Minutes:
Stella Marshall, Youth Support Programme Development Officer and Lesley Holland, Operations Manager, Bromley Education Business Partnership gave an update on the Bromley Youth Employment Project Round 2 which had been developed by Bromley Council to support sustainable employment opportunities for young people who were unemployed.
In Phase 1, Bromley College of Further and Higher Education had been commissioned to deliver 198 internship and apprenticeship opportunities for unemployed Bromley residents between 18 and 24 over a three year period from April 2013. The Star Project had supported a number of young people into internship and apprenticeship opportunities over the past year, but following the agreement of both parties, the contract had been terminated and the Bromley Education Business Partnership had been requested to undertake a review of the best way to support sustainable employment opportunities for young people who were unemployed into the future. A task and finish group had been established to review current options on youth employment in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including business support organisations, Community Links, and the National Careers and Apprenticeship Services.
The recommendations from this review had now been reported to Members. It was proposed to:
1. Target priority client groups, including young people identified as at risk of being ‘Not in Employment, Education or Training’ (NEET), young people aged 18-24 years claiming Jobseekers Allowance and Looked After Children aged 15-24 years.
2. Increase the supply of local employment opportunities for young people by implementing a Borough-wide employer engagement programme, creating a Local Authority graduate internship opportunity to develop a Local Authority strategy to increase the offer of work experience placements, traineeships and apprenticeships across the Local Authority and its partners, and working with Community Links to create a voluntary and community sector based graduate internship to stimulate the creation of work experience placements, traineeships and apprenticeships across the voluntary and community sector.
3. Increase the work readiness of young people and raise their awareness of apprenticeships by delivering Next Step employability conferences and employability workshops to priority client groups, providing a tailored recruitment and matching service, and supporting short intervention mentoring relationships aimed at Jobseekers Allowance claimants aged 18-24 years
The key project outcomes over the two year project included creating 100 employment opportunities for young people, getting 500 employers participating in awareness raising events, offering one to one support for 200 employers, and creating 25 employment or work experience opportunities within the voluntary and community sector. It was also aimed to provide employability support to 900 students, enhanced employment opportunities for 25 Looked After Children, targeted mentoring support for 40 Jobseekers Allowance claimants aged 18-24 years, and to support 100 young people into contracted employment lasting a minimum of six months.
To support the delivery of these project outcomes, Stella Marshall, Youth Support Programme Development Officer emphasised the need for the programme to work in partnership with the business community in Bromley, and requested members of the Bromley Economic Partnership consider becoming involved in the project.
In considering the update, Mark Henderson, MSE UK outlined issues in accessing appropriate education opportunities for engineering apprenticeships in the Borough.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.