Minutes:
Paul King, Head of Youth Support Services, gave an update on the Bromley Youth Employment Project (Round 2) which had been developed by the Local Authority to support sustainable employment opportunities for young people who were unemployed.
The project aimed 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 opportunity 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.
The Head of Youth Support Services advised members of the Partnership that significant work had been undertaken with employers to promote the value of work experience placements, apprenticeships and traineeships, and 30 employment opportunities for young people had now been identified. Work was underway to identify apprenticeship and work experience opportunities across the Local Authority and its contractors, as well as in voluntary and community organisations. Two events had recently been held in schools across the Borough to raise awareness of the opportunities available, and a further three events were planned for Spring 2015. Young people who could benefit from the support offered by the Project were also being targeted through Youth Support Services, and five young people had now been supported into employment with local employers.
Mark Henderson, MSE UK, advised members of the Partnership that he would shortly be attending a meeting at 10 Downing Street to discuss issues around apprenticeships and training and that issues impacting the Bromley Youth Employment Project could be raised.
Sam Parrett, Bromley College of Further and Higher Education noted the importance of ensuring that the right skills training was in place to match the opportunities and needs of employers, and confirmed that there had been a significant increase in the number of young people taking up an apprenticeship through Bromley College of Further and Higher Education in recent months.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.