Coventry and Warwickshire announced as Careers Hubs to help transform careers education

Warwickshire County Council's longstanding commitment to providing young people with maximum career pathways has received a boost after the county was included in a new wave of Careers Hubs across the country.

Following an announcement by the Secretary of State this week, Warwickshire and Coventry are to become two of 18 new Careers Hubs, the first in the area. Warwickshire Careers Hub will be integrated with Warwickshire County Council's existing Skills for Employment Programme. It will add a new dimension to the ongoing work that the county council has been doing to establish bridges between education-providers and employers for a number of years.

The first 20 Careers Hubs were launched by the Careers & Enterprise Company across England last September. Schools and colleges in that first wave are already outperforming the national average across all aspects of careers education.

This week's announcement is for a second wave of Careers Hubs, backed by a further £2.5m investment. Just over 1,300 secondary schools and colleges (around a quarter of those in England) will now benefit from being part of a Careers Hub.

Each Hub brings together a group of up to 40 schools, and colleges give every school and college in the area the opportunity to work together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals.

Monica Fogarty, Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council, said: “Warwickshire County Council welcomes this new funding which will build on and expand the work that we have been doing with our schools and colleges for a number of years through our Skills for Employment Programme.

“We know that effective careers and employability advice and support are critical components of a successful labour market, while also providing clear social benefits, increasing the likelihood of successful employment outcomes and lifetime earnings.

“Ensuring that all our young people develop strong employability skills, and are provided with effective and appropriate careers advice and support, is a key priority for the County Council.”

Schools and colleges in the hub will have access to further support and funding, including an expert ‘Hub Lead’ to help coordinate activity and build networks, a central fund to support employer engagement activities and training for a ‘Careers Leader’ in each school and college.

Employers are vital to the Hub model's success and more than 100 ‘Cornerstone Employers’ across the country have committed to driving and championing all-important connections to the world of work. Cornerstone Employers work with a specific Hub and underwrite careers provision in these areas. 

Supportive Employers come together to create opportunities for supported interns

Warwickshire’s businesses came out in force for the inaugural Supportive Employers Inc. forum with over 40 representatives from businesses joining Warwickshire County Council and the Careers and Enterprise Company in Coventry and Warwickshire (CEC).

The morning session was the first in a planned series of events to bring businesses together to share ideas and best practice on providing supported internships to people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The government has committed to a 20% increase in the uptake of apprentices with SEND by 2020.  Nationally, there are nearly a quarter of a million people currently in education with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Of this number, while nearly 80% would like to get a job, a mere 6% actually go into paid employment.

The Supportive Employer Inc. partnership between the county council and the CEC is looking to create a network of businesses that can offer work experience and potentially apprenticeships.

Speakers included Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council who stated the council’s commitment for 100 young people to access supported internships within Warwickshire across a range of different employers. Other speakers included Louise Saunders of National Grid, Deborah Pendleton of the RSC and Sandra Trainor of GEFCO, all of whom spoke about their businesses’ experience of supporting interns.

Giving the national picture was Claire Cookson, Deputy Chief Executive of the DFN Foundation, a charity which specialises in providing employability skills programmes for people with SEND.

Among the stark figures that Claire highlighted was the cost to the economy of people with SEND not working – an estimated £1million to the taxpayer in social care over the course of a lifetime for each person with SEND.

Harvey Duncan, a 23 year old man who had undertaken an internship at Hereward College also gave the audience his own insight into his own internship and how it had benefitted him. Having worked at the college after finishing his education, Harvey is now set to return to his family home in London and seek full-time employment, armed with the skills and experience he has acquired through the internship.

The businesses who have already gone on the journey gave inspiring accounts of the benefits of taking on a supported intern not least of all was the pipeline of talent with people with SEND consistently displaying great attention to detail, a conscientious approach to duties and attendance and the opportunity for businesses to make efficiencies via job carving.

The overall positive effect on staff morale, increased disability confidence in employees, enhanced skills developed by staff and the bond created within teams were also recurring themes. As they left, businesses signed pledges, promising levels of support to the programme ranging from offering work experience through to taking on an intern.

Future forums will help employers to understand the technicalities behind taking on a supported internship so that the intern’s needs are met and appropriate adjustments made to the workplace.  The Department for Work and Pensions will also provide advice on funding and support to help businesses make offers.

Mark Ryder, Strategic Director for Communities at Warwickshire County Council, said: “The county council is committed to increasing the number of people with SEND who are getting opportunities to take on paid employment.  The county council is looking at every way possible to increase our own take up of interns and we will encourage and work with local businesses to increase the breadth of offer across the county and across a range of businesses.”

Lizzie Mara, Enterprise Co-ordinator for the Careers and Enterprise Company in Coventry and Warwickshire, said:

“Young people with SEND are less likely to take exams that employers recognise, such as GCSEs. They also have higher rates of unemployment than other students. Many young people with SEND would benefit from additional cover support such as supported internships, apprenticeships and employment, extended workplace interviews, supported enterprise activities and volunteering. With the support and encouragement, many of these students can access the broad range of career outcomes available to their peers including apprenticeships, employer training schemes, university or employment.”