16-64 are economically inactive or classed as ‘workless’.

Qualification levels for the district as a whole are broadly in line with regional and national averages. However, there are variations across the district, two wards having over a third of the working age population with no qualifications.

Overall Allerdale’s ranking in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation is 115 out of 326 local authorities. This figure masks significant differences at a more local level with some considerable areas of deprivation. There are seven areas in the 10% most deprived in England. Average household income in Allerdale is similar to the county average and a little below the national average; however, there are significant variations in income levels across wards from £17,000 to £37,400 and 14.4% of households with an annual income of less than £10,000. 14.8% of children in Allerdale are living in poverty, but once again the figures across the district vary considerably with three wards having levels of child poverty above 25%, the highest being 33.6%.

Allerdale has an above average adult obesity rate and childhood obesity levels are slightly higher than the Cumbria and national averages. The percentage of children in Reception year who are classified as having excess weight has increased recently. Smoking and alcohol consumption are key areas of concern, Allerdale has the highest female alcohol specific mortality rate of all the districts in Cumbria.

Allerdale has an older population profile than England and Wales and the population is ‘ageing’ at a faster rate than the population nationally. The district loses young people to higher education and employment outside the area and has seen the

4 greatest rise (between 2001 and 2011) in the number of residents aged over 85 years in Cumbria. By 2037 33.3% of all residents are projected to be aged 65 and over.

Cumbria’s Black and Minority Ethnic population remains one of the lowest in England, and has recently grown from 1.8% to 3% from 2001-11. Most Allerdale residents are from a White British background. Just 2.4% of the district’s population is from an ethnic minority - Allerdale has the smallest proportion of residents from BME groups in Cumbria and the second highest rate of White British residents of any district nationally (97.6%).

Recorded anti-social behaviour incidents have decreased by -19.4% (-795) in Allerdale in 2014/15 compared to the previous year. Recorded instances of youth anti-social behaviour incidents have also decreased by -32.8% (-295). Crime rates for anti-social behaviour and youth anti-social behaviour in Allerdale are lower than the average for the county.

National and European context

The issues around youth unemployment are not unique to West Cumbria: the UK averages around 14.4% (in 2015) while across Europe the figures are higher.

In August 2016, 4.199 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU-28 member countries (18.6 %), of whom 2.927 million were in the Eurozone area of 19 countries (20.7 %). The lowest rate was observed in Germany (6.9 %) and the highest in Greece (47.7 % in June 2016), Spain (43.2 %) and Italy (38.8 %).

In September 2016 the Government launched an £80 million fund to support England’s youth sector to support young people in disadvantaged communities. The Youth Investment Fund (YIF) will be jointly delivered by the Government and the Big Lottery Fund. £40 million will go towards the new Youth Investment Fund, targeting disadvantaged communities across England, while an additional £40 million will provide continued support for Step Up to Serve’s #iwill youth social action campaign.

Eligible areas were based on an analysis of two separate measures of deprivation, as well as looking at the spread of existing investment, the proportion of young people not in education, training or employment, and the overall population of young people. Six eligible clusters were identified covering a total of 34 local authorities (equating to more than 20% of local authorities in England). The fund complements the Government’s commitment to expand the National Citizen Service.

The fund has already attracted some criticism for its selection of local authority areas in deprivation – Cumbria is not included. As the National Youth Agency have pointed out in a blog article entitled ‘Youth Investment Fund: Welcome cash but not for all’, the list of funded areas does not reflect the Social Mobility Commission’s ‘cold spot’ areas, which have been identified as lacking the necessary opportunities and infrastructure for young people to fulfil their potential.

The Cabinet Office said: “We recognise it is disappointing for organisations in areas of the country that are not eligible for the Youth Investment Fund. Alongside the Youth Investment Fund, the Big Lottery Fund continues to run a number of open

5 programmes such as Reaching Communities and Awards for All, which are available to youth sector organisations across the country.

“We have no confirmed funding for an additional round(s) of the Youth Investment Fund at this stage. However, if it proves successful, we would certainly look at how this method of investment could be rolled out into other areas, should additional funds become available. The new fund also complements our existing commitment to the expansion of youth social action through National Citizen Service and the #iwill campaign, both of which cover the whole of England.”

6 3. Report of Findings

This section is divided into sub-sections, each highlighting an aspect of young people’s lives which can influence their employment outcomes.

83,620 people aged under 16 live in Cumbria. This is 16.7% of the total population. 50.7% of these people or 42,365 live in our rural communities.

Diversity across rural Cumbria is enormous, spanning a variation of over 20% between parishes and at its greatest in Allerdale and South Lakeland

Figure 1: Under 16s in Allerdale – range in rural numbers

Parish name % Buttermere 3.3 Underskiddaw 8.3 Winscales 10.5 Embleton and District 10.9 Camerton 10.9 Westnewton 19.6 Greysouthern 19.7 Bothel and Threapland 19.7 St. John’s Castlerigg 20.4 Brigham 23.4 Allerdale 16.8 Cumbria 16.7 England 18.9

Source: Census 2011 3.1 Schools and education

3.1.1 Schools

The Allerdale area is served by 60 primary schools and 8 secondary schools. Of the secondary schools, 3 are community schools, 3 are academy schools, 1 is voluntary aided Church of England, and 1 is voluntary controlled non-denominational. There is also 1 University Technical College (UTC) which offers secondary education.

On average, during the early part of their schooling, children in Cumbria perform relatively well. However the proportions of pupils making the expected progress in English and Maths between Key Stage 2 (age 11) and Key Stage 4 (age 16) in Cumbria are below national averages.

Of the 9 educational establishments that offer secondary education within Allerdale (8 schools and 1 UTC), 5 schools failed to attain more than 60% of students achieving a 5 or more A* to C GCSEs; one academy did not declare results. Both Keswick School and Cockermouth School were achieving 75% and 65% respectively, however the remaining schools within the area were not considered to be achieving this level. In addition, there was anecdotal evidence that a number of schools did not have access to quality leisure facilities.

7 Cumbria’s annual Year 11 outturn (pupils aged 16) is around 5,000 young people of whom around 1,850 progress on to university, based on recent rates. The chart at Figure 2 shows the balance of anticipated levels of GCSE results over the next few years. It is recognised that many of these cohorts do not return to the county once their studies are complete. Figure 2: Forecast Year 11 outturn achieving five GCSEs A*-C (including maths and English), 2014 – 2021 based on 2014 achievement rate (57%)

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

Actuals 2013/14 3,095 2,334 Forecast 2014/15 3,039 2,293 Forecast 2015/16 2,920 2,202 Forecast 2016/17 2,824 2,130 Forecast 2017/18 2,739 2,066 Forecast 2018/19 2,910 2,196 Forecast 2019/20 2,920 2,203 Forecast 2020/21 2,904 2,190

5 GCSEs A* - C (including maths and English) Fewer than 5 GCSEs A* - C (including maths and English)

Source: DfE

At this point it is worth noting the national framework of qualification levels, which apply to all education and learning, not just schools.

