To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2024.

Decision

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Inclusive Growth

This report provides a progress update and the next steps for the delivery of the strategy’s 5 key themes.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Inclusive Growth which provided a progress update and the next steps for the delivery of the strategy’s five key themes.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·       Contextual information;

·       Headline achievements;

·       Case studies;

·       Challenges; and

·       Measuring success.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

·       To welcome the focus on giving the most vulnerable residents access to the best quality work and skills training, support and funding;

·       Concern that the level of Shared Prosperity Funding available was significantly lower than the funding which it had replaced;

·       Concern that there were frequent new initiatives, advising that consistent, well-known programmes were needed so that people knew where to go to access training and support;

·       Concern about people who had dropped out of the labour market;

·       Digital inclusion including suggesting that the Committee might want to consider a report on this at a future meeting;

·       Whether there were any sectors with large skills gaps which would particularly benefit from investment; and

·       The increase in young people who were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) and work to address this.

The Director of Inclusive Economy clarified that the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) matched the European element of the previous European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) programmes, which was 50% of the total previous funding levels, advising that there was an issue concerning both the level of funding and its longevity.  She recognised a Member’s comments about the range of different initiatives announced by the Government to address economic inactivity, each aimed at slightly different cohorts and with slightly different offers, and acknowledged that this could be confusing for both frontline staff and people who could benefit from these programmes.  She informed Members that Manchester had been recognised as the most digitally inclusive city in the country due to the number of digital access hubs per 100,000 digitally excluded residents.  She drew Members’ attention to the Digital Exclusion Index which had been considered at a previous Committee meeting and outlined how Libraries and the Work and Skills Team had been working together to improve digital inclusion.  In response to the question about skills gaps, she advised that digital, construction, education, health and social care were sectors which her service worked closely with to address skill shortages.  She reported that the biggest group in the city in terms of economic inactivity was higher education students, who were not a primary area of concern; however, the next two groups were people with caring responsibilities, largely women, and people with underlying health conditions and she drew Members’ attention to information in the report on initiatives to support these groups into work.  In response to a question about the increase in the number of young people who were NEET, she reported that the total number of 16- to 18-year-olds in the city had increased significantly, resulting in increased pressure for post-16 places and young people who were most vulnerable to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Report of John Thornhill, Chief Executive, LTE Group and Rachel Curry, Principal Manchester College & Group Deputy CEO

This paper provides strategy and policy updates from the LTE Group and an update from one organisation within the Group, The Manchester College.

The Committee received a report of John Thornhill, Chief Executive, LTE Group and Rachel Curry, Principal of Manchester College and Group Deputy CEO which provided strategy and policy updates from the LTE Group and an update from one organisation within the Group, The Manchester College.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·       LTE Group strategy and policy including:

o   Pay;

o   Prison education and resettlement;

o   Devolution and skills; and

o   National Apprentice policy; and

·       An update from The Manchester College including:

o   An overview of the College’s engagement with Ofsted and the quality of provision;

o   An update on the College’s student cohort;

o   College Vision 2027 Strategy, Curriculum Strategy, including T level update, and engagement with employers;

o   Learner outcomes performance 2022/23;

o   Progress of the College’s Estates Strategy and associated carbon reduction; and

o   The post-16 population increase and the growing crisis in the city through lack of places for technical and vocational education from 2023 for the next decade.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

·       Welcoming the achievements of the LTE Group and The Manchester College;

·       Recognising major challenges with Further Education funding;

·       Requesting more detail on work to address climate change and environmental issues in future reports;

·       What the new Education Inspection Framework would consist of and how the college was preparing for an Ofsted inspection;

·       Noting that the majority of students, both aged 16-18 and adults, were male and querying why this might be;

·       Whether there were any vacancies at the college and if this would cause any issues for the next academic year;

·       Whether the LTE Group expected any changes to the Apprentice Levy in the government’s budget announcements on 6 March;

·       How reform to the Apprentice Levy would benefit the college;

·       The devolution qualification (MBACC);

·       What the LTE Group and Manchester College would change if they had a magic wand; and

·       What the revenue ask of government would be.

The Principal, Manchester College and Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer, LTE Group emphasised that The Manchester College was a diverse and inclusive institution with around 6000 students aged between 16 and 18-years-old and 6000 adult students. She highlighted that 79% of young people and 74% of adults enrolled at The Manchester College came from deprived areas and free breakfast for all students and staff had been introduced in the last academic year following concerns over the volume of students experiencing challenging personal circumstances and food poverty. She stated that care-experienced young people made up 6% of the 16-18-year-old student population at the college and 30% of students had a declared learning difficulty or disability with 10% of students having an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in place, supported by the Council who the college had a strong relationship with. She explained that the college had retained a significant focus on high-quality technical education and T-Levels continued to be delivered, on which there were currently 335 students with numbers expected to treble as the government defunded the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Report of the Director of Inclusive Economy and Head of MAES

