Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director setting out the progress made against each recommendation of the Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) Working Group Final Report published in 2013.

The report detailed the evolving Context for NEET Support relating to the Liverpool City Region (LCR) Careers Hub, the LCR Apprenticeship Hub, the LCR Apprenticeship Growth Plan, the National Careers Strategy, provision for special educational needs and disability and Youth Employment Initiatives through Sefton@work; and the local impacts for Sefton.

The report concluded by detailing updates against each of the recommendations in the Final Report; and recommended that future reporting on this issue form part of the reporting framework to be devised once the Council had adopted the forthcoming Sefton Economic Strategy as this would supersede and update the recommendations of the NEET Working Group dating back to 2013.

Claire Maguire, Service Manager (Employment and Learning) referred to Career Connect key performance measures, “unlocking potential” statistics and 4 case studies which highlighted the work being undertaken by Career Connect.  

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:-

·       The relationship of Working Group recommendation 3 (To produce a follow-up report, to be submitted to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee(s) in twelve months’ time, to include (i) whether the Council is receiving best value for money in terms of services provided within the NEETS area; and (ii) monitoring of looked after young people leaving Council care and their achievements or whether they subsequently fall into the NEETS category) and changes to Education Maintenance Allowance and the leaving care cohort

·       The relationship of Working Group recommendation 1 (To request head-teachers, and chairs of governors of high schools (including academies and free schools) within the Borough to consider increasing the breadth, range and quality of impartial advice and guidance provision for young people in schools, prior to leaving year 11, to receive advice on the full range of options available to them, and for information to also be made available to parents) and Working Group recommendation 5 (That the Council and its partners be encouraged to use all available statistical evidence to identify NEET hotspots and agree robust intervention targets to reduce numbers in these areas, together with agreed robust systems for monitoring and evaluating the impact of joint interventions) to tackle and reduce the numbers of NEET

·       The provision for SEND as identified in paragraph 3.7 of the report

RESOLVED: That