Figure 3: National framework of qualification levels

Level Qualification examples Entry Entry Level Award, Certificate, Diploma (levels 1-3) English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Skills for Life Functional Skills (English, Maths, ICT) Essential Skills 1 GCSEs (grades D-G)1 Award, Certificate, Diploma (City & Guilds, CACHE, OCR, BTEC/Edexcel/Pearson2) English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) NVQ Level 1 First Certificate Functional Skills Essential Skills Music (grades 1-3) 2 GCSEs (grades A*-C)1 O Levels (grades A-C) CSEs (grade 1) Award, Certificate, Diploma (City & Guilds, CACHE, OCR, BTEC/Edexcel/Pearson2) English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) NVQ Level 2 National Certificate/Diploma

8 Intermediate apprenticeship3 Functional Skills Essential Skills Music (grades 4-5) 3 A Levels (grades A-E) AS Levels Award, Certificate, Diploma (City & Guilds, CACHE, OCR, BTEC/Edexcel/Pearson2) English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Access to Higher Education Diploma Foundation Diploma (Art and Design) NVQ Level 3 Advanced apprenticeship3 National Certificate/Diploma International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Music (grades 6-8) 4 Higher National Certificate (HNC) Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) Higher apprenticeship3 5 Higher National Diploma (HND) Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) Foundation Degree NVQ Level 4 6 Degree with Honours (eg BA Hons, BSc Hons) Degree apprenticeship3 Graduate Certificate Graduate Diploma Ordinary Degree (without Honours) 7 Postgraduate Certificate Postgraduate Diploma Master’s Degree (eg MA, MSc, MBA, MPhil) Integrated Master’s Degree (eg MEng) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) NVQ Level 5 8 Doctorate (eg PhD, DPhil, EdD, DClinPsy)

1 A new grading system for GCSE exam results is being introduced from summer 2017. Eventually, all GCSE exams will be graded from 1 to 9 rather than the current A* to G, with 9 the highest grade. Grade 4 will be equivalent to grade C on the previous system. GCSE Maths, English language and English literature will be the first subjects to be graded under the new system in 2017. Other GCSE subjects will be graded under the new system over the following two years. Visit the Ofqual and GOV.UK sites for more details.

2 Qualifications can be accredited by more than one awarding body and some of these bodies have been included to show this. See the Ofqual website for see a full list of awarding bodies.

3 Apprenticeships are work-based training schemes, which include a qualification, and have therefore been listed here for reference.

3.1.2 Raising the Participation Age

The Raising of the Participation Age (RPA) statutory duty came into full effect in summer 2015. Young people now have a duty to stay in learning to age 18 (for those not in employment: the expectation is that young people will be in education or training to age 18). As a result, the Department for Education now monitors and measures Cumbria County Council for the levels of participation by its young people in education and training.

9 3.1.3 Post-16 Skills Plan

The Post-16 Skills Plan (published July 2016) outlines a radical overhaul of vocational (‘technical education’) in the UK. The reforms are based on proposals contained in the Sainsbury Report, commissioned by the government (published April 2016).

The core changes are:  Students will be offered two choices for post-16 education: an academic route or a technical route;

 The technical route will be further broken down into two “modes of learning”: employment-based (typically an apprenticeship) or college-based;

 A framework of 15 high-quality routes will be designed to replace the 20,000 different courses that currently exist.

The 15 routes will group together occupations, with current proposals as follows: agriculture, environmental and animal care; business and administrative; catering and hospitality; childcare and education; construction; creative and design; digital; engineering and manufacturing; hair and beauty; health and science; legal, finance and accounting; protective services; sales, marketing and procurement; social care; transport and logistics.

The government will put in place nationally recognised certificates for each technical education route at levels 2 and 3. Each of the 15 routes will only be available through a single awarding organisation.

Each programme will include a ‘common core’, aligned to existing apprenticeship qualifications, including English, maths and digital requirements. This will be followed by specialisation towards a skilled occupation or set of occupations. These routes will extend up to the highest skills levels. In line with the panel’s recommendations, the plan proposes that technical education at higher levels will still follow national standards, overseen by the Institute for Apprenticeships.

The Institute of Apprenticeships is established under the Enterprise Act 2016 (Royal Assent in May 2016), and has not yet been formally constituted although a shadow chair has been appointed. It is expected to replace the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) in 2017. The Skills Plan commits the Government to expand the remit of the Institute for Apprenticeships to encompass all technical education.

For those not ready to access a route at age 16, the plan follows the Sainsbury Report recommendations in promising that up to a year of tailored support will be available to young people in need of further preparation before beginning on one of the two routes.

3.1.4 Post-16 Education Reform

As first outlined in the July 2015 policy statement ‘Reviewing post-16 education and training institutions’, the government is reforming post-16 education through a programme of area reviews, intended to cover all FE and Sixth Form colleges. The

10 reviews are taking place over an 18-month period. They are expected to result in closures, mergers, and the production of fewer, larger and more specialised providers, including a network of new Institutes of Technology.

New National Colleges will focus on addressing higher-level skills gaps, predominantly levels 4 and 5, but they may also look to deliver education and training up to level 6, including degree apprenticeships.

3.2 Health, welfare and wellbeing

Health and well-being is influenced by a wide range of social, economic and environmental factors. Some factors have a particular influence on the lives of children and young people and are highlighted in this section.

3.2.1 Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity levels in Allerdale are slightly higher than the Cumbria and national averages. 22.0% of Year 6 children were classified as obese in 2013/14 (England 19.1%). Since 2006/07 there has been an upward trend in Year 6 obesity levels, however, the prevalence of obesity in Year 6 has decreased slightly between 2012/13 and 2013/14 from 22.5% to 22.0%. At ward level the highest rates of obesity in Year 6 children were in Ewanrigg and Ellenborough wards, both with levels over 30%.

The prevalence of excess weight children in Reception has increased in 2013/14. In 2012/13 the figure for Allerdale was similar to the England average, but in 2013/14 the prevalence of excess weight children in Reception had risen to 26.2% above the England average of 22.5%. 3.2.2 Deprivation factors

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is based upon seven domains of deprivation: income, employment, health and disability, education skills and training, barriers to housing and services, living environment and crime. These are weighted and combined to create the overall IMD rating.

Allerdale’s ranking in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation is 115 out of 326 local authorities in England in terms overall deprivation. However, this district figure masks significant differences at a more local level with some considerable areas of deprivation. When deprivation scores are combined for all Lower Super Output Areas in Allerdale (LSOAs - developed for the 2001 Census as small area geographical units; LSOAs have between 1,000 and 3,000 people living in them, with an average population of 1,500; there are 60 in Allerdale, 321 in Cumbria and 32,482 nationally), the district is classified as the third most deprived district in Cumbria for overall deprivation. It falls within the 30% most deprived nationally in terms of Employment deprivation and Living Environment.

