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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
1.1 The Chair welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting. 1.2 Apologies had been received by Councillor Gaynor James.
2.1 There were no interests declared at this point, however later in the meeting Councillor Steven Evans declared an interest as a board member of the Congress Theatre in Cwmbran, mentioned in the report. He also declared an interest as he worked closely with his local foodbank.
3.1 The minutes of the previous Prosperous Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 9 May 2024 were confirmed as an accurate record.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2024 were confirmed as an accurate record.
5.1 The TLS explained that updates had been provided before the meeting on actions 3 and 4. The committee noted the action sheet.
6.1 The Chair introduced the item and thanked the Officers for arranging the recent visit of Panteg House Employability hub. Following, the EM & HoC&W gave a detailed overview of the report. 6.2 In response to Members’ questions the officers and Executive Member provided the following answers: · HoC&W – We had engaged already with CCR, but it was said that more engagement could be done. The CCR were focussed on higher training provision whereas TCBC were focussed on the lower end. · HoC&W – Support was targeted to those who were known to the team through referrals, but there were also learners who had self-referred. GL – A lot of community outreach had been involved as well as a close working relationship with our internal Social Care partners to identify the most vulnerable learners and engage with them. · GL – A place-based approach had been preferred as it allowed for the provision to be targeted based on data available of what jobs were available in particular areas and what individual communities required. · HoC&W – Employment support had been well covered and there were no issues identified with this. However it was stated that we always looked at how the relationships with further education providers could be strengthened and improved. · GL – Social media was used to advertise drop-ins and we had worked closely with our Communications team to promote these as much as possible. · HoC&W – The DWP were focussed on supporting learners in the 50+ range, so it had been important to not duplicate that work. GL – Previously we had looked to target 50+ but this was not something we looked at this time, we did not target provision at any particular age group. · GL – During enrolment learners were asked to identify any additional needs they had or any accessibility support they would require which allowed us to acquire funding through the Shared Prosperity Fund to provide that support. The GL wanted to emphasise that they had looked to ensure the approach was individualised depending on the learner. · GL – Interventions were looked at on an individual basis and so there wasn’t a typical timeframe that was followed. HoC&W – It was important that long-term learners had their progression monitored to ensure they avoided dependency on the program. · EM – Collaboration with Torfaen forums had been key to inform the service and develop training. HoC&W – Collaboration had also helped identify where core skills were missing in certain sectors, as well as collaborating with schools to expose children to opportunities. She did however state that TCBC could improve our relationships directly between businesses. · HoC&W – The work experience offer within schools had reduced over time from Career Wales and we had not directly explored alternatives. However she did say there had been discussions around creating a scheme which targeted young people before Year 11 as well as bringing in external providers to schools to discuss opportunities in STEM. GL – The Council had offered work experience placements to a number of 16+ and 18+ learners. We had also utilised a scheme that provided participants with opportunities in local businesses and had paid their wages for up to 6 months. Of the 18 placements we had within TCBC, the majority had taken up permanent roles following the conclusion of their placement. · HoC&W – We had not looked extensively at what steps were needed to improve access to higher-level qualifications. We had, however looked at the progression of learners and the pathways available to them. GL – The CCR had prioritised certain sectors and Childcare and Social Care qualifications at levels 2 and 3 were heavily subscribed. The CCR had recently prioritised the Creative sector and opportunities for taster sessions within Torfaen had been made available, we then looked to forge partnerships with local colleges who would then provide opportunities for participants to progress to levels 2 and 3 to be achieved locally. · HoC&W – Extensive analysis of the Venture Graduate scheme had not been undertaken but of the analysis we had done it was found that local businesses had struggled to see a benefit from the scheme or value that it brought. It was said that more work was needed to improve the scheme. · HoC&W – There had been a lot of conversations had around demand in particular sectors. When it came to upcoming sectors it had been less known what those jobs would look like so therefore it had been difficult to ensure learners had the skills needed for these roles. GL – More was needed to ensure that we developed the skills necessary for these new opportunities. For example we had offered the opportunity to upskill our local mechanics to enable them to work on EV’s. · GL – Digital skills training had been incorporated into all provision for Adult Community Learning and there had been 12-15 courses available to learners. We had also initiated a digital loan scheme which had meant learners were able to be provided devices which they were able to bring home and continue learning, 53 devices had been loaned out and this had been considered a successful program. · HoC&W – There had been an underspend relating to our recruitment, this had mainly been because of a delay in the recruitment process, but the Employability team were now fully staffed. GL – Whilst there had been initial difficulties recruiting this had tended to be for specific posts such as support staff, but as the HoC&W stated the team were now fully staffed. · HoC&W – We had seen an increase in NEETS (not in Education, Employment or Training) following COVID but this had stabilised and started to improve. It was taken as an action to provide further detail to the committee on these figures. · GL – Attendance at the drop-in venues had been monitored on a weekly basis which