Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, and introductions were made by all in attendance.

The Chair especially welcomed Edwina Grant and Cllr Mark Townsend to their first meeting, and Jamie Zucker and Kerry Ng from the Department for Education who were observing the meeting.

No apologies had been received.

Amanda Melton, Bev Robinson, Lynne Livesey, Mark Allanson and Gareth Lindsay declared an interest in the ESF item 7.

Bev Robinson declared an interest in the Institute of Technology item 12.

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 09 September 2020 are confirmed as an accurate record

It was noted that Neil Conlon would take the role of Vice Chair.

Michele Lawty-Jones, Skills Hub Director, presented the report (circulated) updating on the work of the Lancashire Skills Hub. She particularly highlighted the following:

·  A Chair had been announced for the national Skills and Productivity Board. Local Skills Reports from the Skills Advisory Panels would feed into this Board

·  The first delivery of T levels was live; approximately 150 learners recruited so far to Digital, Education & Childcare, and Construction T levels across the four early adopter colleges in Lancashire. Routeway Networks were continuing remotely

·  The Lancashire Digital Skills Partnership was named winner of the Digital Skills or Inclusion Initiative of the Year Award 2020 at the Digital

Leaders 100 Awards Ceremony on 15October

·  The Lancashire Skills Hub launched a social media campaign on 7 October to encourage 16-24 year olds to stay in or return to education, and has approached partners to support the campaign, which has attracted over £7,500 so far

·  An advert had been placed on the LEP and Skills Hub website for new employer members – the deadline for expressions of interest was 23November

Joe Mount reported on some data around furloughed workers and Universal Credit claimants, noting that claims for Universal Credit in Lancashire had been dropping since May.

It was noted that there was currently not an accurate pictures of the number of people in Lancashire considered NEET, but that focus on this would be helpful. It was agreed that the Skills Hub Director meet with Edwina Grant OBE and Ruth England to discuss this before the next meeting, and to add this to the agenda of the next meeting.

Resolved: that

i.  The update be noted

ii.  Activity around NEET be added to the next agenda, following a meeting between the Chair, Edwina Grant OBE, Ruth England and the Skills Hub Director

Verbal update by Dr Michele Lawty-Jones

Michele Lawty-Jones reported that consultation had begun on the Strategic Framework Refresh. Meetings had taken place with LEP Directors, two consultations had been completed via Zoom with 48 partners and employers and 13 of the 15 Local Authorities had been consulted.

There was recognition of the need for a one year refresh, particularly since the impact of covid was likely to be medium term.

Attendees had been asked to rate priorities within the different work strands, and the result was:

Future Workforce:

1.  Breadth and quality of careers provision

2.  Supporting young people and NEED

3.  Accelerating the development of virtual encounters with employers FE/HE

4.  Technical education routes

Inclusive workforce:

1.  Improving employability of unemployed and inactive

2.  Moving people into jobs in areas of demand

3.  Digital inclusion

Skills and Productive Workforce:

1.  Reskilling/upskilling the current workforce

2.  Digital skills

3.  Inclusivity and diversity of the Lancashire digital sector

Some points were highlighted around gaps in the Framework, such as improving awareness of routes into self-employment; and it was suggested that a section could be added around asks to government.

The achievability of the framework was also being considered in regard to the resources needed to make it a reality.

There was a brief discussion around the hospitality/tourism sector, and the need to ensure job creation in this sector, and to encourage workers in this sector to consider the skills they could transfer to another sector.

Resolved: that the information be noted

Presentation from Sara Gaskell, Janet Jackson, Strategic Partnership Managers, and Sean McGrath, Head of External Funding & Investment

Sara Gaskell and Janet Jackson, Strategic Partnership Managers, and Sean McGrath, Head of External Funding & Investment, Lancashire County Council, gave a presentation updating on the European Social Fund.

It was noted that just over £98m of funding had been allocated to projects during the 2014-2023 programme, and that since delivery commenced in late 2016, that over 5,600 young people had been supported, over 18,700 unemployed adults and over 4,100 business had been engaged, and over 11,400 employees reskilled or upskilled.

The presentation covered the partners and partnership products, including the Skills for Work microsite, the covid response and case studies.

It was reported that there was a potential gap when the ESF funding ended, as it was possible that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund launch date of March 2021 would be delayed, due to covid. Planning work was underway to identify the priorities and work was being done to produce evidence of the importance of this funding to Lancashire.

Resolved: that the update be noted

•  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.

An update on the Institute of Technology Submission would be presented to the LEP Board meeting in December.

It was suggested that the commission for Colleges of the Future and the skills White Paper could be on the next agenda.

Resolved: that the commission for Colleges of the Future and the Skills White Paper would be a topic for discussion on the next informal meeting

The next informal meeting is scheduled for 8.00am on Wednesday 20 January 2021.

The next formal meeting is scheduled for 8.00am on Wednesday 03 March 2021. Venue/arrangements to be confirmed.

The proposed schedule of meetings 2021-22 is set out below:

08.00 28 April 2021 informal meeting

08.00 Wednesday 26 May 2021

08.00 21 July 2021 informal meeting

08.00 Wednesday 08 September 2021

08.00 Wednesday 10 November 2021

08.00 Wednesday 23 February 2022

The next informal meeting is scheduled for 8.00am on Wednesday 20 January 2021.

The next formal meeting is scheduled for 8.00am on Wednesday 03 March 2021. Venue/virtual arrangements to be confirmed.

Resolved: that the meeting schedule as below is noted:

08.00 28 April 2021 informal meeting

08.00 Wednesday 26 May 2021

08.00 21 July 2021 informal meeting

08.00 Wednesday 08 September 2021

08.00 Wednesday 10 November 2021

08.00 Wednesday 23 February 2022

The Committee is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it considers that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as indicated against the heading to the item.

At this point the Lancashire Skills and Employment Advisory Panel approved that the meeting move into Part II, Private and Confidential, to consider the remaining agenda items as they contained information defined as confidential or exempt in accordance with the relevant paragraph of Part I to schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as set out in each report or presentation. It was considered that in all circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Presentation from Daryl Platt, Blackpool and The Fylde College and Neil Burrows, Burnley College.

Daryl Platt, Blackpool and The Fylde College and Neil Burrows, Burnley College, updated the committee on the Lancashire Institute of Technology wave 2 application, due for submission on 14 December.

Resolved: that the update be noted

Tracy Heyes, Strategic Partnership Manager, presented the report (circulated) providing an overview of the Lancashire Redundancy Taskforce.

It was noted that one issue to be addressed was some furloughed workers being unwilling to consider other types of employment, or employment in a different sector.

Resolved: that the update be noted