Across the district, there are seven LSOAs in the 10% most deprived of areas in England (below).

11 Figure 4: Allerdale’s LSOAs that rank within the 10% most deprived in England

LSOA descriptor Ward Overall IMD Overall IMD Score Rank (higher = more (out of 32,844 deprived) nationally) Ewanrigg estate Ewanrigg 61.34 804 Frostoms & Westfield North Moss Bay 60.51 890 High Salterbeck & Brierydale Moss Bay 50.637 2,112 Ellenborough Ellenborough 49.938 2,232 Low Salterbeck & Westfield Moss Bay 49.258 2,356 South Northside, Marsh, and Town St. Michael's 47.169 2,753 Green Senhouse & Finkle St. St. Michael's 45.432 3,099

In terms of the seven domains of deprivation used to make up the overall IMD score: There are 3 LSOAs which rank within the 10% most deprived of areas in England in relation to Income deprivation, these fall within the wards of Ewanrigg and Moss Bay.

There are 7 LSOAs which rank within the 10% most deprived areas of England in relation to Health deprivation & Disability, these fall within the wards of Ewanrigg, Moss Bay, Ellenborough, St. Michael’s and Moorclose.

There are 8 LSOAs which rank within the 10% most deprived areas of England in relation to Employment deprivation, these fall within the wards of Ewanrigg, Moss Bay, Ellenborough, St. Michael’s and Moorclose.

There are 8 LSOAs which rank within the 10% most deprived areas of England in relation to Education, Skills & Training deprivation, these fall within the wards of Ewanrigg, Moss Bay, Ellenborough, St. Michael’s, Moorclose and Clifton.

In contrast, there are 2 LSOAs in the 10% overall least deprived areas of England, these fall within the wards of Christchurch and All Saints, both in Cockermouth.

3.2.3 Child poverty

Poverty can have a profound impact on children, their families and the rest of society. It can set in motion a deepening spiral of social exclusion, creating problems in education, employment, mental and physical health and social interaction.

The latest available government data available shows that 14.8% of children (0-19 years – 2,770 children in August 2013) in Allerdale are living in poverty. This is below national levels of 18.0% for England and above the Cumbria level of 13.8%, however, the picture for Allerdale as a whole disguises significant inequalities in levels of child poverty within the district.

There is a wide geographic variation in levels of child poverty across the district’s wards from a high of 33.6% in Moss Bay to just 2.2% in Crummock. 10 of the 31

12 wards have a higher percentage of children living in poverty than the Allerdale average. 6 of these have a higher percentage than the England average. Figures for Allerdale’s wards show Ewanrigg, Moorclose and Moss Bay as having levels of child poverty above 25%, the highest being Moss Bay at 33.6% and Ewanrigg ward (32.2%) which are clearly significantly higher than the Allerdale, county and England figures for 2013.

Figure 5: Child Poverty in Allerdale

Area Ward % Lower Super Output Area % Aspatria Harriston & Fletchertown 21.5 Cockermouth Cockermouth East 22.3 Ewanrigg 32.2 Ewanrigg Estate 44.3 Ellenborough 22.7 Ellenborough Estate 37.4 Maryport Flimby 21.7 Flimby 21.7 Silloth Silloth town 21.5 Wigton Wigton W & Greenacres 23.0 Westfield South & 25.3 Moorclose South Workington Moorclose 28.6 Newlands South 32.5 Moorclose 26.5 Mossbay 33.6 Low Salterbeck & Westfield 27.1 Village High Salterbeck & 32.1 Brierydale Frostoms & Westfield North 40.1 St Michaels 22.7 Senhouse & Finkle St 25.1 Northside, Marsh & Quay 30.2 Allerdale 14.8 14.8 Cumbria 13.8 13.8 England 18.0 18.0

Areas with high levels of child poverty are predominantly in deprived urban areas; however, there are also pockets of poverty and deprivation in some of the most rural communities in Allerdale.

These tables of supplementary information, compiled from available data by the Applied Policy Science Unit (APSU) of UCLAN on behalf of West Cumbria Child Poverty Forum, look at data in smaller geographic areas to get a finer understanding of where poverty manifested and cover Household Income; House Prices and (Un)affordability; and Percentages of Children in Poverty. No supplementary information is given on earnings as data is not available at geography smaller than District.

13 Figure 6: Household Income

AREA MEAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME 2008 2015 % % Per % children in change Britain capita poverty Britain £34,400 £36,447 5.95 100 Cumbria £30,193 £31,792 5.30 87.2 13.8 Allerdale £29,522 £31,150 5.51 85.5 14.8 Aspatria £29,878 £31,893 6.74 87.5 £14,028 12.2 Cockermouth £35,244 £39,261 11.40 107.7 £17,412 6.6 Keswick £32,440 £32,748 0.95 89.9 £13,991 7.2 Maryport £26,735 £26,585 -0.56 72.9 £11,753 21.9 Silloth £29,044 £28,348 -2.40 77.8 £12,328 15.0 Wigton £32,377 £32,543 0.51 89.3 £14,386 10.1 Workington £28,638 £28,626 0.04 78.5 £12,632 18.7 Note: Household Income data includes income from all sources (as declared to HMRC) including pensions, benefits and dividends, as well as earnings. It does not include information as to wealth.

Source: Cumbria Observatory

Analysis by area refines this picture: Cockermouth has done very well over the last seven years on average and is one of the only areas in West Cumbria to have mean household incomes above the Britain average. Other areas have seen little Mean Household Income (MHI) growth at all (beyond the immediate impact of the Sellafield complex) and in Maryport and Silloth there has actually been a decline, and a notable decline in Silloth. The outlier here is Aspatria with strong growth in MHI over the period, outperforming the West Cumbrian average.

There is a correlation between MHI and the percentage of children in poverty, but it is not exact. Keswick has less Child Poverty than might be expected from MHI figures however children are under-represented in the population of Keswick and low MHI figures may manifest in pensioner poverty.

“Mean figures” are used for both Income and House Prices as “median” figures are not available at this geography. For West Cumbria as a whole, the median figure is about 80% of the mean. (The "mean" is the "average": all the numbers are added up and then divide by the quantity of the numbers being considered. The "median" is the "middle" value in the list of numbers.) This is less important when comparing Areas, as the comparison between different areas is much the same whether using median or mean.

The sorting effect of the housing market is quite obvious here: lower income people tend to live where houses cost less. The relationship is not linear; as house prices increase, the unaffordability index increases faster: inequality in access to housing gets more intense in the more wealthy areas.

14 Figure 7: Housing Unaffordability

Area Mean Household Mean House Price Unaffordability Income 2015 2015 Ratio Aspatria £31,893 £165,307 5.18 Cockermouth £39,261 £204,585 5.21 Keswick £32,748 £288,047 8.80 Maryport £26,585 £98,872 3.72 Silloth £28,348 £130,882 4.62 Wigton £32,543 £166,411 5.11 Workington £28,626 £102,442 3.58

Source: Cumbria Observatory

This finer grain analysis of Child Poverty by place brings into the frame some pockets of Child Poverty which are not picked up by ward-level analysis, particularly in Silloth, Wigton, Aspatria and Cockermouth. They tend to be in older and social housing areas – the sorting effect of the housing market again.

