Agenda item

9.1  The chair invited the officers Stephen Gaskell, Head of Strategy and Nick Wolff, Senior Strategy Officer to present on the Community Restoration Fund and Youth Fund (the report was circulated with the agenda of the previous meeting and tabled again at the meeting). The Head of Strategy explained that this presentation will focus on the employment scheme, as both programmes are very broad, and youth employment is the area the committee has expressed most interest in.

9.2   The Senior Strategy Officer explained that many of the programmes seek to overcome the disadvantage that young people face when going into a labour market because of their lack of experience and knowledge.  He explained that the council has commissioned a number of initiatives, on top of Job Centre Plus, which focus on employment skills and economic development.

9.3  These are quite varied and include setting up a retail ‘pop up’ shop for training in the Horniman museum. The second phase focused on the lack of experience many young people have and helped people to do work placements. 500 people were supported with 139 getting places on work placements.

9.4  The officer explained that they do not have a problem with engagement and there are a wide variety of participants with different needs. He gave two examples; one participant had a 1st class honours degree in electronics but he did not get through interviews so the initiative provided support developing confidence and social skills. Another participant was an artist who had dropped out of college. He got a work placement, became more reliable, and returned to education.

9.5  Overall the number of young people claiming benefit is going down, but the long term rates of unemployment are going up. He said some people are going through work programmes for 18 months but are still not able to secure employment.

9.6   The chair invited the committee to ask questions and commented that Southwark Youth Council spoke about the difficulties they had experienced in accessing good quality work experience. He asked how the council can help and officers responded that this is about developing relationships with employers.

9.7  Officers were asked about tracking and noted that 62 people gained employment out of the entire cohort. Members asked officers if they are considering doing things differently and they responded that the council are looking at maintaining support for longer in order to give advice and they are also considering using mentors.

9.8  A member commented that the “Mind Your Own Business” event was a very good achievement.

9.9  Officers were asked how much they consider the needs of employers and the wider economy, for example growth areas like green technology. The officer responded that that they do consider the needs of the local employers. A member commented that he read that 80 were people studying hairdressing but there are not the jobs - there is a mismatch.

9.10  A member recalled the feedback the committee had received from Southwark Youth Council that often work placements are things like stacking shelves, which are not high quality. Officers responded that the council is looking for high quality placements. He explained that they do ask for feedback from participants and support is also given. There is a vetting process.  Short training is also delivered either before, during or after so there is a package.

9.11  The head- teacher representative commented that when schools organise training the employers are guided with a programme; she asked if the council required this. The officer responded that there is not a common structure but the council do make certain requirements of employers, including the obligation to deliver a training element.

RESOLVED

Members recommended officers work with Southwark Education Business Alliance