Agenda and minutes

Members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings to watch them in person at any of the venues across the County. Publicly accessible meetings held in County Hall will be webcast, which means they are available to be watched live or recorded on our website. Please see our webcasting notice here. The Committee may, in certain circumstances, resolve to hold part of the meeting in private. If this is the case, you will be required to leave the meeting.

Venue: Runshaw College - Euxton Campus

Contact: Holly Tween  Tel: 01772 537955 Email:  holly.tween@lancashire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

It was noted that Amanda Melton had given apologies. Joanne Pickering took the Chair.

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted that apologies had also been received from Graham Haworth and Bev Robinson. Introductions were made by all in attendance.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest in relation to matters appearing on the agenda.

3.

Minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2016 pdf icon PDF 41 KB

Minutes:

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2016 are confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

4.

Matters Arising

Minutes:

It was reported that the Apprenticeship Growth Plan would now be taken to the February meeting of the Board.

 

In relation to the ESF Moving On Project, it was noted that a steering group had taken place in December where data collection was discussed. The project had now been extended for three months to July 2018 and outputs were being re-profiled which would help resolve the timing issues discussed at the last meeting.

 

It was noted that Lisa Moizer was in contact with Lisa Edge regarding the developing website.

5.

ESIF Programme - progress and recommendations to the ESIF Committee pdf icon PDF 52 KB

Minutes:

Sean McGrath, External Funding and Investment Manager, Lancashire County Council, attended to present the report on the Lancashire ESIF Programme performance previously circulated, which the Committee considered.

 

It was reported that 39% of the total funds had been committed and that, given the challenging nature of the outputs, Lancashire's position should be regarded as good. In terms of ESF, most of the funding had been allocated through opt-ins.

 

It was highlighted that no ESF calls had been issued in Lancashire since the EU referendum result. It is understood that other areas had been prioritised, due to poorer performance.  Further clarity was awaited from DWP in regard to the prioritisation process and positioning of Lancashire. It was also unclear when the programme would run to, it was hoped that it would be at least December 2019, if not December 2020.  Again, clarity from DWP was awaited.

 

Two projects from Lancashire had been developed and sent to the DWP in July. These were around 'Leadership and Management for Females in STEM Industries and SMEs' and 'Apprenticeship Capacity Building'. These should have been moderated over the summer and released in September, but this had not happened. Further guidance was awaited from DWP.

 

Michele Lawty-Jones updated the Committee on the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) Opt-in where, due to uncertainty around the SFA's future, only two thirds of the allocation had been contracted, leaving £13.7m to be allocated across ESF measures 1.1, 1.2 and 2.1.  The committee discussed the options for procuring activity for this funding.  The options included procuring activity that would begin delivery once the current SFA projects had completed (July 2018).

 

The Committee felt it would be useful to gather further information to gain a feel for how current projects operate, and to ensure that new activity procured was chosen in response to emerging needs and gaps.

 

It was therefore agreed that a report would be presented to the next Skills and Employment Board meeting for discussion and feedback to the ESIF committee on the suggested nature of activities to procure, showing headlines and timescales, with a detailed specification to be developed later. It was agreed that ethnic minority outputs could be built into the specifications.

 

Resolved:

 

1.  That a report showing the suggested nature of activities to procure, headlines and timescales would be brought to the meeting on 22 February for discussion and for feedback to the ESF committee.

 

2.  That ethic minority outputs would be built into the specifications

6.

ESIF Skills Funding Agency Opt-in Projects: Engagement Activity / Capacity Building Plans for approval pdf icon PDF 91 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Janet Jackson, Strategic Partnerships Manager for NEET, Lancashire Skills Hub, attended to present the report on the Engagement Activity / Capacity Building Funding and Delivery Plans for the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) / ESF projects, which the Committee considered.

 

It was highlighted that within the contracts with SFA up to £825,000 was available for engagement and capacity building activity across the three ESIF projects, Employee Support in Skills (ESS), Access to Employment (ATE) and NEET.

 

The Committee considered the spreadsheets showing the funding broken down by project and by theme/priority. The plans were approved by the Committee.  Following a discussion, the Committee requested that information about the outcomes of the activity be included in the next progress report.

 

Resolved:

 

1.  That the cross-cutting approach to investment of engagement activity / capacity building funding as set out in the report is agreed

 

2.  That the Engagement Activity / Capacity Building delivery plans for each project and theme are agreed

 

3.  That the next progress report brought to the Board includes outcomes

7.

Area Based Review - Progress Report pdf icon PDF 106 KB

Minutes:

Michele Lawty-Jones presented the report on the Area Based Review.

 

The next Steering Group was scheduled for the end of January where the draft recommendations would be considered. Michele Lawty-Jones provided an overview of the draft recommendations and the Committee was supportive.  The Committee would be updated further on the recommendations as they were formulated.

 

It was recognised that there was a need to ensure private providers and employers were involved, and that the skills conclusion was being met through collective working.

 

Resolved: that the report be noted.

8.

Meeting Programme 2017 pdf icon PDF 66 KB

Minutes:

At the LEP Board meeting on 08 November 2016 the Board approved a slight reduction to the cycle of LEP Board meetings, and also reviewed the cycle of LEP Committee meetings with a view to mirroring the same cycle. The intention is for the Committees to all meet in the month prior to LEP Board meetings which will allow time for decisions referred on to the LEP Board to be prepared.

 

The Committee considered the report. There was a general feeling that keeping some dates as informal sessions could help set aside time for strategic planning as well as support relationships and information sharing. It was also noted that should items of business arise which required urgent attention, the informal session could meet formally. The Committee therefore agreed to move to four formal meetings per year, and to keep the other dates as informal sessions.

 

Resolved: that the programme of meetings for 2017 be amended to the below:

 

Formal Meetings

22 February

07 June

18 October

29 November

 

Informal Meetings

05 April

26 July

07 September

9.

Reporting to the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership.

  Identification and agreement of any recommendations for consideration/approval by the LEP Board.

 

  Identification and agreement of issues for inclusion in the feedback report for the LEP Board.

 

Minutes:

Resolved: that the following matters be reported to the LEP Board:

 

1.  The agreed meeting programme for the year, noting the formal and informal meeting dates

 

2.  A summary of the planning meeting including feedback from discussions

10.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

Michele recommended that a presentation be provided by UCLAN at the next meeting on the National Collaborative Outreach programme in Lancashire which commences this month

 

Joanne reported that the HR Employers forum was holding an event in March, at which learndirect would be speaking about the ESF project aimed at upskilling employees in the workplace (Employee Skills Support).

11.

Date of Next Meeting

Minutes:

The next meeting was scheduled at 08.00 on 22 February 2017 at Cabinet Room D – the Henry Bolingbroke Room, County Hall, Preston.