21st September 2017
DP World
No.1 London Gateway
Standford-Le-Hope
Minutes
Attending:
Adam Jones, Teledyne E2V (AJ)
Adele Carnera, International Financial Data Services (ACar)
Alan Cadman, Cadman Construction Ltd (VICE CHAIR) (ACad)
Alison Andreas, Federation of Essex Colleges (AA)
Alison Calnan, Ford Motor Company (VICE CHAIR) (AC) acting as Chair
Angela O'Donoghue, South Essex College (AoD)
Cllr Gagan Mohindra ECC Member CC (Cllr GM)
David Bell, Federation of Small Businesses (VICE CHAIR) (DB)
David Burch, Essex Chamber of Commerce (DBur)
Dominic Collins, Director Economic Growth & Localities, ECC (DC)
Liz Austin, Stansted Airport (LA)
Lindsey Hayward, Konica Minolta (LH)
Paul Coffey, Coast Digital (PC)
Peter Cook, Essex County Council (PCo)
Trevor Hutchinson, DP World, London Gateway (TH)
Simon Thompson, Association of Secondary Headteachers Essex (ASHE) (ST)
Caroline Betts, ESB Secretariat (CB)
Elizabeth Gray, ESB Secretariat (EG)
Tristan Smith, ESB Secretariat (TS)
Apologies:
Andrew Ames, Creative and Cultural Skills UK
Anthony Cotterill, University of Essex
Brin Martin, Southend BC
Daniel Wylie, Aldanat Care
Dr Sunil Gupta, NHS Castle Point and Rochford CCG
Louise Aitken, South East LEP
John Niland, Provide
Marion Whitty, Countryside Properties PLC
Nigel Hookway, Essex Primary Headteachers’ Association
Paul Hayman, Headteacher Westcliff High School for Girls & South Essex Teaching School Alliance
Simon Harper, Port of Tilbury
Tim Rignall, Thurrock Council
Agenda Item / Notes / Action/ AttachmentArrival, welcome and introductions
Welcome and introductions – We welcomed new and returning members of the board.
AC chaired the meeting
Update on ESB
Written Statement from Suzanne Jude, Chair
AC read out a statement from Suzanne. In the statement, Suzanne confirmed she has resigned from Raytheon and therefore has had to resign from her position as Chair of the ESB with immediate effect.
AC stated that Suzanne was a great leader for the ESB and on behalf of the Board thanked Suzanne for her significant contribution and dedication to the board, fabulous leadership. AC wishes Suzanne every success in her new role. / Action – CB to write A formal thank you letter to be sent to Suzanne & flowers
CB – letter to Raytheon thanking them for releasing Suzanne and seeing if they wish to remain part of the board
Update on the Board
Following Suzanne’s statement, this section was to discuss the role of the Chair and how the position will be filled.
Two documents were circulated to Board Members; 1) the Recruitment and Selection of a New Chairperson; 2) The Roles and Responsibilities of the Chair
Initial comments on Roles and Responsibilities
No initial comments were made – members were invited to send through comments on anything missing from the roles and responsibilities to CB on
Process for Appointing a Chair
Process Flow Chart – AC read through the process proposed to appoint a new Chair.
As Vice Chairs, AC and DB have opted out of the selection process confirming that they are not in a position to be Chair. DB told Board Members that he will be relocating abroad in January and will be standing down from the Board in December.
Cllr GM – suggested that a secret vote is held should there be multiple declarations, this was agreed by all members.
PCo – proposed that that the new chair needs to be an employer to ensure the Board remains employer led – everyone agreed and an action proposed.
In a post meeting note it was also confirmed that should a secret ballot be required, only members will be given a vote (not observers)
Timetable
CB confirmed the timetable was for an internal appointment. The timetable and process were agreed by all board members
External Recruitment
CB confirmed that should external recruitment be required to fill the Chair position, a budget of approx. £10,000 would be required. Members confirmed they were happy for this budget to be allocated.
AC encouraged members who were interested in becoming Chair to have a conversation with herself, DB or the Secretariat to discuss the role. AC wants to fill the position as soon as possible but with the right person
AC and DB in their capacity as Vice Chair will cover the Chair position in the meantime.
TH – asked whether Raytheon would continue as a Board Member, AC confirmed a letter will be written to Raytheon to thank them for their support to the Board and also ask if they would like to continue to be members. / Action – CB to update the -Job Description – needs to be updated to reflect that the chair must be a private employer
Action – CB to amend the documents to reflect that the role is across Greater Essex
Action – CB to amend to state a term is a minimum of 12 months and change reappointment for additional terms, to reflect multiple terms
Action – CB - the Vote needs to be confidential
REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
Minutes from the June 2017 meeting were agreed.
ACTIONS FROM LAST MEETING
Ixion Higher Level Skills Contract – Higher Level Skills Contract
- ACTION - Meeting with Ixion to be re-arranged. ESB Secretariat to update the Board at September meeting
CB updated – contracts meeting with ESFA and Ixion was postponed as Ixion did not have a Service Manager in post. A meeting is planned for the 6th October as someone was appointed in August. CB confirmed that their contract is currently underperforming
AoD – all provision is now unaccredited which is an amendment to the Ixion contract. CB – updated that Ixion had submitted a business case to the ESFA stating that employers had told them that the provision they required was unaccredited. The ESFA agreed with the business case and made the change to the contract.
Cllr GM and PCo – suggested writing to the Skills Minister alerting them to the Seetec and Ixion ESF contracts. CB confirmed the ESB has sent one letter already. It was proposed a letter is written to Robert Halfon MP in his capacity as Chair of the Education Select Committee and Essex MP as well as another letter to the Skills Minister. DC suggested research is completed to identify if Seetec and Ixion hold other ESF contracts and what their performance is like in other LEPs to create a stronger message to the Skills Minister. ST suggested the letter is copied to all Essex MPs, this was agreed.
