Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were noted as above.

None.

None.

None.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 27 August 2019 be agreed aa a true record.

Cllr N Fennelly asked that her apologies be recorded in the minutes of the last meeting.

A paper and presentation were received to provide the Board with an update following discussion at the LEP Board and feedback from the Thematic Boards which provided a steer on the vision, objectives and broad policy for the emerging Strategic Economic Plan.

An early draft of the Plan was provided to inform a discussion on priorities for the Plan.

The Board was informed that the evidence base had been signed off by the LEP Board and was now publicly available to inform wider research.

The Board were informed of the extensive means of engagement that had been undertaken.

Cllr Gilby commented that the vast majority of engagement had been in the four South Yorkshire districts.

F Kumi-Ampofo agreed but informed the Board that this would be redressed in the coming months.  He also asked for suggestions on engaging with hard-to-reach communities.

Cllr Fennelly requested a breakdown by area of the engagement across the SCR.

It was noted that the latest iterations of the plan had more of a ‘place’ feel. 

Changes from previous versions were explained, noting that the plan focused on inclusive growth, prosperity and opportunity with more holistic targeting and a greater emphasis on relationships with other agencies.

SCR intended to be at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution.  To enable this it was vital to have a skill system that worked.

There was a need to ensure that people were better prepared for work with a lifelong learning mind-set.

The Board discussed at length the need for schools and other educational establishments not just to focus on GCSE’s. Young people should not be judged by the number of GCSE’s they had achieved, these examinations did not suit everyone.

It was agreed that there would be better options for some young people, for example STEAM subjects and it was important to identify the right pathway for each individual.

It would be important to work with employers to identify the skills needed and to feed this into the education system it would also be helpful to encourage employer involvement in schools.

The presentation set out the objectives, outcomes and interventions planned around skills and employability including a focus upon higher level qualifications, transferable skills and retraining opportunities.

The Chair thanked Felix for his presentation.

The Board considered a report which presented proposed membership and approach to the appointment of employers for the Skills and Employment Specialist Advisory Network.

The network was intended to support the activity of the Board by providing broader expertise and knowledge on the key priority areas.

The report set out a list of named representatives who had already agreed to be part of the network or had been approached and conformation of acceptance was awaited.  These would form the core membership with additional members included where specialist areas of knowledge were required.

To maximise employer participation the report suggested a proposed approach:

• Each local authority would be invited to put forward the name of two businesses from their local area who was championing innovation to support growth, was engaged on the agenda of skills and employment and was committed to adding value to the network.
• An invitation would be made to one employer body that represented business views from across the board.
• In recognition of the focus on innovation, to support growth in the region, two invitations to be made to employer bodies that represented that.

Section 3 of the report listed alternative approaches which the Board rejected as too limiting.

The Board agreed that the establishment of a Virtual Employer Network would be useful to maximise employer engagement, noting that this was less onerous than attending meetings.

It was also noted that the non-constituent authorities could also have useful input into the Network.

It was hoped that recruitment would be completed by the end of the year with the first meeting of the Network to be held in January 2020.

RESOLVED – That the Board:

(i)        Endorse the current named representatives for the Network.

(ii)        Agree the proposed approach for the recruitment of employer representatives, sectors and organisations as set out in the report.

(iii)       Charge the SCR Executive to recruit to the agreed approach and establish a first meeting of the Network in January 2020.

The Board noted several items for future meetings including:

Update on the Strategic Economic Plan

Performance Dashboard

Deep dive into the Skills Bank Programme, although this could be provided for information outside of the meeting

Staffing Update

None.