Joint Employment and Skills Boards
Strategic Priorities for
Employment and Skills
in Derby, Derbyshire,
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
FINAL REVISED DRAFT
31st January 2012
Executive Summary
This paper has been brought together by discussions amongst the three Employment and Skills Board partnerships within the D2N2 area. The historic purpose of the Employment and Skills Boards has been to provide a forum whereby the needs of local employers are met. Partners regularly get together to inform each other’s strategies and plans, to develop a collective understanding and seek to influence funding to meet identified priorities. Central to this is listening to employers and having a private sector led Board.
As the LEP has continued to review inherited intelligence in order to define future priorities for attention, it was agreed that it would be beneficial for the three Employment and Skills Board equivalents that are working within the LEP area to come together and explore producing a joint perspective. This paper has been agreed as providing an appropriate summary of priorities for employment and skills. In addition it sets out the broad agenda for attention, summarises the range of action already underway and identifies some specific opportunities for early action.
The Key Priorities identified are
1. Linking learning provision to the present and future employment and skill needs of employers
2. Improving the skills of the local workforce at all levels
3. Promoting employment for all to link people to the world of work,
4. Addressing the needs of priority groups, particularly young people
5. Reviewing mechanisms to co-ordinate action amongst agencies and offering employers a seamless service that reduces confusion
6. Promoting growth and recovery through a sectoral approach that understands that different sectors offer different contributions to employment and skills
7. Improving knowledge of and access to labour market information (LMI) so there is a better understanding of how provision meets needs.
Whilst the actions identified are focussed on all ESB partners, the following are recommendations specifically for the LEP to consider
1- Increase the representation of the private sector in employment and skills decision making across the LEP skills partnership by close working with the three ESBs and ensure that there is a direct interface with the UKCES and the sector skills council community for those sectors that are defined as economically most valuable;
2- Develop a robust and direct link between the private sector representation (critical action 1) and a united provider skills alliance (across private, voluntary and FE/HE sector providers) in order to support the leadership and response for employment and skills demand;
3- Create a LEP wide demand-led high skills strategy, which can inform the delivery of targeted and effective business support and skills brokerage for key sectors;
4- Create a demand-led Youth Unemployment Task Force that advocates through business, the importance of work experience, apprenticeships and enterprise;
5- Create a sustainable employment and skills observatory, that can support the LEP skills partnership interpret and support private sector decision making (critical action 1) and service provider response (critical action 2)
Background
There has been a history of focussed action on the employment and skills agenda in recent years within Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. A range of partnership structures have been developed with an emphasis on securing a stronger employer voice. A considerable amount of research and analysis has been undertaken to inform implementation plans that have brought together a number of agencies to work together with employers. The historic purpose of the Employment and Skills Boards has been to provide a forum whereby partners meet to inform each other’s strategies and plans, to develop a collective understanding and seek to influence funding to meet identified priorities. Central to this is listening to employers in order to deliver to their needs. Their separate geographies attempt to respond to employers’ preference for local delivery and match this to wider labour markets.
As the LEP begins to review inherited intelligence in order to define future priorities for attention, it was agreed that it would be beneficial for the three Employment and Skills Board equivalents that are working within the LEP area to come together and explore where there is common ground. Analysis for the LEP has indicated that Skills are a key determinant of productivity. A skilled workforce provides a pool of human capital that local firms can draw upon and can attract inward investment. Skilled workers may be better able to identify market opportunities, innovate and adapt to new technologies, facilitate investment and improve leadership and management. Skills are therefore important for an area’s ‘adaptive capacity - the ability to withstand economic shocks and take advantage of new opportunities.
Employment and Skills are therefore both important topics for the future economic prosperity of the area and are overlaid by a complex mosaic of local geographies. The three ESBs have historically taken a holistic view balancing the aim of developing a workforce that has the skills businesses need with taking action to support the unemployed and inactive back into work. This has often been with a focus on the particular needs of people from priority groups such as the young and those from disadvantaged communities. Whilst each has developed a clear strategic framework, the emphasis has been on action and delivery. Increasingly, this has involved influencing mainstream funding of key partners such as Jobcentre Plus and DWP.
The context for this local action has changed considerably in the last 18 months with a new emphasis on an informed market of businesses and learners rather than directive strategic planning. There is still potential for local partners to help influence performance and to better co-ordinate their own actions. As resources are significantly reduced there is even more pressure on finding what works and spreading the impact. Working together effectively where appropriate can scale up activity, create additional outcomes and help meet multiple objectives.
A workshop was held on 13th December to consider the new context and reflect on the emerging priorities of the LEP and this document is part of the output. There is a very large volume of material to draw on and many of the elements are linked and overlapping. There has been a broad agreement on the analysis of issues with the main debate being about the balance between setting out a comprehensive agenda and identifying specific actions that can be resourced and will make a difference in the short term. Following further consultation the statement below has been agreed as providing an appropriate summary of priorities for employment and skills. In addition it sets out the broad agenda for attention, summarises the range of action already underway and identifies some specific opportunities for early action.