CB – gave summary of the 3 contracts
SEETEC – still behind on targets and have an action plan in place to drive up performance.
STUK – numeracy and literacy in the workplace – 16 partners – target of 45% to be delivered in Essex, they are 5% up – 307 starts. Literacy and ESOL – 55% delivered, against 45% so also ahead of their contract.
Meetings with all contractors and the ESFA on 6th and 19th October, SELEP is also attending / Action – CB Draft letter to Robert Halfon in his capacity as chair of the Education Select Committee and Essex MP and another letter to the Skills Minister. – Copy this letter into all Essex MPs.
Action – CB
find out where Ixion and Seetec are delivering other ESF contracts.
Seek support from other parts of the LEP
Case Study
- ACTION ESB Secretariat to follow up with ACar with regards to a case study from the Jobs Fair. Action completed - it is not possible to do a case study.
Year of the Adult
- ACTION ESB Secretariat to explore ECC’s ‘You Make the Difference’ awards (deadline for nominations - end June 17) - Action completed
ESB Website
- ACTION Secretariat to review content of website (by w/c 10 July 17) - Action completed
- ACTION ESB Chairs to discuss effectiveness of Sector Action Groups – on the agenda later
Construction
ACTION – AA to forward information on Building Heroes – TS to follow up with AA
ACTION – ESB Secretariat to add details of Building Heroes to the ESB website (by w/c 10 July 17)
ACTION – Sector Action Group to review:
- how to engage more employers
- how Section 106 could be made more effective
- Golden Hello/ Handcuffs
- ways to encourage construction leavers into teaching
These will be covered in the Construction sector update later in the agenda
Social Care
- ACTION – AoD to supply information on distance learning course to NF – Action completed
Engineering Sector
- ACTION: AC to discuss future direction of Sector Action Group with TC – Action completed
PLANS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH FEDEC (Suzanne Jude, Alison Andreas)
- ACTION - AA to send through invitation – At the time, Suzanne declined the invite, AA confirmed the new Chair can attend future meetings.
ESSEX ECONOMIC COMMISSION UPDATE (Suzanne Jude)
- ACTION – ESB to write to the new Minister of State at DfE – Action completed
SELEP SKILLS STRATEGY UPDATE (Suzanne Jude)
- ACTION – ESB Secretariat to circulate summary of ESF contracts already awarded
- ACTION – Letter to Minister of State to include reference to SEETEC
- ACTION – Board Members to supply ESB Secretariat with any questions they wish to put to current ESF providers
- ACTION – ESB Secretariat Sector Leads to liaise with Sector Action Groups to develop priorities for remaining unallocated ESF funding by 31 July 17
All actions completed
FUTURE EVENTS
- ACTION – ESB Secretariat to ensure event details are included on the ESB website - complete
There was a short discussion on making events more attractive to participants - there needs to be another reason for people to come to an event, if people can get information whilst at their desk. There is a need to consider using Webinars
AOB
- ACTION – ESB Secretariat to review budget options for the new versions of the Careers Booklet by 30th June 17
- covering this later on the agenda
Presentation: Education and Industry STEM Programme – Jim Wilkinson
Presentation Attached
July tends to be the busiest time for events, during 1 week there were 7 events which collectively impacted on over 1,000 students. Each event had new employers engaged with the programme and included local SMEs as well as larger employers.
Surveys from the events said that 80% of students for Logistics and 75% for Financial & Related Services had a greater understanding of the sectors. Surveys capture, gender, age and a summary statement of the day.
What was learnt about the events? It is crucial to get the correct year groups to each event and ensure all employers are fully briefed as to what is needed from their session.
A deliberate decision has been taken to work closer with the colleges and Universities and have agreed dates with each facility for the different year groups. This enables the delivery of large scale sector events for around 120 students:
· Years 7-9 is Inspiration Events – Getting them excited about the sector, building their interest in local career opportunities.
· Year 10-3 – these are recruitment focused, each event will finish with a recruitment fair where employers can talk directly with the young people and encourage employers to start to develop their pipeline of talent.
An Expression of Interest (EoI) has gone out to employers and contacts to ask what support they can offer for programme, together with a calendar of dates. The EoI is designed to coordinate effort across Essex to prevent constant knocking on employers’ doors. JW confirmed that more is needed to target SMEs because there is over reliance on the same employers.
The engagement target for Years 10-12 is 1600 students will attend over the academic year, of which 25% who attend will move onto a related course – this information will be passed to the Board as it comes through.
In addition to the in house events, the ESB is sponsoring the ADS, Build a Rocket Competition (that gets ESB on various event-day spaces and promotion). Last year this supported over 150 students which resulted Sweyne Park School, winning the national competition, taking them to the international round of the competition in Paris.
ST – Stated that he had seen an improvement in school engagement. JW conformed that all schools are now getting targeted and the offer has been extended to Southend schools. Schools book the events via the ESB website and get tickets via Eventbrite. JW – need to get the message back out to schools.
AC – asked what is being done to support the infrastructure projects that are coming in the pipeline? JW – starting to get more engagement and work with schools to raise awareness of local projects providing opportunities to their students over the coming years.
AA – noticed any difference in the uptake between the schools with 6th forms and no 6th forms? JW –The problem is not the structure but rather the staffing structure, more engagement from schools that have dedicated STEM leads or career advisers. / ACTION: JW
Include presentation targeted support for infrastructure/new activities e.g. Bradwell, PHE, lower Thames Crossing
SECTOR LEAD UPDATES (Sector Leads)
Each Sector Lead outlined the work of their Sector Action Group and current and planned activities.
IT/Digital (Paul Coffey)
93% of the roles in the sector are freelance