Gillian Wallace, Head of Employment and Skills provided the panel with an update on activities related to Post 16 employment and skills in Kirklees, and an overview of programmes being delivered directly by the Council.
In summary, the panel was informed that employment skills is a broad area and is growing in scope and importance. The aim of the update today is to give a top line overview of the approach, the reasons, partners and the projects and programmes being undertaken. The focus of the information is based on adult provision and less information on provision taking place with school aged children.
The Panel was provided with the following information:
· Unemployment claimant rate remained steady at 4.3% (August 2023)
· Kirklees employment rate is the lowest in the region at 73%
· Economic inactivity rate, which is where people are actively removing themselves from the labour market, is the highest at 27%
The Employment Skills Team, works to address some of the challenges, however this is only part of the solution. The employment and skills infrastructure is complex and is a mix of national, regional, and local provisions that the Council can only deliver a part of. A key part of the role is influencing the delivery that is taking place nationally and regionally and bringing partners together to address this, through the Employment Skills Partnership.
The panel was informed that the Local Skills Improvement Plan is now published, and focus is on a Local Skills Improvement Fund which has the potential to make a real difference to some of the skills provisions on offer in Kirklees.
The Panel was directed to key statistics in the presentation, which outlined a number of graphs, showing that the unemployment claimant rate has remained steady at 4.3%, however, the estimated claimant rate amongst young people (18 – 24) in Kirklees was 6.2% and increasing. Intervention is required as unemployed adults can often remain unemployed for their life cycle; therefore a great deal of attention is required to address this. Comparing Kirklees to the regional and national averages, it is evident that Kirklees has the lowest employment rate and the highest inactivity rate. There is also evidence to show that the economic inactivity rate does vary across selected disadvantaged groups such as disabled people, people with low skills and ethnic minority groups. This needs to be the area of focus in order to influence the figures.
The panel was informed that there has been year on year growth in job postings across all sectors, for all five local authorities in West Yorkshire. In order to address productivity issues, there needs to be a focus on people that are not in the labour market, and match them to available vacancies.
Low skills can often be a barrier to people entering the labour market, however it is recognised that not having a proportion of people with higher skills can also be a barrier to productivity. It is generally accepted that a Level 2 qualification is required to enter the labour market and statistics show that 26% of the population in Kirklees are qualified up to this level, with only 34% up to level 4. On a positive note, young people in Kirklees are achieving qualifications at Level 2 and 3, enabling them to enter into the labour market with the qualifications that they need in order to access well paid jobs.
Young people that can access free school meals are only achieving 64% of the qualifications that are required to enter the labour market, compared to 85% of young people not on free school meals. The Council’s responsibility is to address some of these challenges, in conjunction with a number of externally funded skills and employability programmes.
The adult and community learning provision, which is a fair steps provision working with adults that have no or low level qualifications, has seen a record number of learners accessing the provision and also leaving with some qualifications.
The European Social Fund Works Better suite of programmes that supported those out of work, is coming to an end, and is in its final 6 months of delivery, however it is important that people continue to be supported, both in terms of being able to access work or further skills development. Employment Kirklees, directly supports people that are employed, who still access benefits because the work is low paid, to develop their skills and improve their quality of life.
Apprenticeships are unique in the way they allow people of all ages to develop qualifications while in work. Over the years, Kirklees has put emphasis on developing apprenticeships and will continue to do so going forward. Support is given to employers to help them fund the apprenticeship and training in addition to accessing the talent pool in the district.
To date:
· £91k of Kirklees Council apprenticeship levy has been committed for transferring to Kirklees Small and Medium Enterprises, which will cover the training costs associated with apprenticeships.
· Facilitated the transfer of a further £236k of levy from large employers, supporting 28 apprenticeships.
The Panel was informed that the Local Supported Employment initiative is a new program which actively supports people with Learning Disabilities (LD) and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) into paid and sustainable employment. It is a pilot programme that is part funded by the Department for Work and Pension (DWP), working with both employers and individuals. While it is still early days with the programme, there are some early successes and interest from employers wanting to know how they can support this cohort.
Gillian Wallace advised that it was recognised that with the employment and skills journey, there needed to be a partnership in place that could come together pooling resources. In response to this, an Employment and Skills Partnership (ESP) that would work together to influence regional and national programmes was established. The ESP works closely with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) on Skills connect and Skills Bootcamp programmes to bridge the gap between level 2 and level 4 skills.
The Local Skills Improvement Plan is a document that has been produced by the Chambers of Commerce and funded by Department for Education (DFE), which will help employers articulate their skills needs. The plan for Kirklees, is part of a wider West Yorkshire plan that was published in September 2023. Information from the plan has been used to access the Local Skills Improvement Fund bid. The outcome of the bid will be known by the end of October 2023.
In response to the information presented, the Panel made comment and asked questions including some of the following:
- Can you give an explanation on what the different levels mean for example Level 1 and Level 2?
- How are you breaking down and measuring the BAME community getting into jobs and what positive steps are being taken to ensure that those communities are getting into employment?
- Is it possible to set targets that specifies at least 20% of the workforce must be from specific communities?
- With regards to young people with SEND, what measures are being put in place to support them to move through into further education and employment?
- Are there any specialised skills programmes, for example AI or digital, being promoted in local colleges or universities?
- What opportunities are there available for young people (19+) who have not achieved the necessary levels to get them into employment?
- Due to COVID and the disruption in education, is there likely to be more young people needing extra support at further education level, to get onto the employment ladder with adequate skills?
- Can you provide clarity on how employers can support employees to navigate the benefit system, for example Universal Credit?
RESOLVED:
That Gillian Wallace be thanked for giving an overview of post 16 skills, training and apprenticeships.