It also shows that poverty is not equally distributed even in deprived areas with notable hotspots in the Ewanrigg and Ellenborough social housing estates in Maryport. Poverty is more evenly spread in the deprived parts of Workington but there is a notable hotspot in the Frostoms estate.

In 2015 median household income in Allerdale was lower than that for both Cumbria and England. There were 6,115 households (14.4%) in Allerdale with an annual income of less than £10,000.

The median household income varied from £17,000 in Moss Bay ward to £37,400 in Dalton ward. Moss Bay ward had the greatest proportion of households with annual incomes of less than £10k (24.2%) while Crummock ward had the smallest proportion (6.9%).

Figure 8: Household Income

Allerdale Cumbria National Mean Household Income £31,150 £31,792 £36,447 Median Household Income £24,624 £25,332 £28,696 Average House Price £147,853 £167,071 £250,473 Median House Price £120,278 £139,877 £175,143 Number of households with an annual 6,115 30,810 - median income of less than £10k % of households with an annual median 14.4% 13.8% 12.2% income of less than £10k Median Affordability Ratio 4.9 5.5 6.1

Source: CACI, Paycheck Data, 2015

15 The average gross weekly pay for full time workers living in Allerdale for 2015 is £435.60. This is still below both the regional average of £488.80 per week and national average of £529.00 per week. The difference between average gross weekly pay for full time male and female workers is marked in Allerdale, as it is regionally and nationally, being £484.30 and £380.10 respectively.

3.3 Labour market factors

From the Labour Market Briefing September 2016, produced by Cumbria Observatory, it is clear there is a patchwork picture of claimant counts in Allerdale's wards. Over the period August 2015 to August 2016 there was no change in the number of claimants in the following wards (numbers of claimants shown in brackets): Broughton St. Bridget's (15), Crummock (5), Silloth (20), Solway (10), St. Michael's (140), Warnell (5), and Wharrels (5). Of course the figures do not clarify if these are the same individual claimants, or whether these numbers stayed the same over the entire twelve months.

Other wards have seen a rise in the numbers of claimants over the same twelve month period including Dalton (rising up 5 to 10), Ellen (up 10 to 35), Flimby (up 15 to 35), and St. John's (up 10 to 75). 3.3.1 Employment and unemployment

In 2014 there were only 0.73 jobs available to every person in Allerdale. Historically, Allerdale has always exhibited a lower job density to the rest of the region and England. Allerdale saw an increase in job density in 2011, the first increase since 2006. The number of total jobs has risen from 36,000 in 2000 to 43,000 in 2014. There has been a greater rate of increase in part-time jobs than full-time jobs over this period.

The current proportion of residents who are managers and senior officials or in professional occupations accounts for almost two fifths of the population. It is also notable that Allerdale has a higher proportion of residents employed in low skilled occupations with administrative and secretarial; sales and customer service occupations; process plant and machine operatives; and elementary occupations reflecting a strong manufacturing base in Allerdale.

With the roll out of Universal Credit in Cumbria some claimants ‘not in employment’ are claiming Job Seekers Allowance and others are now claiming Universal Credit. Figure 9 shows a combined unemployment claimant count. In terms of the proportion of people who receive unemployment benefits, the rate for Allerdale (1.9%) is slightly higher than the national rate (1.8%) and that of Cumbria (1.6%). Between May 2015 and May 2016, Allerdale’s claimant count had fallen by -1.4% compared to a fall of -5.7% nationally.

However, there are pockets of higher levels of unemployment, in particular in the deprived, urban areas of Allerdale. The majority of wards have a claimant rate of less than 2%, but there are 7 wards with a claimant rate of more than 2%, the highest being Moss Bay (4.7%), Ewanrigg (4.6%), St. Michael’s (4.1%) and Moorclose (3.9%).

16 It is also clear from Figure 9 that although the overall claimant rate is similar to the Cumbria and national rates, youth unemployment rates in Allerdale are well above Cumbria and national levels.

Figure 9: Unemployment claimant count – Universal Credit or Job Seekers Allowance ‘not in employment’ (16-64 years)

Allerdale Cumbria UK Number of claimants 1,100 4,515 762,865 Claimant Rate (% of working age population) 1.9 1.5 1.9 Youth Number of Claimants (aged 18-24 years) 275 1,115 169,950 Youth Claimant Rate (% of population aged 18-24 4.0 3.0 2.9 years) Source: ONS, August 2016 3.3.2 Business counts and self-employed workers

Allerdale has an estimated total of 4,575 workplaces, of which nearly nine out of ten are micro businesses (with less than 10 employees) which is marginally higher than the average for Cumbria and the North West.

Among the 39 Local Enterprise Partnership areas (LEPs) in England, Cumbria has the third highest enterprise density of 719 active enterprises per 10,000 working age population,

In Allerdale there were 5,300 self-employed people during the period July 2015 to June 2016.

Figure 10: Number of enterprises by size

Allerdale Cumbria North West Number % Number % Number % Total enterprises 4,575 - 23,625 - 245,170 - Micro (0-9) 4,125 90.2 21,165 89.3 216,395 88.3 Small (10-49) 390 8.5 2,095 8.9 23,620 9.6 Medium (50 – 249) 50 1.1 305 1.3 4,175 1.7 Large (250+) 10 0.2 55 0.2 980 0.4 Allerdale Cumbria North West Source: ONS 2016 3.3.3 Working from home

The economies of Cumbria’s urban and rural communities exhibit a range of differences. One of these is the extent to which home working is a feature of rural areas. Across Cumbria 16,540 people work from home, this represents 5.3% of people of working age. Of these 13,020 (78.7%) are rural residents (Source: Census 2011).

17 3.3.4 Worklessness

Worklessness is a less familiar term than unemployment to describe those who are economically inactive. The economically inactive are people of working age who are not working, not in full-time education or training (NEET) and are not actively seeking work. Many are outside the labour market voluntarily, for example because of family responsibilities or early retirement. It can also include those who are out of work because of illness.

Whilst the rate of economically inactive people in the North West and Great Britain has remained fairly consistent since 2009, the Allerdale rate has fluctuated considerably over that period; however, the overall trend is downward and has reduced from 25.6% in 2009. In the period January 2015 - December 2015 there were 10,000 economically inactive people in Allerdale, equating to 17.1%, down from 21.4% in 2014. This percentage is from the total number of those aged 16-64 and remains lower than the regional and national (GB) rates of 24.7% and 22.2% respectively.

Of those who are economically inactive in Allerdale, there are a lower proportion of students than the regional or national averages, and around double the proportion of retirees, reflecting the age structure of the population.

