New Anglia Skills Advisory Panel Meeting

17th November 2022

Via Microsoft Teams

MINUTES OF MEETING

In attendance:

Annette Nott, DfE (AN)

Catherine Richards, East Norfolk 6th Form

(CR)

Christine Futter, Norfolk and Suffolk Care

Support (CF)

Claire Cullens, New Anglia LEP Board and

SAP Chair (CC)

Cllr Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council

(SC)

Cllr Rachel Hood, Suffolk County Council

(RH)

David Ladbrook, New Anglia LEP (DL)

Gurpreet Jagpal, University of Suffolk (GJ)

Guy Hazlehurst, EDF (GH)

Jason Parnell, Steadfast Training (JP)

Jerry White, City College Norwich (JW)

Julia Nix, DWP (JN)

Karin Porter, Norfolk County Council (KP)

Michael Gray, Suffolk County Council (MG)

Natasha Waller, New Anglia LEP (NW)

Nova Fairbank, Norfolk Chamber of

Commerce (NF)

Paul Simon, Suffolk Chamber of

Commerce (PS)

Richard Bridgman, Warren Services (RB)

Samantha Fletcher, Norfolk County

Council (SF)

Stuart Smith, People with Energy (SS)

Viv Gillespie, Suffolk New College (VG)

Yvonne Mason, The Mason Trust (YM)

Visitors:

Barbara Herring, Norfolk County Council

(BH)

Dean Pierpoint, Norfolk Chamber of

Commerce (DP)

Emily Hollywood, Open University (EH)

Simon Papworth, New Anglia LEP (SP)

Tom Lloyd, West Suffolk College (TL)

Apologies:

Adrian Orr, Suffolk County Council (AO)

Chris Gribble, Writers’ Centre Norwich

(CG)

Clarke Willis, Swallow Barns (CW)

David Gartland, Abbeygate 6th Form (DG)

David Pomfret, College of West Anglia

(DP)

Helen Langton (Professor), University of

Suffolk (HL)

Jan Feeney, Norfolk County Council (JF)

Nikos Savvas, West Suffolk College (NS)

Stuart Rimmer, East Coast College (SR)

Tom Brown, Green Light Trust (TB)

Tom Humphries, Norfolk County Council

(TH)

Tracey Cox, ESFA (TC)

Vince Muspratt, Norfolk County Council

(VP)

Item 1: Welcome and Minutes

CC welcomed everyone to the meeting and summarised the agenda.

JN approved the minutes. All actions had been followed up.

Item 2: Local Skills Improvement Plan

NF gave an update of the LSIP process. Dean Pierpoint has been appointed as Project

Manager which will help to move activity along at a faster pace. Since the last SAP there has

been lots of engagement including the development and submission of the Project Initiation

Document to DfE. This has been approved including the schedule. Approximately £535,000

has been awarded.

Throughout November and December, they need to complete an engagement plan, officially

launch their stakeholder engagement, market the LSIP concept to businesses, create a digital

platform and expand their website presence. The LSIP Board will be established and tenders

put out for the different workstreams.

Analysis of data needs to take place by the end of March 2023. There will then be a skills

translation piece bringing the employers and providers together.

The full submission will take place in May 2023.

DfE will be monitoring every 6 weeks with a formal document capturing key information.

There will be Governance and working groups. Governance will have 15 members and the

option for 4 additional co-opted members. It is likely to include the Chambers,

micro/medium/large businesses, SCC, NCC, LEP, universities, independent training providers

and the DWP.

The working groups will cover each of the 4 priorities that LSIP is covering.

It is anticipated that SAP members will make a huge contribution through the different

groups.

There was a subsequent discussion about the soft skills focus. NF explained that employers

will be asked specifically what aspect of soft skills they need improvements in. Members

explained that it is often difficult to define, there is lots of activity to support soft skills

development in an education setting both linked to formal qualifications and wider activities.

Some members expressed their dislike of ‘soft’ as they are so valuable and that they should

apply to adults, not just young people. There is also a variety of delivery standards between

education providers.

NF confirmed that they are looking at all ages post 16.

DL offered the support of the Careers Hub by engaging the Cornerstone employers and their

supply chain.

KP that an onus should be placed on businesses providing ‘Saturday’ jobs for young people

as these are great learning opportunities. Also, both businesses and education providers

should own the responsibility to support people to develop their soft skills.

CC concluded by expressing the depth of discussion shows how much SAP can influence the

LSIP.

Item 3: Developing Skills in Health & Social Care

Barbara Herring (NCC) gave an update on the ESF programme with support by Christine

Futter. The programme is jointly led by NCC and SCC. An overview was given about the

rationale for its development. They utilise career progression mentors who are quite unique

in supporting the learners. Discussions started in 2017 and the programme will end in

September 2023.

Recruitment and retention of staff is even more important now than it was 5 years ago.

Turnover and retention were an issue at the writing stage together with achievement rates

on courses. Career progression routes were also not obvious.

Success to date has been through a collaboration of partners. Evaluation is being carried out

by Healthwatch Suffolk. There are regular partner meetings to look at delivery and to discuss

areas for improvement.

They are underperforming on targets, but 1300 learners have been engaged with so far.

There is a high level of demand for the Aspiring Leaders course. Curriculum and timings have

been changed to reflect demand.

They offer a laptop loan scheme and mentors give digital confidence. They are above target

on their ethnic minority and single parents’ criteria. The average age of the workforce is mid

40s so they are keen to give them lifelong learning opportunities, particularly women. Peer

encouragement is key to this.

There were challenges with a previous Project Change Request (PCR) which led to some staff

losses and a provider. Mitigation has been put in offering mentoring at an early stage and

looking at non-accredited training due to the pressures and time commitment for accredited

training. They are keen to promote health & social care as a career.

The latest PCR is adjusting funding and targets plus leaving a legacy.

CC conveyed that the programme is a good blueprint for partnership working. Good lessons

can be passed over to the LSIP.

Item 4: Building Growth Skills Group Update

MG gave an update on the group following their recent meeting. The Chair, Helen Clements

from Morgan Sindall has stepped down and Nadine Tapp from Flagship has taken her place.

MG discussed how the skills hub model will work with the Building Growth skills group.

There were some asks of where the Sizewell and net zero discussions will best take place.

CC formally recognised the great contribution Helen has made over the last 6 years.

Item 5: Next Steps with SAP

CC explained that there is a lot of ambiguity at the moment and encouraged members to

focus on what they know. She stressed that we should support LSIP, but it doesn’t cover all

of our 4 objectives and key sectors. It will be disappointing if this work disappears.

CC reminded the panel that the SAP work is funded until the end of the financial year.

Item 6: AOB and Next Meeting

Next meeting – January 20th from 10am.

CC thanked everyone for their contribution over the year, particularly to NW, JF and MG.