Agenda and draft minutes

None, with all members present.

Councillor Winnington declared a non-pecuniary interest in an employee of the Department for Work and Pensions, as there were some references to the DWP within the evidence given.

Councillor Phillips declared a non-pecuniary interest in that his sister-in-law works with the Troubled Families team.

The minutes of the meeting of the EDCL panel held on 5 December 2013 are attached for approval.

RECOMMENDED that the minutes of 5 December 2013 be approved as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the EDCL panel meeting of 5 December 2013 be agreed as a correct record.

A quarterly update report by James Sandy is attached.

James Sandy's update report on behalf of the COUP was considered.   The Chair welcomed the update and praised the COUP networking event that he had attended where the speaker Phil Tulba had given a very interesting presentation on a successful community skatepark initiative.   He hoped that the next event featuring the Lord Speaker on 14 February would be well attended.

The membership of the member overview group to work with COUP and Councillor Mason as Cabinet Member for Resources needed to be finalised: it was agreed that this would be Cllrs Matthew Winnington, Steve Wemyss, John Ferrett plus Will Purvis.

Councillor Winnington stressed the importance of promoting the work of COUP and he had recently discussed this with a member of Community Action Hampshire.

Councillor Ferrett referred to discussions at Safer Portsmouth Partnership earlier that day - Charlie Adie reported that Motiv8 had been asked to draw up a paper looking at how different models can deliver.  There is a Glasgow model for SPP activities delivery - so he had been referred to the panel's report on Community Ownership.  It was felt that this highlighted the need to ensure that all of PCC and partner organisations were aware of this work.

Paddy May also reported that the government had invited bids for 'Delivering Differently'[1] - bids were invited for the end of the following week for consultancy support to deliver schemes to start in April.  The Portsmouth bid was looking to build on the work of Charlie Adie referred to above.

The following written evidence is submitted:

a)    Troubled Families - report by James Hill attached

b)    Ofsted report 'Going in the Right Direction' published September 2013 regarding access to independent and impartial careers advice for Years 9-11

This can be accessed at: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/going-right-direction-careers-guidance-schools-september-2012

c)    PCC work placements - information from Kate Brady, Skills Officer has been circulated to members

d)    NEET Ward Map - requested information provided by Sharon George attached

e)    Post-16 Curriculum Map - information to follow from Lyn Exley

Reports back from EDCL Panel Members on evidence gathering

f)     Meeting with Maureen Frost of Hants Chamber of Commerce on 28 January - Cllrs Will Purvis and Steve Wemyss

g)    Attendance at the Apprenticeships Event 23 January - Cllrs John Ferrett, Phil Smith and Will Purvis

The following written evidence was received by the panel:

a)    Troubled Families

James Hill's report was considered by the panel and the addendum relating to parenting skills was seen as of great relevance to this review as was an important factor in preparing families for work.  It was noted that there would be some restructuring of the team which may affect the report. 

b)    Ofsted report 'Going in the Right Direction'

The key findings were of particular interest in helping to inform the panel's report and putting into context the evidence on careers advice given by schools and colleges.

c)    PCC Work Placements

The panel received the reports from Kate Brady, PCC Skills Officer and Jeanette Rowsell regarding Social Care work placements.  These were welcomed by the panel and it was noted that in particular social care was an important area of vacancies where placements were valuable to the authority and participants. 

Derek Christie, Operations Manager of PCMI also reported on his wider department's involvement with Troubled Families, Community Learning and work placements.  PCMI and the wider Employment Learning and Skills Service will in the future be working even closer with Kate Brady and Learning & Development to identify suitable work placements.  He estimated that over the last 3 years approximately 80 placements (for a mixture of young people and adults) had been made across the council to give this invaluable opportunity which could be a stepping stone to employment. This helps in providing recent and relevant experience to put on a CV.

A potential barrier to the provision of placement opportunities could be the reticence by some service managers who were concerned at the resource/supervision implications, however PCMI offer on-going support.  Placements can vary greatly, between 3 weeks and 3 months, and the best match is sought for the individual.  There is no obligation to offer employment at the end of the placement.

PCMI also have a couple of contracts for traineeships - there is Skills Funding Agency funding for this provision for 6-9 trainees of 19-24 year olds in a pilot scheme running from now until July.

Paddy May reported that PCC are exploring a joint bid with Southampton CC to the Arts Council for internship posts.

d)    NEET Ward Map

The panel were not surprised by most of the breakdown of ward numbers of NEETs but were interested in the results. 

Councillor Phillips asked that there be more information provided about the number of Looked After Children (LAC) as NEETs.

Derek Christie of PCMI reported that for the last 3 years PCMI had been the subcontractor for Barnados for NEET provision and the previous week a continuation contract had been signed for the next 20 months for 14-21 year olds, so would be the main provider in Portsmouth.

e)    Post-16 Curriculum Map

Lyn Exley's map would be submitted to the next meeting.

f)     BAE - updated evidence

The panel welcomed the positive update from Dave Goodall that:

i)     Whilst there has been significant media coverage relating to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

At the end of the meeting the panel will go into informal session to discuss the drafting of the panel's report on the review of Pathways into Work for Young People and the need for more meetings to discuss and progress this.

As the report would not be finalised in time for the last Cabinet meeting this municipal year (3 March) it would need to be submitted to 9 June Cabinet meeting, but would be completed within the municipal year.  The Chair therefore suggested setting a couple of informal meetings and another formal meeting for this review:

Monday 10 February 6pm - informal

Thursday 20 February 6pm - informal

Monday 24 February 6pm - formal