Agenda item

To provide the Joint Committee with a progress update on SPOKE (Local Authority projects):

 

Elevate Bracknell

Elevate Reading

Elevate Wokingham

Elevate Slough

Elevate West Berkshire

Elevate Windsor and Maidenhead

The Committee received a report updating it on spoke and hub activity in each borough across Berkshire.

 

A representative of each of the local spokes provided an update on the work of theirs to support the details presented in the report.  All indicated good progress with the main points being:

 

Bracknell Forest

 

·                     The Bracknell Hub had moved to the Open Learning Centre following the closure of Charles Square for redevelopment.

 

·                     The borough had hit all Cabinet Office targets except that relating to work experience.

 

·                     135 young people had signed up to Elevate in Bracknell Forest.

 

·                     Web site uptake was increasing but there was a need to do more work to identify how many visitors were actually young people.

 

·                     Partners had not been keen on business brokerage so the focus had turned to sector-based work instead.

 

Reading

 

·                     The Reading Hub had opened in April 2015 and was a very lively and attractive place to visit.  A number of partners were based there and employers were booked in to run sessions.

 

·                     More outreach was to be undertaken

 

·                     It had been decided to take a sector-based approach to brokerage so that work was targeted where there was a need.

 

·                     They Council was keen to get more people into work experience.

 

·                     The need to do more work with ethnic minorities, NEETs and over 50s had been recognised.

 

Slough

 

·                     A virtual hub had been launched in February 2015 as there was already a lot of infrastructure to support young people and Slough therefore did not need a new building and could allocate the resource in other ways where it was needed

 

·                     Job Centre Plus already provided in Slough what they were looking to provide so the Council had focussed the extra resources on filling the gaps rather than duplicating what was already there.  This approach was likely to help embed the programme for the future when funding ceased..

 

·                     The virtual approach was bringing bits of the Council, Job Centre Plus and other partners together rather than working in silos, leading to much better co-ordination of the services being offered to young people.

 

·                     The web site was a key tool to being used. 

 

·                     Attention had turned to work experience and traineeships.

 

·                     Work experience was, like elsewhere, proving to be hard but the Council had started a programme itself which included employability training.

 

·                     The long term unemployed were signing up to trainee ships.

 

·                     Slough was also looking at sector-based work aimed at upskilling in areas such as the construction industry and IT where needs were changing.  This was working due to the type of companies in the borough.

 

·                     Lone parent work with Gingerbread was also going well including confidence building and upskilling.

 

·                     In the coming year it was intended to focus on work experience and getting more employers to offer trainee ships

 

 

West Berkshire

 

·                     West Berkshire had also established a virtual hub due to the size of the borough. 

 

·                     The main aim was to get providers to work together and add value.

 

·                     The Council had established a logistics training centre and a mentoring programme for 18 months, and were also supporting employers to work with young people.

 

·                     Work was also taking place with a hostel and children's centres to help people move into employment.

 

·                     Given the size of the borough, opportunities to increase outreach work was being explored such as pop up employment shops.  A construction bus had also been introduced to take training around the borough and more use was being made of children's centres to engage with young people.

 

·                     Apprenticeship take up was the highest in the South East helped by two key local employers.

 

·                     Careers advice and guidance in schools also seemed to be just what was required.

 

Wokingham

 

·                     A new hub had been required as there was nowhere else available.

 

·                     A first anniversary celebration was planned in September 2015. 

 

·                     800 had attended, 400 in the target group.

 

·                     All targets had been met.

 

·                     A work experience programme had been set up to help people into employment. 

 

·                     The Council was itself providing apprenticeships and employment opportunities.

 

·                     Construction was amongst the areas targeted so far.

 

·                     Engagement with businesses was increasing and a partnership with the hair stylists, Zappers, had led to the retention of a training facility which would otherwise have closed..

 

·                     A vacancy service had been set up in the hub.

 

Windsor and Maidenhead

 

·                     A full time hub had been established in Maidenhead town centre and a 2 day per week facility was operating at the East Berkshire College.

 

·                     The aim was to use the hub to maximise capacity, co-locating services in it thereby creating a seamless journey for young people.

 

·                     All targets had been met except work experience.

 

·                     A lot of work was under way to develop opportunities with local employers which seemed to be paying off as leading employers were starting to offer work experience.

 

·                     The Council had also looked at employability skills and offering a job club to help people into work

 

·                     It was intended to build on supported employment work including people with disabilities. 

 

·                     There was a need to focus on young Asian women with disabilities which also meant addressing cultural barriers. 

 

·                     Work was also taking place in schools to address concerns about working with the young people before they became NEETs.

 

In the course of the presentations, it was suggested that it would be interesting to see how the target market reacted to physical or virtual models, whilst recognising the valid reasons for choosing a virtual hubs in Slough and West Berkshire.

 

The Committee noted the reports.