Agenda item

The report, presented by Bob Stott provided the background to the current position regarding information and guidance (IAG) across schools and also the services provided to targeted vulnerable groups.

It explained that Statutory Guidance issued by the Department for Education published in March 2012 (and updated in March 2013 and April 2014) placed a statutory duty on schools that required governing bodies to ensure that all registered pupils at the school be provided with independent careers guidance from year 8 (12-13 year olds) to year 13 (17-18 year olds).

The Chair again welcomed Josh Connor and Emily Holt from the Youth Council. She reminded members that representatives from the Youth Council had attended a previous meeting of this Committee in July 2014 at which it had been agreed that a task group be established to investigate issues around emotional health and wellbeing of young people as a barrier to learning, and to support the work of the Youth Council in this connection. She explained that it had not been possible to progress this owing to limited resources, however, there remained a desire to develop a relationship between this Committee and the Youth Council and to involve them more in matters that came before it. She encouraged representatives from the Youth Council to attend as many meetings as they wished to in the future.

Josh explained that the Youth Council had produced a report on careers advice and guidance provision for 14 -16 year olds in Lancashire. The report had been circulated to all members of the Committee and a copy is attached to these minutes. He emphasised how important it was for young people to receive careers advice, however they had found that the quality and consistency of provision varied between schools and was something of a 'postcode lottery'.

He referred the Committee to four recommendations contained within the Youth Council's report:

"The Lancashire Youth Council strongly believes that the provision of careers advice and guidance should be of a high quality throughout the district. At present, the youth council is failing to see consistency around the county. In order to combat this and ensure that all young people are able to access high quality careers advice and guidance, we would strongly suggest the following recommendations to improve careers advice and guidance vastly:

1)  There is a lot more emphasis on local businesses to deliver talks to students about career pathways.

2)  More one to one support for all young people in terms of careers advice and guidance.

3)  Young people receive advice on grades required to access further education courses, university courses, careers and jobs - including specific qualifications required.

4)  More provision online to support careers advice and guidance."

Bob Stott suggested that the Youth Council's report be published on the school's portal for head teachers and also that he present it to the LASH (Lancashire Association of Head Teachers) executive group.

It was felt that careers advice was just part of a much bigger picture and that early support to build self-esteem and aspiration was very important.  The Committee was assured that emphasis on personal development was strong in most schools; Ofsted also recognised the importance of social, moral and cultural support.

It was acknowledged also that a wide range of different courses could give a young person the opportunity to shine and thus grow in confidence. There was a feeling that the national approach, which put more emphasis on exams rather than coursework, was not helpful and schools were currently being measured by a set of indicators that was too narrow.

It was acknowledged that young people tend to obtain much information on line, it was suggested however that there was merit sometimes in face to face conversations and talking to employers directly. Josh welcomed a suggestion that the Chamber of Commerce and the Trades Council could be most useful in drawing people together and he undertook to take this idea back to the Youth Council's executive meeting.

It was explained that funding accessed from European Social Funds had been used to provide educational training to improve young people's access to the job market. Most of this training was run by further education colleges and some were foundation courses linking into apprenticeships; this was a positive approach in keeping the number of youngsters NEET (not in employment, education or training) from rising. Bob Stott undertook to try to find out how many youngsters went on to secure long-term employment following training provided by this funding.

Resolved: That,

  i.  Officers and the Youth Council be thanked for their reports;

  ii.  The importance of IAG and the difficulty in delivering a standard offer in current circumstances be recognised;

  iii.  Officers be asked to circulate the report of the Youth Council as appropriate;

  iv.  The report of the Youth Council be formally presented to the July 2015 meeting of this Committee, focusing in particular on the four recommendations;

  v.  A report be provided by officers setting out the response from the County Council and relevant partners to the Youth Council's recommendations.