Success for Warwickshire’s 16 and 17 year olds 

According to a recent report from the Department for Education (DfE) Warwickshire is one of the most successful local authorities in the country for ensuring 16 and 17 year olds are either in education, employment or training. 

The DfE require all local authorities to collect and report information about a young person’s post 16 activity on a monthly basis so that a national scorecard can be published. The information collected includes:

• basic information about young people in their area (name and address)
• their needs and characteristics (gender, ethnic group, disability, care leaver)
• their post 16 plans (intended destination, September Guarantee offers)
• their current activity and when it was last confirmed (i.e. education, apprenticeship, employment combined with study, training). 

The DfE published the 2017/18* Local Authority NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and Not Known figures on 18th October 2018 available here.

The NEETs group is made up of young people who are not participating in Education, Employment or Training but who are available to the labour market and also those young people who are not currently available to the labour market (for example because of illness, caring responsibilities, pregnancy or parenting responsibilities). The cohort size is based on residency rather than the place of education or training.

In 2017/18 Warwickshire reported a significant improvement in the reduction of the numbers of young people who were NEET, including those 16 and 17 year olds whose activity is not known. 

The headline figure (see table below) represents a 2.2 percentage point improvement for Warwickshire since last year.

In 2017/18 there were slightly more males 4.3% (240) within the NEET group than females 3.4% (170).

The Skills for Employment programme has been one of the  major contributory factors in this figure decreasing, with schools reporting that the activities implemented as a result of the grant funding have enabled them to reduce the number of students who are NEET. The programme has received an investment of £3 million from Warwickshire County Council over the period 2015/20 in order to improve the employability skills of young people.

 

2017/18 District level data

The table below details the proportion and number of young people who were NEET and EET in each district at the end of December 2017, January 2018 and February 2018.

 

* The 2017/18 NEET and not known Figures are an average of the number of young people who were NEET and whose activity was not known at the end of December 2017, January 2018 and February 2018. Three month averages are less prone to statistical blips and provide a more robust assessment of year on year performance.                                                                                                                                

Skills for Employment brings rewards for county businesses and young people

Three years after launching the £2.4 million ‘Skills for Employment’ programme, £600,000 of additional funding has been found to extend the programme for the period 2018-2020.

Since June, applications have been received from 35 schools for the Capability & Capacity grant worth up to £3,000 each. 22 grants have been awarded to date and we anticipate grants worth more than £100,000 will be awarded by the end of this term.

The following statistics show the value of the programme and why it has received the extension to continue the work it has already been doing:

• 74% of schools have seen an improvement in the careers advice for their students

• 54% of schools have made strong developments with businesses due to the funding

• The amount of time spent by staff to deliver careers advice has increased by 30%

• There has been a 50% increase in schools providing careers talks and work experience

• The proportion of schools employing a careers leader increased by almost a fifth due to funding

One of the county council’s key priorities is to support new and existing businesses with high growth potential, vital to the continued economic vibrancy of the region. This goes hand in hand with building an appropriately skilled workforce, as well as creating job opportunities for young people.

It sounds straightforward but in recent years The Chamber of Commerce and businesses were telling WCC they were finding it increasingly difficult to fill their job vacancies with local people and there was a shortage of suitable skills in the regional job market.  They also said they didn’t have the contacts with schools and colleges that would allow them to work together to identify a mutually beneficial skills pipeline.

WCC recognised there was an urgent need to increase engagement between Warwickshire’s businesses and schools.  So in 2015, Skills for Employment was born with three main aims; to align skills provision more effectively between businesses and education providers, to improve advice and information about career and employment opportunities and to improve the journey for young people as they move from education to the world of work.

"More than 30,000 careers and employability activities have been delivered"

In three years more than 600 businesses have taken part and more than 30,000 careers and employability activities have been delivered.  A business skills advisor has been appointed to work alongside the skills and employment team in visiting the region’s businesses, identifying skill gaps and helping them source the appropriate training to address them. In the first 12 months the advisor helped more than 100 businesses. 

There have also been new networks established in the tourism sector, a key industry for Warwickshire, supporting nearly 21,000 jobs with a business turnover in excess of £1.15 billion.  Additionally boot camps have been taking place in the gaming industry, which has a £224 million turnover and accounts for 1.4% of the county’s active workforce. Both initiatives will ensure there is a steady stream of suitable workers into both of these important industries.

If you would like to know more contact glennrobinson@warwickshire.gov.uk or visit the website: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sfegrants