Agenda item

To consider the progress by the Council, and its partners, to develop and deliver a Skills and Employment Action Plan for the City to take forward the recommendations emanating from the work of the Skills and Employment Commission, led by Professor Tony Travers.

Keren Jones, Service Director City Economy and Cllr John Reynolds, Cabinet Members City Economy, provided a report to share the progress by the Council and its Partners to develop and deliver a Skills and Employment Action Plan for the City to take forward the recommendations emanating from the work of the Skills and Employment Commission, led by Professor Tony Travers.

She outlined the main points arising from the Final Commission report (Appendix 1 to the report).  She indicated that the actions arising from the work would be at three levels, local, sub-regional and national. She advised that the wider priorities for action were:

·         Influencing the Wider West Midlands agenda for Skills and Employment

·         Securing additional funding from Black Country European Union Structural Investment Funds

She circulated a paper which detailed the ‘Job Box’ – The Integrated Model Key processes at City level. She highlighted that the City Board was keen to develop a flagship project for action that delivers against the priority interventions focused on the following five key themes:

1.    Holistic careers advice

2.    A city skills system

3.    Ready for work

4.    Moving up

5.    Cross sector collaboration

She explained that the Job Box was one of the programmes to deliver against the recommendations. She informed the Panel that initially it would be a virtual one stop shop for information and support on job vacancies, training and employment, but that development would be through a number of phases. The aim of the Job Box was to provide residents with links to the support they need through a single portal.

She advised that the four programmes would be as follows:

·         City Job Box – Three phases to enable development of virtual model and internally aligning services and external marketing.  Engagement with partners with the Councils integrated model and e-communication channels and last phase a one stop shop as part of the City Regeneration programme and linked in to the development of the Combined Authority and the proposed devolution of budgets.

·         Skills for Growth – Addressing supply and demand for skills in the City.

·         Centre One City One Campus – Specialist provision bringing together skills in the City alongside further education.

·         On-going influence of the wider West Midlands

The Service Director informed the Panel that anyone who needs to improve their skills can use the Job Box,  and it would cater for those that needed significant support to those where minimal support was sufficient to help them make the right choices.

She advised that the ‘one’ City Skills and Employment Team will have one representative from all main partner organisations and that the combined partner performance management, research and intelligence will feed the ‘Job Box’. The Job Box would inform the individual what is available:

·         Marketing, communication and engagement

·         Individual approach

·         Informed choices

·         Right route for progression

·         Right support

The Service Director responded to Cllr Martin Waite, who referred to the number of companies that approach schools and colleges to recruit young people to develop specific skills. She advised that the business community would be active stakeholders in eth delivery of the Job Box.

She advised that the University, the College and Adult Education Services are already on board with the Job Box to help individuals find the right route. She highlighted the critical role schools have to provide informed choices, and that some key schools were already involved and will be champions, to promote and grow informed choices to other schools. The Panel noted the importance of getting devolution of the skills budget to the Combined Authority right.

Cllr Jacqueline Sweetman, Chair, referred to the need for some individuals to develop soft skills and asked what the Job Box would do in such cases. The Service Director advised that the last two stages ‘Right route for progression’ and ‘Right Support’ would be key to this. She advised that the Job Box would develop opportunities for partners to add value to mainstream provision e.g. a mentoring programme being developed by the Economic Growth Board.

The Cabinet Member added that the Way Youth Zone has much planned aimed at soft skill development.

In response to a question relating to the co-ordinating agent and monitoring, the Service Director advised that the City of Wolverhampton Council would provide a leadership sole and that an online performance management tool is being developed.

The Chair on behalf of the Panel congratulated all that had worked on the Employment and Skills Commission report; she said that it was a tremendous and long awaited piece of work.  The Service Director highlighted that the initial work to inform the Commission had been carried out by Scrutiny Review of Employability and Skills 2014-15.

Cllr Daniel Warren indicated that at the time of writing the report the Combined Authority was merely a bright idea and now there is so much more to work with. He urged employees to ensure that there is buy-in form all parties at each stage of the programme.  The Service Manager confirmed that the team had been tasked to gain buy in at each stage of the programme and that there would be more to report about early actions in the spring 2016.

Resolved:

1.    That the Scrutiny Panel endorse the framework and priorities for the Wolverhampton Skills and Employment Action Plan, that form a key strategy for managing the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Corporate risk of ‘Skills for Work’.

2.    That an update report is provided to Stronger City Economy Scrutiny Panel in March 2016.

3.    That a note of thanks be recorded for all involved in the ‘Wolverhampton Skills and Employment Commission Final Report’.