Agenda item

Report ED15064

The Committee considered a report providing an update on the provision of support for young people who were identified as not participating in education, employment or training (NEET) or being at risk of not participating in education, employment or training, and the strategies in place to increase the participation of young people following the implementation of the Education and Skills Act 2008, under which all young people aged 16 and 17 years would be required to participate in education or training until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 years from September 2013 and 18 years from September 2014.  The Education and Skills Act 2008 also introduced duties on Local Authorities to promote the effective participation of young people in education, employment and training in their area and to make arrangements to identify young people not participating in education, employment or training.

The participation of young people aged 16 to 18 years in education, employment and training was recorded on a national database, from which statistical returns were provided to the Department for Education on a monthly basis around the number of young people who were not participating in education, employment or training or whose status was ‘not known’.  The monthly adjusted NEET performance for Bromley for December 2014 was 442 (4.5% of the cohort).  This was very close to the average statistical neighbour performance of 4.1% for December 2014, and a significant improvement on the previous year where the monthly adjusted NEET performance for Bromley was 5.8%.

A number of strategies were in place to increase the participation of young people in education, employment and training in Bromley. This included improved tracking processes, such as door knocking, a targeted youth support programme and a range of tailored support programmes and employability activities delivered through the Bromley Education Business Partnership, including the Bromley Youth Employment Project (Phase 2).  An action plan had been developed for 2014/15 to deliver additional activities to further reduce the number of young people whose participation status was ‘not known’ and the number of young people who were not in education, employment and training, and to increase the number of young people participating in full-time learning or employment with training.

In considering the report, Members were generally concerned that the Local Authority had no powers to require young people to engage with activities to support them into education, employment and training.  The Youth Programme Manager confirmed that that the Local Authority continued to work with young people to promote the benefits of participation.  Leaflets had recently been distributed to all Year 11 pupils at Bromley schools to outline the opportunities available in education, employment and training.  Further guidance was also available from a range of sources include the National Careers service, drop-in Information, Advice and Guidance sessions at sites across the Borough, and support provided by schools.

A Member highlighted that part-time education or employment was not included in the Raising of Participation Age formula, which was used by the Department for Education to measure performance in education, employment and training.  The Youth Programme Manager advised Members that the Local Authority continued to support young people who were engaging positively with education or employment on a part-time basis, and that where possible the Bromley Education Business Partnership worked with employers to build on these opportunities, such as by introducing apprenticeships.

Further information including comparative data on statistical neighbours and baseline data for all young people across the Borough to support comparison with young people identified as not participating in education, employment or training would be provided to Members following the meeting.

The Chairman commended Officers for an excellent report.

RESOLVED that strategies for increasing the participation of young people in education, employment or training following the introduction of raising the participation age be noted.