Around a third of the working age population in Allerdale who are currently economically inactive are classed as ‘wanting a job’ despite not actively seeking work. This level is higher than regional or national averages and possibly suggests an element of ‘hidden’ unemployment. 3.3.5 NEET: Not in Employment, Education, or Training

Inspira collate the figures for young people NEET, which for Allerdale currently stands at 116. The table below is created from figures from NOMIS, supplied by Cumbria Observatory, for August 2016. These figures are rounded to the nearest 5 (i.e. a Ward with less than 5 claimants will still show 5 on this table). These figures are for people claiming benefits. Not all people who are unemployed or young people who are NEET are claimants.

Figure 11: Allerdale claimant count August 2016

Ward All Male Male Claimants All Female Female Claimants Claimants Aged 16-24 Claimants Aged 16-24 All Saints 25 5 10 0 Aspatria 20 10 20 0 Boltons 0 0 0 0 Broughton St Bridget’s 10 5 5 0 Christchurch 10 0 10 0 Clifton 10 0 10 0 Crummock 5 0 0 0

18 Dalton 5 0 5 0 Derwent Valley 0 0 0 0 Ellen 20 5 10 0 Ellenborough 40 15 20 5 Ewanrigg 50 10 35 10 Flimby 15 5 15 5 Harrington 20 5 10 0 Holme 10 5 0 0 Keswick 5 0 5 0 Marsh 0 0 5 0 Moorclose 75 20 45 10 Moss Bay 100 30 55 10 Netherhall 40 10 10 5 Seaton 25 5 20 0 Silloth 10 5 5 0 Solway 5 5 5 0 St. John’s 60 20 15 5 St. Michael’s 85 20 55 15 Stainburn 5 0 0 0 Wampool 5 0 0 0 Warnell 5 0 0 0 Waver 5 0 5 0 Wharrels 5 0 0 0 Wigton 25 10 15 0 TOTAL 695 190 385 65 Source: Office for National Statistics

Figure 12: Allerdale NEET count September 2016

Breakdown of Allerdale* NEET group September 2016 Academic Years 12 -14 Yr 12 Yr 13 Yr 14 Total NEET GROUP 4 34 65 103 Available to the labour market 3 27 48 78 Working not for Reward 0 0 0 0 Not yet ready for work or learning 0 0 0 0 Start date agreed (other) 0 0 1 1 Start date agreed (RPA Compliant) 0 0 0 0 Seeking employment, education or training 3 27 47 77 Not available to the Labour Market 1 7 17 25

19 Young Carers 0 0 1 1 Teenage Parents 1 1 5 7 Illness 0 5 7 12 Pregnancy 0 0 0 0 Religious grounds 0 0 0 0 Unlikely to be economically active 0 0 0 0 Other reason 0 1 4 5 Other (not EET or NEET) 0 0 1 1 Custody (young adult offender) 0 0 1 1 Refugees/Asylum seekers 0 0 0 0 * Note that these figures do not include Wigton Source: Inspira

An Audit Commission report produced in July 2010 called ‘Against The Odds’ which examined NEET characteristics and relevant factors. Contained in the report was a table which summarised the increased likelihood of young people becoming NEET for more than 6 months associated with certain risk factors.

Figure 13: Increased chances of being NEET

Factor Increase in chance of being NEET for six months or more Being NEET at least once before 7.9 times more likely Pregnancy or parenthood 2.8 times more likely Supervision by youth offending team 2.6 times more likely Fewer than three months post-16 2.3 times more likely education Disclosed substance abuse 2.1 times more likely Responsibilities as a carer 2.0 times more likely Source: Audit Commission 3.3.6 Young Carers

In August 2015, 955 young carers were known to Cumbria County Council. Of these, 145 live in Allerdale, and of these 104 are aged 10-16 years. Analysis carried out using CACI ACORN social profiling suggested that 68% of known carers in Cumbria live in postcodes classified as belonging to the two most deprived socio- economic categories; this is much higher than the correlation with Cumbria’s total population at 42%.

20 3.4 Qualifications and skills 3.4.1 Qualifications

Approximately 33% of the Allerdale population is educated to NVQ4 equivalent and above. NVQ4 equivalent includes HND qualifications, degrees and higher degrees (see equivalence table at Figure 3). Over half of the population has 2 or more A Levels or the equivalent. The percentage of the population with no qualifications is below that of the national level.

Figure 14: Levels of Qualification Allerdale, North West and Great Britain

Allerdale Allerdale (%) North West (%) Great (Level) Britain (%) 2015 2004 2015 2004 NVQ4 and Above 19,500 33.2 20.6 31.0 23.3 37.1 NVQ3 and Above 34,300 58.5 8.1 56.8 15.1 57.4 NVQ2 and Above 45,000 76.7 16.8 74.2 16.3 73.6 NVQ1 and Above 51,400 87.7 19.3 87.7 14.6 84.9 Other 3,600 6.1 9.7 5.4 5.8 6.5 No Qualifications 3,700 6.3 14.1 6.9 17.9 8.6 Source: ONS Annual Population Survey, 2015

Again there are variations across the district in terms of levels of qualification. The wards with higher levels of those with no qualifications are Moss Bay (Workington) and Ewanrigg (Maryport) which are above 30%. NVQ4+ by ward is almost the inverse: on this measure Moss Bay ward shows as the worst performing ward with just 7.4% of the population having this level of qualification.

The Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership Skills Investment Plan 2016-2020 estimates that 41% of the replacement demand jobs in Cumbria between 2016 and 2021 (c. 27,500 jobs) are expected to be at Level 4 or above. Currently the county only has 28% of its working age population qualified to this level yet Allerdale has a slightly greater percentage at 33.2%.

3.4.2 Skills shortages

A number of Allerdale employers report skills shortages. Cumbria LEP Skills Investment Plan 2016-2020 highlights a number of issues by sector including advanced manufacturing (including process skills, quality and safety management, procurement and supply chain skills); transportation (warehousing, distribution); agriculture (technical skills, new business processes) and engineering (gaps across the majority of roles).

Elsewhere in the accompanying Evidence Base report it is noted that starts in education and training fell in certain sectors over the period 2012-2013 and 2013- 2014: health, public services and care (-13.3%); agriculture, horticulture and animal care (-43.9%) and education and training (as an employment sector, -24.9%).

21 3.4.3 Skills investment

The Cumbria LEP Skills Investment Plan highlights a cross-county programme of targeted training activity to address the shortages alongside addressing more generic ‘enabling’ skills in leadership and management, project and programme management, customer service skills, and English/Maths/ICT for sustained employment. Again the report proposes this being delivered through targeted training activity.

3.5 Apprenticeships 3.5.1 Current local position

Apprenticeships are more common in Cumbria than elsewhere: 2013-2014 saw 11% of young people choose an apprenticeship as compared with 4% nationally.

2013-2014 also saw a 32% increase in apprenticeship starts in engineering and manufacturing technologies and a 25% increase in agriculture, horticulture and animal care. In comparison, construction apprenticeship starts saw a reduction of 15%.

