Agenda item

Report by the Director of Children’s Services

15.1     The Committee established a ‘Raising the Participation Age’ (RPA) Review Board to examine if East Sussex County Council was meeting relevant statutory duties and whether improvements could be made to increase the levels of participation of young people in education, employment and training.    The report updated the Committee on the Action Plan adopted by the Children’s Services Department following the presentation of the final report to Cabinet in January 2016.   Fiona Wright (Assistant Director) and Caroline McKiddie(Participation Manager Education, Employment & Training) welcomed the progress highlighted within the report and provided an overview of some of the key developments since this item was last considered by the Committee.

15.2     In response the Committee welcomed the report and raised a number of questions in relation to the Action Plan (set out in Appendix 2 of the report).  A summary of the Committee’s questions, together with responses from the Department are set out below:  

·        Investors in Careers (IIC).  The Committee noted the high number of secondary schools that have achieved IIC accreditation.    However, it was noted that a number of schools are due for review and the Committee asked for clarification as to whether this had been taken on board by the relevant schools.   It was also noted that a number of academies did not appear to have engaged with the Council over IIC accreditation and that there appears to be a lack of information about the engagement of Colleges.   The Committee therefore asked if it could be provided with further information on these points.   In response, the Committee were informed there is an officer who devotes a substantial amount of their time to support the re-accreditation process and so this is being actively worked on.   A further development is that the Department for Education (DfE) are bringing out statutory advice which it is hoped will include guidance on kite-marking in this area.   It is hoped therefore that good levels of engagement will continue given both the officer support on offer and revised statutory guidance.

·        Governor Champions.   The Committee asked for an update regarding progress with appointing Governor Champions and whether, if further Champions were in place, this could also help increase the number of institutions seeking IIC accreditation.   In response, the Committee were informed that the Department had undertaken a number of activities to promote the role of the Governor Champion.  This included attending a number of governor briefings and contributing to governor newsletters.    There is also Department for Education guidance which the Children’s Services Department anticipate will support its work in this area.  However, as things stand further developmental and promotional work relating to the Governor Champion role is required.

·        Employability Passport.   Given the Employability Passport pilot had now finished, the Committee asked for feedback about the effectiveness of the project.  In response it was explained that the project had been successful and was well-received by young people.   However, as the project was paper-based many of the young people involved expressed a strong preference for an online option.   With this in mind, the Committee were informed that the Department are exploring the possibility of using a system employed by Sussex Downs College called ‘Mozilla Badges’ and that meetings to discuss this were imminent.  Overall therefore the feedback is that the Passport is viewed as useful and that it is wanted, but that it needs to be more accessible.

·        Careers Fair.   The Committee wanted to know about the impact of Careers Fairs and whether schools are engaging with this process.  In response, it was explained that the Department had received mixed views about the effectiveness of Careers Fairs, with some being more viewed as more successful than others.   The general feedback was that Careers Fairs need to be more engaging.  One way of achieving this could be to arrange a Careers Fair involving the Enterprise Adviser Network.  This would allow businesses to be involved with the process and would help make such events more relevant and engaging.  

·        Placements for Young People.   The Committee welcomed the increase in the number of Young People who have been offered a work placement.  However, the Committee asked for clarification on whether further places were still required.

·       Post 16 Travel Support.   With regard to Recommendation 7, the Committee asked for details of the numbers of young people who took up the bursary funds on offer to help improve access to post-16 provision.  In response, the Committee were informed that the Department do not have access to data on this as this is information held by the Education Funding Agency.   The Committee were also informed about early discussions relating to the possibility of making post-16 provision more accessible.    The Committee asked for feedback on these discussions.

15. 3           RESOLVED: to ask for further feedback on the issues raised in paragraph 15.2 when this item is brought back to the Committee for its 12 month monitoring report.