REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES
TO THE LEAD MEMBER FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES
TITLE:EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND - NEET , UPDATE
RECOMMENDATION: That Lead Member notes the content of this report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This paper provides an update on the progress of the European Social Fund (ESF) project on NEET prevention and reduction 2011-2013 Funding Allocations to partners.
Lead Member will recall that Children’s Services, working in partnership with Connexions, was successful in gaining additional funding from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for pre 16 and post 16 NEET prevention and reduction. Connexions are the lead partner and project manager and the full amount of funding, £814,164, that has been allocated to Salford. This funding will allow work to take place with 371 young people in Salford.
A subgroup of the 14-19 Strategic Partnership, with support from the Corporate Procurement team, have decided on the allocation of funding to providers and the deliverables that will be contracted. Due to the large gap between the funding expenditure proposed in the expressions of interest and the actual funding available, allocations to third parties has been sensitive.
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: N/A
(Available for public inspection)
KEY DECISION: NO
DETAILS:
Salford has, for the last three years, had a European Social Fund (ESF) project on preventing and reducing NEET amongst young people in Salford, pre and post 16. The project has been managed operationally by the Connexions service and it has been monitored and contract managed by officers in Children’s Services. This project has been highly successful in the past.
Due to contractual challenges at a national level all ESF NEET contract start dates were delayed from April 11 to July 11. Despite this delay a positive start has been made and although we are currently slightly behind profile we are confident this will be rectified over the coming months. To date there have been 86 starts by young people against an original target of 97; the target for progression outcomes was set at 22 for the end of October 2011 and this has been exceeded with a current total of 26 positive progressions.
From the published menu that providers commission from, over half of partners are now involved in direct delivery of activity. There is still a considerable time for the project to run and we envisage that more partners will be commissioned to deliver as young people needs are identified. The project runs until December 2013 when all deliverables will need to be achieved and activity ended. Payment to providers is only made on receipt of auditable evidence that is monitored by the Project Manager, as is performance.
1. Pre 16 Activity
As with the previous ESF project, the pre16 element of activity is delivered directly by schools. Previous experience has shown this to be an effective way of supporting young people who are ‘at risk’ of becoming NEET. In an alteration to previous ways of working schools were provided with a list of partners and requested to work with at least one of these partners.
1.1 Based on the applications submitted it was agreed that the Pre 16 funds be allocated as follows
School/Institution / No of young people / Unit cost / Total costThe Albion / 40 / £1500 / £60,000
New Park / 30 / £1500 / £45,000
Notschool.net / 30 / £1500 / £45,000
Clifton PRU / 30 / £1500 / £45,000
Harropfold / 30 / £1500 / £45,000
Total / 160 / £240,000
1.2 With the exception of The Albion High School funding was allocated on the basis of schools which were the highest NEET producing schools in 2010. Though not a higher NEET producer in 2010 The Albion High had previously received ESF monies and it was felt that the work carried out through activity bought in for the students helped to reduce their NEET cohort in 2010 and further funding would help to sustain that performance.
1.3 The Albion High school has started 10 Key Stage 4 students on programme and are working towards a vocational studies qualification that will support employability skills. They are working in partnership with Gears +, 42nd Street, Salford Foundation and Salford City College
New Park High School has started 9 KS4 students and is working with Brighter Futures, Youth Engagement Services, Salford Foundation and Salford City College.
Harrop Fold High School has used all of their funding to commission Salford Foundation to delivery ESF activities to their students. To date they have started 15 young people on programme
Notschool.com have started 8 KS4 students and will be working with Salford Foundation and Brighter Futures initially, but may work with other providers in the New Year.
The Clifton Centre is hoping to start 10 KS4 students this week. They are currently in negotiations with The Alternative Curriculum Company who will offer a programme of activity that will support in the management and resolution of some of the very challenging behaviour that some of their students are displaying. They have had discussions with other providers from the menu of activity but they are unable to offer a bespoke programme of activity that is required for these students at this stage. Some of the other partners may be commissioned at a later stage.
2. Post 16 Activity
2.1 Delivery of post 16 activity has differed slightly from the previous ESF contract in that in the previous contract activity was provider led i.e. providers were funded on a menu of activities which young people could select from e.g. Moveo and Brighter Futures were commissioned to deliver construction based activity. This time, as a legacy to the Activity Agreement Pilot, the tender indicated that there would be an element of individually commissioned activity as this had been proved to be successful in supporting young people post 16 and moving them from NEET to EET.
