10:45
As a follow on to the seminar held last year, the committee will hear an update on the current position of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) as well as recent developments around the apprentice schemes.
Sandra Higgs, Business and Skills Manager, will give an overview followed by a question and answer session.
For the second part of this item the committee will hear from Martin Dare-Edwards, the Chairman of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Oxon-LEP) on the views of the business community around Science Education in the county. His presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.
Minutes:
Sandra Higgs (SH), Business and Skills Manager for Oxfordshire County Council addressed the committee. She reported that while it was good news that apprenticeships were on the rise in Oxfordshire, there were other parts of the South East which were experiencing faster growth. She reviewed a few details on the data including the fact that hairdressing is the most popular apprenticeship, by far. As the manager, she indicated that she would like to see an increase in areas like engineering which currently ranks 8th for younger apprentices and not in the top 10 for older apprentices. Cllr Bonner asked about the number of apprentices who drop-off their scheme to which SH responded that it is less of an issue for OCC that, although we have fewer in number, our quality of those is actually higher.
Cllr Hutchinson remarked that it was important to draw the connection between the scheme and young people who are successful in being placed in a job.
SH responded that in many cases, the companies who utilise apprentices, have a tendency to keep the young people on in employment.
The committee discussed that some of the take up may have a gender component with fewer girls opting for engineering placements. It was mentioned that gender bias starts young and that there already exists a number of women in science events across the county to help address this.
Martin Dare-Edwards (MDE), the Chairman of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Oxon-LEP) joined SH at the table.
He spoke about his view that there was disconnect in what companies were looking for as far as qualifications are concerned, and what was being provided at Oxfordshire colleges. His read on what businesses are looking for goes beyond what can be a narrow skill set, as defined by the qualifications. Companies are more interested in an ‘all-rounder’. He feels that colleges need to start to address a new sector and that they need to ensure students have ‘combined skills’. A ‘job-for-life’ does not exist in today’s job market in the same way that it once did. He spoke about the need for the country to feed the high tech sectors to keep the UK competitive and to ensure that high paying jobs continued to be created to support current standards of living.
Cllr Bonner commented that a primary component was essential.
Cllr Waine agreed adding that Science Oxford provides an excellent outreach to primary students.
Cllr Seale spoke about the importance of culture change in promoting apprenticeships. He felt that there needed to be better communication about the huge benefits of apprenticeships. Young people might not realise that some leaders and senior managers in companies such as BMW came in through the scheme and not through a university route. He felt that in some cases for some industries, an apprenticeship scheme is superior to a university education. He asked what the committee could do to support the work.
SH agreed that a culture change was very important and pointed out that educating teachers on those points is important. She said that in fact, the number of young people interested in the scheme exceeded the opportunities and that outreach was needed with employers.
She added that in some cases, apprenticeships can be a route into university. It has been the case that a student who entered into a company as part of the scheme was later further trained at a university level, thought company expense.
MDE suggested that the schools could have an apprenticeship ‘score’ similar to the figures they report on university placements.
Cllr Turner expressed concern that businesses do not have enough information about how to set apprentices up.
Cllr Godden felt that the issue revolves around a mismatch to the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) where NVQ’s are single skill oriented and a variety of skills are what companies are looking for. There is an incentive for young people to focus on acquiring NVQ’s, which might inadvertently limit their options.
MDE agreed that companies are not hiring on NVQ’s as they currently exist, for that reason. He suggested that a new qualification, focused on a mix of skills, could be established.
Sue Matthew suggested that councillors could connect with colleges to develop a new qualification if colleges were reluctant to engage directly with businesses.
MeeraSpillet added that employers need to be engaged with any changes we may be considering.
Cllr Fitzgerald-O’Connor commented that employers feel that bureaucracy around Health and Safety and other hurdles make apprenticeships feel like too much of a hassle.
SH agreed that a negative perception around bureaucratic hurdles was prevalent. She explained that part of the current outreach was around overcoming these barriers and helping employers navigate the ‘red tape’.
Cllr Bonner suggested that as this is an important topic the committee would want to stay on top of it. She indicated that she would like this included as part of the discussion on the year’s work programme for the committee at the next meeting. She asked that once the Business and Skills Team is formed and up and running, that they return to the Committee in 6 months. At that time, the committee can consider a working group for further investigation.