Figure 15: Cumbria LEP Skills Investment Plan 2016-2020 Targets

Target Current position 2020 Target

Working age population qualified to 74% 76% Level 2 or above

19-year-olds qualified to Level 3 or 53% 57% above

Working age population qualified to 29% 32% Level 4 or above

20% increase in apprenticeships 5,500 starts p.a. 6,600 starts p.a.

Proportion of businesses in Cumbria Below national average 16% reporting skills gaps (currently 15%)

County-wide employment rate 76% 78%

The ‘Skills and Employment in Cumbria Evidence Base’, produced by York Consulting in February 2016 for Cumbria LEP highlights supporting smaller businesses to offer apprenticeships as a response to improving skills and qualifications for young people – also see Current Provision in Section 4.

3.5.2 Apprenticeship reform

Increased funding led to over two million people nationally beginning apprenticeships between 2010 and 2015. In its manifesto, the Conservative

22 government pledged to create three new million new apprenticeships by 2020. Alongside a drive to increase the numbers undertaking apprenticeships, a number of changes have been implemented with the aim of improving their quality. These include:  A new business tax known as the apprenticeship levy applied at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s paybill where it is in excess of £3m, with one allowance of £15,000;  A new, simpler and more rigorous system of standards and assessments, to be designed by employers known as Trailblazers;  A new law requiring that staff from colleges and apprenticeship providers visit schools to provide careers guidance;  A new duty in the Enterprise Bill which will require public sector organisations with more than 250 employees to include a minimum of 2.3% apprenticeships among new starts.

A levy offset of £15,000 for each tax year will be in place, meaning that employers in all sectors will pay the levy if they have a pay bill of more than £3 million each year. (0.5% x £3 million = £15,000, so any employer with a pay bill of less than £3 million would see their levy payment entirely offset by the £15,000 allowance).

The government aims to encourage small employers to take on younger apprentices by waiving the co-investment requirement for small employers that train 16-18-year- old apprentices.

The document proposes to make an additional payment of £1,000 to employers and a further £1,000 payment to training providers to help with the additional costs associated with supporting young apprentices (16-18-years-old) and those with additional learning needs. The government will also pay 100% of the apprenticeship training costs for small employers where the apprentice is a 19-24-year-old care leaver or with a Local Authority Education, Health and Care plan.

To help apprentices reach the minimum standard of Level 2 in English and Maths, the guidance proposes to pay training providers £471 for each of these qualifications (as is currently the case when an individual is working towards an apprenticeship standard.)

Where apprentices need ongoing learning support as a result of learning difficulties such as dyslexia, the document proposes to pay training providers up to £150 a month, plus additional costs based on evidence of need. Again, this is a continuation of the current system.

3.6 Transport and Travel to Work

The size and rurality of the district presents challenges in terms of access to jobs and services. Allerdale is not well served by public transport and there are significantly greater travel times to key services for all modes of transport compared to averages for the North West and England as a whole. In Allerdale, it takes on average 25.9 minutes via public transport to access key services, compared to the average of 15.8 minutes in the North West.

23 3.6.1 Travel to school

For young people, the amount of time involved in travelling to and from school can impact significantly on opportunities to be involved in social and extra-curricular activities.

In Allerdale 3,225 under 16s live more than 2.98 miles from a secondary school, and 745 live more than 5.96 miles away (Census 2011). Substantial numbers of young people are likely to be reliant upon school transport involving lengthy journeys to access education and will regulate their daily routine.

3.6.2 Travel to work

Average travel to work distance for Allerdale residents is 11.37 miles, compared with 8.69 miles in the North West and 9.32 miles nationally. In Allerdale 22% of workers travel more than 12.42 miles compared with 14% nationally. Compared to this, 13% of Allerdale residents work from home, compared to 10% in the rest of England and Wales.

For 41% of Allerdale’s residents the main method of travel to work is by car. The more deprived neighbourhoods have low levels of car ownership and are therefore more reliant on public transport. Figure 16 below shows some of the most deprived areas in the district and the proportion of households in these areas with no car or van. The average proportion of Allerdale households with no car or van is 20.8% while the national figure is 25.6%. Coupled with poor public transport connectivity, this can be a barrier for those looking for work. Figure 16: % of households with no car or van, deprived wards

% households IMD 2015 LSOA descriptor Ward with no cars or ranking vans in household

Ewanrigg estate Ewanrigg 804 34

Frostoms & Westfield North Moss Bay 890 41

High Salterbeck & Brierydale Moss Bay 2112 41

Low Salterbeck & Westfield South Moss Bay 2356 41

Northside, Marsh, and Town Green St Michael’s 2753 37.4

Senhouse & Finkle St. St Michael’s 3099 37.4

Source: Census 2011

24 4. Current provision

Local Authorities are required to track young peoples’ participation in education and training enabling those who are not in education, employment or training to be identified; in Allerdale this is Cumbria County Council. They record the current activity of 16 to 18 year olds on a local database which must meet the National Client Caseload Information System specification published by the Department each year. Data can be broken down by local authority, gender, age, disability, ethnic group and characteristics such as teenage parents. Individual level information is aggregated and published on the Departments website both as administrative data and official statistics. There are concerns locally that there is currently insufficient provision in Allerdale and West Cumbria generally to meet the needs of NEET young people following the closure of services such as Rathbone and NACRO. There is currently no Prince’s Trust ‘Team’ programme provision running in Allerdale. This is a 12-week personal development course for 16 to 25-year-olds, offering work experience, qualifications, practical skills, community projects and a residential week. The removal of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in England is also felt by some providers to have had a detrimental effect on young people from more deprived backgrounds accessing provision. The Allowance is still available to young people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The EMA has been replaced in England by a 16-19 Bursary Fund which is targeted to eligible young people meeting the vulnerability criteria or discretionary for those not meeting the criteria.

4.1 Providers working with NEET young people 4.1.1 Inspira

Earlier in 2016 Inspira won a £720,000 Skills Funding Agency (SFA), May 2016 - March 2018, contract to deliver support to NEET young people, in addressing the 710 16-18 year olds recorded as being NEET in Cumbria in 2014. The SFA contract documentation noted that there are NEET hotspots in Barrow and West Cumbria. The programme, called Launchpad will work with young people across Cumbria, and a proportion of those will be in Allerdale. The contract is payment-by-results and one of the criteria is the number of young people in sustained employment for 6 months plus. There is recognition that sustaining a young person who may not previously have been in employment for that period of time can be challenging and resource intensive, particularly given that the funding available to the contract holder is £400 per young person. Inspira also run the National Citizenship Scheme in Cumbria. The scheme takes place coinciding with school holidays. Groups of teenagers undertake a residential