The purpose of this report is to provide information on MAES performance in 2022/23 and the skills challenges in the city.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Inclusive Economy and Head of MAES which provided information on MAES performance in 2022/23 and the skills challenges in the city.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·       Current projects;

·       New programmes;

·       Performance and funding 2022/23;

·       Enrolment/recruitment term 1 (September to December 2023);

·       Quality of education;

·       ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and ESOL Advice Service; and

·       Priorities for the current academic year.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

·       Commending the Carbon Literacy training provided by MAES, which a member had recently attended;

·       Why Ofsted identified learners’ understanding of the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism and how it applied to them in their personal lives and at work as an area for improvement, and how would this be improved upon;

·       How asylum seekers were supported through MAES;

·       What more could be done to support ESOL learners and to increase provisions;

·       Why the number of learners had dropped in 2023/24;

·       What other metrics were used to indicate performance and outcomes;

·       What safeguarding measures were in place to prevent abuse of learners; and

·       Noting that the Service Improvement Plan included assigning responsibility to a specific member of staff in the High Needs team to meet with learners and parents and carers at key points, and querying what these key points were.

The Head of MAES stated that the service focused its efforts on reaching those furthest from education, providing routes into education and providing opportunities to understand the different options available to them. He explained that MAES provided a range of courses, such as ESOL, English and Maths, and community learning and there had been great achievement in high-level provision, particularly in Level 3 courses where uptake had doubled year-on-year. He acknowledged recruitment challenges and explained that teacher education was provided at Level 3 to encourage residents to view teaching as a viable career and that the service had participated in the ‘Routes into Teaching’ programme in the previous academic year with other service providers across the city. He stated that the teacher education programme continued to be developed to enable continued service delivery for residents.

The Head of MAES highlighted that the service had been awarded a ‘Good’ rating by Ofsted, which was a welcome achievement, and time would be spent between now and the next inspection to understand the aspirations of residents and how the service’s provisions could continue to evolve to meet these needs.

In response to members’ queries, the Area Adult Education Manager explained that MAES had already identified learners’ understanding of the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism on its Service Improvement Plan and work was already underway on this. She stated that many learners were part-time and attended one session a week which made it difficult to embed into the curriculum, but this would be done in a way which still allowed the service to meet the needs of learners through learning materials and critical thinking skills.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Report of the Director of Inclusive Growth

This report provides an update on the support offered by the Manchester Growth Company and the Manchester City Council to support businesses in Manchester to set up and grow.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Inclusive Growth which provided an update on the support offered by the Manchester Growth Company and the Manchester City Council to support businesses in Manchester to set up and grow.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·       Contextual information;

·       Business support programmes that were previously funded under ERDF; and

·       An update and summary of the newly funded business support services provided by GC Business Growth Hub and the Manchester Library Service’s Business and Intellectual Property Centre - Build a Business Service, funded under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

·       Commending the work of The Growth Company;

·       Noting the return on investment for the Build a Business scheme, and querying the usual level return on investment expected from these types of schemes;

·       What could be done to support businesses whilst the UK’s general economy was in a technical recession;

·       If any changes to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund were expected in the Chancellor’s Budget announcements on 6 March;

·       How decisions were made as to how much investment to provide a start-up;

·       Requesting that social value be quantified in a future report;

·       How to ensure that support initiatives effectively reached and empowered communities facing historic disadvantage, helped to eradicate issues such as child poverty and closed the gap in economic inactivity while fostering a truly inclusive city;

·       The impact of delays in funding after the end of UKSPF in March 2025;

·       Whether there were routes into and signposting for businesses involved with The Growth Company to become a Manchester Living Wage employer;

·       Welcoming the focus on cooperatives, and querying what this could look like in practice; and

·       What the Greater Manchester Strategy for the Visitor Economy 2024-2030 might look like.

The Group CEO, The Growth Company informed the committee that The Growth Company was a social enterprise which had been operating for 30 years and was the principal organisation delivering business support, investment and promotion across Greater Manchester. He stated the organisation was involved in GMCA’s governance architecture and there were five councillors on the company’s board, including the Leader of Manchester City Council. He explained that the work of The Growth Company focused on promoting successful and resilient businesses; creating good and inclusive employment opportunities; and working toward environmental sustainability within businesses and he recognised the interdependencies between businesses, the health and wellbeing of residents and the delivery of high-quality services.

The committee was also informed that 75% of businesses that worked with The Growth Company had seen increased productivity, that around 40% of participants on The Growth Company’s programmes were from diverse ethnic communities and that 40% of participants were female. The Group CEO, The Growth Company stated that the organisation was responsible for 90% of European Regional Development Fund and all activities were subject to independent evaluation. He highlighted that the ERDF had now ended and that this had been replaced by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

This report provides the Committee with details of key decisions that fall within the Committee’s remit and an update on actions resulting from the Committee’s recommendations. The report also includes the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee is asked to amend as appropriate and agree.

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

The Chair noted that this was the last meeting of the municipal year and placed on record his thanks to members and officers for their work. He also wished those up for election in May good luck.

Decision:

That the Committee note the report and agree the work programme.