Agenda item

Skills and Employment Update

Minutes:

The Panel received a report from the Head of Skills to update it on the skills and employment agenda in particular the Wolverhampton skills and employment action plan, the retention of high level skills, the Area review for Further Education skills and engaging businesses to take up training and skills opportunities.

 

The Action Plan had been developed outlining the following programmes:

 

·         Programme 1, the City Work Place:  aims to improve the support given to businesses to help them recruit, grow and retain skilled local people, resulting in more jobs and more successful enterprise.

 

·         Programme 2, the City Work Box: aims to create a virtual system that makes it easier for local people to obtain information, advice and guidance, resulting in more local people accessing local employment and progressing in the workplace.

 

·         Programme 3, the Learning City: initially aims to create a dynamic learning environment across the city centre, with strong connections into local communities.  This is the first step in putting learning at the heart of our city’s overall development.

 

Officers stated that they were also aware that residents were getting jobs but were not then able to keep them.

 

Care also had to be taken to not rush people into work and the Council was therefore working with the DWP to attempt a cultural shift to provide more support early on to get residents work ready first which might then enable them to stay in work for longer.

 

Some members considered that there were many jobs available in the transport industry but that it was hard to recruit people into these roles (bus drivers and HGV drivers) with very little focus on the skills required to do these jobs. Officers agreed that they would investigate this through the Council’s interaction with employers and it was thought that it might be just one of the areas where additional work was required and where there might a need for additional focus at college and university level. It was stated that work was also being done with HGV and Rail track and officers agreed to bring information regarding this to a future meeting of the Panel.

 

The Panel queried how the Council was addressing developments on the City boundaries such as on the border with Staffordshire County Council where there were thought to be around 2000 jobs in goods distribution and other sites in Telford, Shrewsbury and Walsall. Officers confirmed that the Council worked closely with other Councils and that this was especially true regarding those involved in the Combined Authority.

 

The Panel expressed some concern in relation to unpaid work placements as they were not always productive or fair. Officers stated that the workplace model was curtailed and limited to 2 to 8 weeks but was not a guarantee of a future job but an opportunity to gain skills and references. The Panel stated that it was important to ensure that workers were not exploited and used to fill gaps in the workforce with no chance of a permanent job or any opportunities to develop and grow. Officers stated that the Council would be employing 5 employer work coaches and 25 employee work coaches who would be managing the processes and brokering discussion if events were not going to plan. The Panel also requested that working conditions be taken into consideration. The Service Director stated that she was aware of the many challenges but that if the Council could get the process right it would represent a big change for the City and might allow officers to push the case for more funding for longer term initiatives.

 

Resolved:

 

That the Scrutiny Panel note progress in delivering Wolverhampton’s Skills and Employment Action Plan.

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