25 visit to an activity centre for an Outward Bound-style course in the countryside involving physical and team-building activities. After this volunteers gain a taste of independent living and learning a variety of skills for their future. On the third week, planning is done for the community project. Participants also create a community- based project to raise awareness of a particular issue. Those completing the course receive a certificate at a graduation ceremony. If NCS is done in the October half term, the time spent on each activity is lessened to fit the entire programme in a week. This is not specifically aimed at NEET young people; it targets young people in Year 11 (age 16) about to leave school. 4.1.2 Groundwork North East and Cumbria

Groundwork North East and Cumbria recently won a Big Lottery/ESF contract worth £1,770,000 for Allerdale and Copeland. The Building Better Opportunities project will primarily be delivered in wards where there are persistent, high levels of unemployment and deprivation within Cumbria, particularly, but not exclusively, within the following Allerdale wards: Aspatria, Clifton, Ellenborough, Moorclose, Moss Bay, Netherhall, St Johns, and St Michaels. This project aims to support and work with individuals who are facing multiple and complex barriers to employment and who are furthest removed from the labour market. It will help them to move towards and into employment by supporting them to play a greater, more productive role in their communities, demonstrate increased skills and confidence and be much more likely to consider employment or volunteering as a viable prospect. 4.1.3 Cumbria Youth Alliance

Cumbria Youth Alliance (CYA) works with young people from 14 up to the age of 25 which covers those in schools who are at risk of NEET and those who are already on the unemployment register. Cumbria Youth Alliance works across the whole of Cumbria but for this report the focus is on the Allerdale only area. They provide three separate types of provision:

Schools work for those who are likely to be unemployed or fail to make a successful transition into further or higher education or training – they work with approximately 50 young people per annum in the Allerdale area alone. Cumbria Youth Alliance provide customised support packages using either sport or basic skills packages to help prepare them to make a successful transition into adulthood. The primary purpose is to ensure young people stay in school and don’t become excluded or self-exclude. Cumbria Youth Alliance use packages like Duke of Edinburgh for the most excluded or difficult young people as this engages them in learning outside of the classroom.

Cumbria Youth Alliance works with young people aged 16+ who are unemployed and support around 60 young people per year through two programmes Sporting Chance and First Steps to Employment both programmes focus on young people undertaking social action to gain work experience whilst working towards qualifications. CYA have a very high success rate with these programmes and

26 currently have been turning people away as they did not have the capacity to deal with all the referrals made from other organisations.

4.1.4 Young Cumbria

Young Cumbria’s Foundations project supports up to 400 vulnerable and at risk young people in Allerdale and Copeland. The project aims to deal with hopelessness about the future and the difficulties that young people who are at risk of offending or who have an offending history can have in engaging in learning, training and/or employment. The project aims to support these young people to give them confidence, opportunities and life skills. Project activities include: drop-ins, outreach and detached youth work in partner agencies and communities; a 1:1 relationship with a Project Worker and personalised package of support to overcome barriers which may impact on their personal, social, educational and economic progression; opportunities with employers and training providers appropriate to the young person; a 15 week programme to help young people develop protective factors including building resilience and enabling young people to recognise their skills and qualities There are three elements to the project:

Reaching Out - This element is designed to raise awareness of the project, the benefits and the support that can be offered to young people.

Personal support – One-to-one support for the young person with a Project Worker at a venue where the young person is comfortable. Initial sessions will be focused on discussion of the key issues for the young person and helping them sort out any critical practical issues such as housing, clothing, benefits.

Training - This element will run over 15 weeks with a focus on the development of employability skills and building peer support. The training has a core focus on the eight areas of need which the TransForm monitoring and progress tool covers. These are: Motivation and Taking Personal Responsibility, Use of Time, Personal Safety, Mental Health and Emotional Well Being, Physical Health, Social Networks and Relationships, Substance Use and Offending/ Street Based Activity. The training will also involve volunteering, work placements and mentoring with employers.

4.2 Apprentice training 4.2.1 Allerdale Apprenticeship Initiative Scheme

The Allerdale Apprenticeship Initiative Scheme is resourced by financial contributions provided by Allerdale Borough Council. From 2013 to December 2015, the scheme had provided 50 apprenticeships covering a range of sectors including civic engineering, retail, business administration, customer service, motor vehicle and engineering. The scheme targeted Allerdale residents with a particular emphasis on NEET young people and attracted employers across the borough.

The employer receives the full grant for salaries. Any additionality or added value activities are funded by Lakes College.

27 4.2.2 Gen 2

Gen2 was established in 2000 as a joint venture company by 5 partner companies, Amec Foster Wheeler (formally AMEC), Sellafield Ltd (formally BNFL), TATA Steel (formally CORUS), Iggesund Paperboard and Innovia Films (formally UCB Films) to provide a shared engineering and technology training capability for the region. The company has the role of providing, through collaboration, high quality education and training to meet the skills requirements in the engineering, manufacturing and energy environment. In 2015, there were 1,250 apprentices and other students being trained.

Now, Gen2 offer study programmes for school leavers, traineeships and apprenticeships, through to advanced learning and learning solutions for supplementary business courses that have been formulated to meet the needs of local businesses within West Cumbria. The facility has received accreditations from Ofsted, RoSPA and the National Skills Academy.

They currently have over 900 Apprentices, 100 Adult learners, 250 Higher Education learners at five training centres around Cumbria: ENERGUS, Lillyhall, Sellafield, Carlisle and Furness and plans to expand to a new training centre in Workington in 2016. As the new centre will allow GEN2 to accommodate an additional 500 learners, the expansion will allow the centre to increase access to job opportunities through apprenticeships, traineeships and ground-breaking higher education programmes.

Their apprenticeships and higher-education programmes cover a range of technology-related disciplines including: Professional Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Control and Instrumentation), Nuclear Related Technologies, Manufacturing, Health and Safety, ICT, Renewables, Business Support Skills and Leadership and Management.

Gen2 has been described as an ‘engineering company that delivers training, rather than the reverse’. This was reflected in the age structure of the staff, with 55% of Gen2 workforce fell within the 50-59 cohort and were therefore more characteristic of former specialists, as opposed to educational professionals.

4.2.3 Lakes College

The Lakes College provides study programmes for around 2,600 16-19 year old students, including 850 apprentices.

The College delivers Apprenticeship programmes at level 2, 3 and 4, with progression to a wide range of higher education. The experience, breadth and mix of provision allow integration between academic and technical delivery in areas such as engineering, construction, business and specific nuclear programmes such as science and fundamentals. A recent employer survey rated the college as excellent in delivering up to date industry standard training.

The College has delivered Apprenticeships for over 20 years and by working closely with employers we have developed programmes which meet demand and reduce

28 skills gaps. This has resulted in the design and development of Employer Apprenticeship Academies in Civil Engineering, STEM and business.

A key element of the Lakes College operation is their interaction with employers across the area. The College prides itself on strong links with local employers – it currently holds some 600 live employer contracts within the area, ranging from local automotive and vehicle repair workshops, through to the dominant employers within the area (including Sellafield).

