Agenda item

Martin Blincow, Research and Development Manager from the Skills and Employability Service will be attending the meeting to answer Members’ questions on this item.

(1)    Mr Blincow introduced the report and explained that the background to the select committee was around the challenges that young people faced when they moved into employment.  The legislation and policy surrounding the issues contained within the select committee report was changing quickly and this was important to note. 

(2)    Mr Lees was a member of the select committee and explained that it was important to the select committee that the recommendations were both practical and achievable, it was encouraging to see the progress that had been made and that things were working.  Most of the amber areas in the action plan concerned the legislative changes that had been referred to previously.

(3)    The Chairman invited the graduates on Kent County Council’s graduate programme to the table to offer their views on the subject.  There was a question on the graduate entry routes and opportunities.  Mr Blincow explained that the challenge was to raise the standard of the skills of all young people to enable them to find the correct pathway to enter employment. 

(4)    Kent County Council was working with companies to encourage valuable work experience and offer alternative qualifications to encourage young people who otherwise might be disengaged from the education process to participate.  Research showed that having a degree or further qualification enhanced young people’s chances of employment.  Portfolios were being developed to record young people’s skills and achievements not only in school but outside of school.

(5)    A number of action points within the plan were waiting for further information and letters to be written to the Secretary of State.  Members queried the location of the Kent Choices4u website.    Mr Blincow explained that consultations which were received were being responded to which had delayed the Secretary of State’s letter.  Regarding the website it had been hoped that Kent Choices4u would remain as a stand-alone website but it had been incorporated into the kent.gov website. 

(6)    Concerns were raised about careers education in schools, this was vitally important to help young people find what they enjoyed and what they were good at.  Young people needed to be made aware of the opportunities for employment.  There was a duty on schools to secure appropriate independent careers guidance for 14-16year olds, however there was no additional funding for this and next year this duty was to be extended to 19 year olds and year 8 secondary schools.  The council was working with schools to support them on this duty which was a challenge for schools.   

(7)    Following an invitation from the Chairman the Kent Graduates explained to members their experiences of careers advice in their own schools. 

(8)    Further investigation would be carried out in relation to the location of the KentChoices4u website and this information would be reported back to Members.

POST MEETING NOTE: An email from the Chairman of the Select Committee was circulated to Scrutiny Committee Members 29 November 2012. 

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Committee:

(9)    Thank Mr Whiting, Mr Blincow and the Kent Graduates (Chris Beale, Tim Middleton, Sam Newing, Matthew Southern and Keturah Watts) for attending the meeting and answering Members’ questions.

(10)     Endorse the Student Journey Action Plan

(11)     Recognise the legislative and policy changes made that impact on the Student Journey Select Committee recommendations.