had helped what was needed in terms of specific areas and plan our provision. There had been an initial low take up but following 6-8 months of data, the service had been adapted and this had led to an upturn in attendance. HoC&W – A community-based approach had been vital so local knowledge would be welcomed. · HoC&W – In-house training to young people had been monitored and the data had been reported to education but had not been included in the report, it was agreed this data would be provided as an action following the meeting. · GL – We had monitored dropout rates but this hadn’t been monitored on the same scale as the enrolment data. · GL – To encourage more female engagement we had provided targeted interventions, such as working with the DWP to provide support to lone parents around childcare. HoC&W – Within our work going into schools we had also looked to increase female engagement with girls, but this had been an ongoing process. · GL – There was a high percentage of economically inactive (EI) residents within the Borough and a large percentage had said they didn’t want to have a job; it was stated to reduce these numbers we needed to change the mindset of our residents. This was however a nationwide issue and not just limited to Torfaen. HoC&W – It was unclear as to the reasons why EI residents had said they didn’t want a job as that data hadn’t been collected. · GL – With long-term sick residents we had collaborated with close partners within health & wellbeing sectors to look to reduce these numbers down. Following 12-15 months of the service we had been able to understand why residents were classed as long-term sick and had been referred to the service and this had meant we had been able to adapt our offer depending on individual circumstances. We had been able to offer opportunities with disability confident employers for these residents and we were also able to assist with workplace adaptations when necessary. · HoC&W – To track the success of placements we had put measures in place which had tracked to see if participants were still employed up to 6 months following the conclusion of their placements. We had also been able to track those who had re-entered the system. GL – The service ensured that those who had entered as unemployed were able to still access the service when they had gained employment to allow them to further upskill themselves. As previously stated by the HoC&W we monitored participants progression for up to 6 months after they were placed but we did not have the resources available to monitor longer than this. · HoC&W – Funding wasn’t affected by achieved outcomes, but if targets were not met then this would’ve led to conversations around reprofiling funding and refocussing on the needs and demands of the service. · GL – The team were now fully staffed and the underspend on recruitment had been reprofiled to be used to support the provision. · HoC&W – In previous years we had an indication on what the funding offer would be, so it had been a challenge to plan the service without this knowledge. Due to this we had looked at what could be offered internally and explored other funding opportunities, but if there was a reduction then the scale of the program would be adapted. Working with our partners, such as community groups, had been critical and should the funding decrease, these partnerships would be vital. · HoC&W – The report covered the areas that needed growing and strengthening, should the eventual funding offer be higher than expected then the performance data would be reviewed and that would inform any additional provision. 5.3 Officers and the EM left the meeting and members and the SO and TD&MSO remained. 5.4 Recommendations Upon completion of their scrutiny activity, the Committee offered the following recommendations:- Recommendation 1:- Priority be given to further developing our role in progressing and offering pathways for participants to enrol on and achieve L3 and L4 qualifications. In addition to upskilling our workforce, this would contribute to retaining a local economy workforce. Recommendation 2:- The Employability & Skills team should work closely with disability groups to promote the availability and range of employability and skills services including the avenues available for engaging in an accessible manner. Recommendation 3:- The committee recommended the Employability & Skills team explore potential mechanisms for expanding interactions with our education settings, including both primary and secondary schools. This could include supporting schools in developing a new approach for delivering work experience placements, as well as a programme of events to raise awareness of the local jobs market, changing perceptions of the jobs available within these sectors. Recommendation 4:- The committee welcomed the work to improve digital skills. To strengthen further it was recommended much greater promotion take place, advertising the digital loan scheme. Members expressed concerns with the current difficulty in recruiting digital tutors and recommended local digital companies be approached to explore the potential for attracting employers in this field into our tutoring workforce Recommendation 5:- In order to better focus and target interventions, age categories for adult participants aged 20+ should be refined into smaller age groupings e.g. 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50-65 Recommendation 6:- To greater inform our evidence base, the team should develop measures to track and record re-entry into employability programmes, where participants have dropped out of programme or re-entered the programme after a period of employment. Additional Comments & Observations from the Committee: The Adults & Communities O&S Committee commended the Employability & Skills team for the vast effort in improving employability and skills levels in Torfaen. Members appreciated the Torfaen Works model was still fairly new having been in operation for 18months and look forward to revisiting this item in the near future to review further progress. Members expressed concerns with the uncertainty of funding allocations, and the difficulties in developing provision when working on a year-by-year funding cycle. Members would look to revisit this item to considered contingency plans should there be an unfavourable funding announcement for 25/26. 6 Item for Next Meeting 6.1 The committee agreed that the next meeting would look at Digital Services
6.1 The committee agreed that the next meeting would look at Digital Services
7.1 The date of the next meeting was scheduled for 14 November 2024
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