Rather than offering funding directly to partners to deliver activity and therefore limiting young people’s choice, this allowed for more bespoke solutions. The tender offered a range of strands that provided opportunity for this bespoke commissioning of activity from some of the more vulnerable groups including Teenage Parents, those with LDD and BME groups, specifically the Orthodox Jewish Community.
Provider / No of YP’s / Unit cost / Total costSalford City College / 80 / 1,000 / 80,000
Langdon/Binoh/Interlink / 15 / 1800 / 27,000
Pre apprenticeship/pre Foundation Learning Activity / 60-80 / TBA / 166,200
Connexions Salford / 150 / 1200 / 180,000
Incentive allowance / 150 / 100 / 15,000
Travel/clothing etc / 8,272
Total / 305 / 476,472
2.2 Connexions Salford, Salford City College, Binoh and the Interlink Foundation were all awarded funding to engage NEET young people aged 16 – 18 years. They will be offering a variety of activity that will be young person centred and will be based on individual need or as a bespoke provision.
2.3 To date Connexions have started 32 young people on programme and have offered employability training and activity that has supported 26 young people into college, training and work. They have worked in partnership with Moveo Training, Child Action North West, Works 4 U, CSV Training and Youth Engagement Services. They have also complemented activity by working with other providers that have offered free activity to support progression including a private training provider and the local youth service. Evidence to support a claim for a progression relies on the college/training provider confirming in writing that a young person has remained there for at least 4 weeks and a copy of the young person’s registration/enrolment form. For evidence of employment, a letter on letter headed paper is required from the employer confirming at least 4 weeks of employment and a copy of a contract of employment. The required evidence is not always forthcoming and is often difficult to obtain, but to date 18 of the 26 pieces of progression evidence has been received.
Salford City College have been working with school leavers over the summer period to engage young people who were at risk of not starting college or training in September 2011 and have commissioned Salford Foundation to support them with this. They are also working in partnership with Connexions to develop a programme for teenage parents in the New Year. They are in negotiations with a local Children’s Centre responding to requests that this provision is offered in a community setting rather than the more formal setting of a college campus. The college is also hoping to offer provision to young people identified as having a learning disability and/or learning difficulty. The number of starts is yet to be confirmed.
Binoh and The Interlink Foundation have not yet started activity.
YMCA, Rathbone and STEGTA have been allocated funding to offer pre apprenticeship activity. Rathbone are hoping to offer a number of starts in November, YMCA will be offering provision early in the New Year and STEGTA will be offering provision in Summer 2012
KEY COUNCIL POLICIES: Reducing NEET
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS:- Funding will focus solely upon young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming so. The procurement of the service through partners will take account of economic disadvantage and the particular needs of young parents, young people leaving care, black and minority ehthnic and disabled young people.
ASSESSMENT OF RISK: Medium
SOURCE OF FUNDING: Through the Skills Funding Agency, but originally from the European Social Fund.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Procurement of third party delivery will have to meet EU legislation. All contracts with subcontractors will be assessed by legal before completion
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Care will need to be taken to make sure that funding between contracts with subcontractors matches the income contracted with the Skills Funding Agency and any contracts reflect the need for the same deliverables
OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED: N/A
CONTACT OFFICER: Cathy Starbuck Aly Keogh TEL. NO. 0161 778 0168
WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): All
Appendix 1
Comparison with previous ESF NEET Contract- Initial Allocations
Pre 16
School/Institution / Previous Contract / Current ContractThe Albion / £57 000 / £60,000
New Park / £17 000 / £45,000
Notschool.net / £17 000 / £45,000
Clifton PRU / £37 000 / £45,000
Harropfold / £0 / £45,000
Better Choices / £ 18 000 / £0
Total / £146 000 / £240,000
Post 16
Provider / Previous Contract / Current ContractSalford City College / £87 000 / 80,000
Langdon/Binoh/Interlink / £0 / 27,000
Pre apprenticeship/pre Foundation Learning Activity / £116 000 / 166,200
Connexions Salford / £124 000 / 180,000
Brighter Futures / £24 000 / £0
Incentive allowance / £0 / 15,000
Travel/clothing etc / £0 / 8,272
Total / £264 000 / 476,472
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