City Employment and Skills Steering Group Meeting 17th Jan 2012

Three key points from the meeting:

1. An update on the 1-stop apprenticeship shop in Queens Road: work has started on the shop and it should be open this year. There was some discussion about the quantity and value of bursaries/grants - still to be clarified. Although it seems very sensible to use such a facility to persuade organisations to offer placements, I was concerned that this wouldn't necessarily provide enough support to allow the most excluded in our community to participate. I'm still looking for ideas/ways to address this.
2. Presentations on youth unemployments and wage inequality (will be attached when the system allows) show that Brighton seems to have a higher proportion of NEETs than anywhere else in the South ot England; and that falling wages for the low-paid in the City means that a quarter of the workers here are below the poverty line. The council has to do something about a living wage for Brighton?
3. The national government is suggesting that it will start to move funding (£250 million this year) in training and skills away from providers (e.g. FE colleges) and give the money directly to employers. City College and the Chamber of Commerce are discussing whether to put in a bid for some of the £250 million, and how it might work. I attended the meeting, thinking this might be an opportunity for CVSF organisations to access money to train their staff/volunteers; or possibly to be paid to provide training. I will (obviously) need to consult more widely when/if the bid starts getting shaped.