Key Priorities and Actions
1. Linking learning provision to the present and future employment and skill needs of employers
The operating environment for Colleges is a challenging one with a competitive market where funding drives provision. Businesses want their needs met without having to negotiate complexity in provision. As a result it can be difficult for employers to know who is providing what and who is most appropriate to contact. Past attempts at employer engagement by public agencies have often been linked to the provision of specific products rather than assessing the requirements of businesses. In addition businesses often have specific training needs which don’t always match well with qualification led courses. They need skills that deliver value for their businesses. However, smaller businesses often have a limited perspective on future prospects and therefore find it difficult to articulate skills needs. Nevertheless, Colleges have a strong tradition of engagement with employers from which to build on, although the SME market, where job creation has been most rapid in recent years, is inevitably more fragmented and difficult to satisfy. In a market led system, SMEs do not always have the same purchasing power as larger businesses and finding ways to identify common needs from groups of small businesses and meeting these through commissioned bespoke provision would be beneficial.
Projects to promote the value of apprenticeships (referred to in Priority 4) and providing placements or employment to graduates can be important tools for meeting skill needs as well as addressing other important agendas. E.g. the “Hot Prospects” project linked graduates into work, work experience or placements
The broad Agenda for action includes
- Continue to support a strong dialogue between employers of all sizes and skills providers to achieve a better fit between provision and business needs
- Generate a detailed understanding of local dimension of key sectors along with enhanced links to Sector Skills Councils to access their research and intelligence
Specific actions by partners
- ensure that there is close working with the LEP and a direct interface with the UKCES and the sector skills council community for those sectors that are defined as economically most valuable;
- Develop a robust and direct link between the private sector employer representation and a united provider skills alliance across private, voluntary and FE/HE sector providers in order to support the leadership and response for employment and skills demand
- continue to encourage provider networks to consider the needs of SMEs
- promote provision and uptake of apprenticeships through increased marketing of the benefits
- promote links to inward investment potential to attract new firms and make sure their skill needs can be met by a pre recruitment offer, understanding of needs business and the local economy as well as having a labour force ready. Successful examples include Making the Connection and other projects e.g. Tesco in Clay Cross.
2. Improving the skills of the local workforce at all levels
Raising skills is an important aspiration to develop a local economy where there are large number of low skill and low pay jobs. It needs to be done through raising demand for skills and developing businesses, not just training people in skills where jobs do not presently exist. It is also important to develop a progression within jobs – it is unrealistic to expect people with a low level of attainment to access jobs in high skill areas – they need to be recruited to appropriate entry level roles and work their way up. The skill levels of those seeking work also need to be raised to widen the opportunities for employment accepting that low level skilled jobs will exist for the foreseeable future.
There is interest to learn more about the example of Manchester, where their major economic review concluded in 2009 - the low level of skills of those supporting higher skilled people was a key factor in contributing to a below average performance in productivity.
The broad Agenda for action includes
- Raise demand for higher level skills in order to underpin greater productivity and potential economic growth and at the same time make the best use of locally available talent.
- Advocating for the role higher skills play in increasing productivity leading to more robust economic growth.
- Exploit the local presence of excellence within the Higher Education sector by encouraging more opportunities for graduates to be retained within the area
- Encourage improvement across the workforce including basic skills and literacy, intermediate and vocational skills as well as high level qualifications, so that the highly skilled can be supported to be more productive
- Promote a focus on high quality vocational training to grow and attract a more knowledge intensive economy
Specific actions
- Create a LEP wide demand-led high skills strategy, which can inform the delivery of targeted and effective business support and skills brokerage for key sectors
- Better understand the link between low skills and productivity within the LEP area through further research and then consultation with employers. The LEP may be best placed to commission this given the impact it may have on future growth.
3. Promoting employment for all to link people to the world of work,
It is important to ensure that local people have the skills to access local jobs. This is in order to address not only social exclusion but also to improve the efficiency and productivity of the local economy and reduce congestion, avoiding large numbers of people travelling long distances to access jobs. Employment opportunities need to be sustainable to avoid a ‘revolving door’ where people come off and then return to unemployment benefits within a short period of time. The Work Programme is a major Government initiative to address long term unemployment with contracts let over a five year period and contractors free from pre-prescribed solutions and able to deliver the support that clients need. Local partners can work together to ensure that there is a better connection between jobs available and those with greatest needs and a clear understanding of the local barriers to accessing work. The Nottinghamshire ESB has launched Project 365 - Every day in 2012 partners aim to deliver an activity that will make a real difference to the local community through partnership working, linking businesses to opportunities that support jobseekers moving closer to work. The project will aim to deliver 365 additional activities, structured under the themes: of Work Clubs Enterprise Clubs, Work Experience, Sector-based work academies and Apprenticeships. . These opportunities are also individually available across Derby and Derbyshire as part of the Jobcentre Plus Get Britain Working initiative.
Links to inward investment potential are important. North Eastern Derbyshire Strategic Employment Partnership has recently been set up to share information on employment opportunities and update on development sites, potential and confirmed inward investors and the development of existing businesses in the area, and plan how best to harness the opportunities available.
The broad agenda for action includes
- Ensure that the needs of the disadvantaged communities are met through appropriate skills and training provision.
- Encourage employers to support the unemployed back into work with a particular focus on developing employability skills and attitudes – larger employers often have greater capacity to address these issues and could promote good practice amongst SMEs