Agenda item

A Foulkes gave an update on the work of the Skills Advisory Network (SAN).

Members were reminded that the SAN had accessed £75k of funding from the DfE for 2020/21 which had to be spent within 6 months with approval from DfE of the workplan.

The main output for 2021 was the Local Skills Report which had been published in March this year.

SAN had commissioned the development of an Intelligence Hub. This is still in development and not yet widely available.  The SAN was interested in progressing this urgently so that the data would be useful for everyone.

A deep dive into the manufacturing skills base had been commissioned.  A Foulkes, (on behalf of the SAN) requested that the Board supported the unlocking of the commitment to the procurement process for this as a matter of urgency.

A Foulkes explained that for 2021/22 the SAN was proposing to draw down the same amount of money from the DfE against a workplan set out in a new Memorandum of Understanding for the Board’s approval.

The proposals for 2021/22 were:

• Update the Local Skills Report including a link to the work on the Skills Strategy.
• Commission a piece of work on NEETS and the impact of Covid-19 on young people.
• Provide support to the Local Skills Improvement Trailblazer (as required by DfE) to develop understanding of SME skills demand.
• Ongoing analytical support on Labour Market Information from EMSI.

The SAN were asking the Board for support for these proposals and also to unlock any barriers that were preventing progress.

Members were reminded that the SAN had volunteers from the skills, education and employer base to look at the SEP and RAP outcomes and in future to support the Skills Strategy and LSIP.

The aim was to bring suggestions and recommendations to the Board that the SAN thought would add value to the SEP and RAP or in general to the skills agenda.

Current work included:

• Proposals for apprenticeships which had been brought to the Board previously and appeared to have stalled.  SAN would like the opportunity to bring the proposals back to the Board for further consideration.
• Work continued on careers IAG workstreams.  SAN had recommended a regional approach to a careers event for a wide age range. Again, this work is still in progress.
• Work had begun on the offer for NEETS. Proposals would be brought to the Board at a later stage.

A Foulkes questioned whether the Board were content with the direction of travel of the SAN and how they could better engage with the Board so that proposals got better traction.  There was a waning of appetite within the SAN as it was felt that their work was not leading anywhere.

H George commented that it was important that the Board found a way of commissioning the SAN to work on projects that the Board thought was important and that a demand relationship was created with the SAN.  The Board needed specialist advice in developing the Skills Strategy and a strong relationship with the SAN would be needed going forward.

The Chair suggested further discussion on how the SAN fitted in and how they could gain more recognition.

The Chair thanked A Foulkes for the update.