4.3 Additional support 4.3.1 West Cumbria Trades Hall

West Cumbria Trades Hall is well established in Workington and provides support for people seeking work, particularly offering ‘skills for life’ training for those with limited skills and qualifications, often in English, Maths and ICT. 4.3.2 TCV

Clip2YourFuture is a programme run by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) in Cumbria, with a base in Workington. Particularly aimed at those aged 16-24, it primarily offers volunteers placements. 4.3.3 Allerdale and Copeland Youth Council

The Youth Council has recently been addressing young people’s opportunities and potential work opportunities through a newly developed website designed by young people for young people. At the time of writing, the website is still in development.

4.4 Alternative approach

The following was written as Allerdale Borough Council’s proposed approach to a closer working relationship with West Cumbria Works. While not formally adopted, it summarises some recent thinking about what is required and what might be done. It sets out the current situation and highlights the potential for an alternative approach to specifically address getting local people into jobs in the local supply chain to Sellafield, however the principles it contains could be applied to other situations where support is given to those seeking work. Again, this was not created to address young peoples’ issues, though the principles are being and can be applied more widely. The local situation and current responses Residents: We know there are many people seeking work who do not currently have formal qualifications yet they have valuable skills and abilities. Current short-term interventions have a place in the development of a person and their human capital. However, there is additional demand for continual personal

29 coaching, guidance and a holistic approach to personal development along with a personalised progress plan.

Figure 17: Ladder to employment success This ‘ladder’ proposal represents the stages involved from initially seeking work to successfully gaining employment :

Employment £25k-  Work Outcome West Cumbria Star Works

Mentoring Ready for Work

Life Skills and Resilience

Constant Confidence and Self-esteem Basic Skills

1-2-1 Coaching Strengths based assessment Initial Contact

No Long-term employment Single Parents Vulnerable Unemployed history

All the above under-represented groups require long-term interventions and continual coaching.

We believe continual mentoring is required for this journey so that the person does not fall off the ‘ladder’: should they lose employment or not be successful in the search for employment, then constant support and mentoring should be available. Getting people ready for work – Training: Through courses that are available from the voluntary and community sector, ‘ready for work’ coaching can be delivered by community based coaches at a pace that is more suitable for the individual, particularly the vulnerable. Under-employed people and those in low paid jobs also feature on this ladder and will require fewer interventions to be successfully delivered along the economic ladder and up to West Cumbria Works. It is already apparent that many people are in adult and further education to gain qualifications in STEM (an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics which originated in America) subjects; if they go on to new employment this will create ‘holes’ for employers across West Cumbria.

30 Further work around current provision is needed to ensure people are receiving a consistent, quality service. Employers: There are a high number of people with multiple issues which act as barriers to employment. If the employers actively participate in deprived communities we believe it will develop an understanding of the complex issues that people face. The strengths based approach The ‘strengths’ based approach to employment is currently being championed locally as well as nationally, and has been successfully used by local mental health charities. This approach works with the individual based on their particular circumstances, abilities and needs to maximise their potential in seeking work. The current Ewanrigg project has been successfully engaging with people over the last twelve months and through the strength based assessments is now at the point of inspiration for creating CVs. This is a reflection of the amount of commitment and time needed to gain the confidence of those seeking work while at the same time building their confidence to believe they have skills to offer a potential employer. Note – this project has not specifically targeted young people. The proposed Allerdale Approach We want to propose an approach which supports people on the ladder in this way: Figure 18: Proposed Allerdale approach

Position on ‘ladder’ What support is given Who gives that support

Allerdale Borough Council Initial contact – person Time and encouragement plus a number of voluntary is not in work; may to engage with a support organisations; potential for have no qualifications; organisation; a named employers to offer support may be feeling nervous individual support person through social responsibility about asking for help commitments

Ongoing support through 1-2-1 coaching – an individual relationship – The partnership of person receives regular note: this relationship organisations participating in (weekly) contact from should be capable of this programme support worker continuing even after securing a job

Basic skills – The numbers of people The number of organisations recognition that a lot of actually requiring this working with people at a pre- people have needs support potentially outstrips qualification level is very with Maths and the resources available as limited; support from partner English, either to gain people need long term organisations may be part of first qualifications or individual support to the solution improve their grades progress

Confidence and self- Individual or group support Employers - working as esteem – this is a e.g. supported visits to partners or willing to offer an major issue for many college, practice opportunity to people people seeking work; presentation techniques seeking work at this stage people through group sessions,

31 need support to feel mock interviews etc. they could function in work

Life skills and resilience – including Meaningful work Employers need to engage introduction to the experience opportunities to with the ‘strengths based’ ‘strengths based help the person identify approach to recruitment and assessment’ which their work strengths and work with the community looks to match a reinforce their self-belief groups delivering the person’s natural that working/employment is strengths based assessment abilities and aptitudes now a real possibility to people seeking work to work opportunities

Responding to the Ready for work – individual’s needs with the support and coaching The support organisations support worker being still needed to help the and workers in conjunction available or checking-in as person in their first with the new employer needed; arranging a buddy weeks at work system or in-work mentor

Occasional phone call or a brief meeting when Again, the network of Employment – ongoing required; support offered partners will provide the support even after even when a short term job support; the person needing starting in work to to ensure support is there if support may be referred to coach through the first a person comes out of work another organisation within few weeks and essentially moves back the network down the ‘ladder’

Next steps The need to support people into work locally remains high on this Council’s agenda and the preferred approach would be working in partnership with local providers, supporting and mentoring people based on their individual strengths and aptitudes.

32 5 Summary

In terms of youth unemployment issues, Allerdale is not dissimilar to much of Cumbria and the north west. While there are a number of more complex factors, such as the incidence of measures of multiple deprivation affecting specific and geographically relatively small areas in the borough, the overall picture is one of potential and possibilities.

If the number of young people not in education, employment or training remains around current levels, there ought to be a place available on one of those support schemes available to those young people.

Figure 19: Summary of available schemes

Organisation Project / scheme / Numbers to be intervention worked with Inspira Launchpad Local proportion of 710 Groundwork North East and Building Better 429 – all ages, West Cumbria Opportunities Cumbria Schools programme 50 Cumbria Youth Alliance Sporting Chance 60 First Steps 400 – young people, Young Cumbria Foundations Allerdale / Copeland

33 6 Recommendations

The recommendations of the Scrutiny Sub-Committee: Enquiry into Youth Unemployment in Allerdale are as follows:

1. This report should be shared more widely, particularly with the Allerdale Local Committee of Cumbria County Council; 2. The Council should work with partners and in particular liaise with businesses to encourage the reintroduction of training provision, especially vocational training for those with no or lower level qualifications; 3. The Council should work closely with delivery partners receiving funding (for example European Social Fund) to target those furthest from the employment market and monitor their performance and encourage opportunities for those seeking work to attend ‘work fairs’, with the particular level of available work clearly promoted; 4. The Council’s Community Scrutiny Committee should further examine issues affecting young people including education provision, and opportunities within a range of industries, particularly manufacturing, tourism and self- employment.

34