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Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Employment and Skills Board

Date 12 February 2020

Time 2pm to 4:30pm

Venue Grenville Room, County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, TR1 3AY

Agenda

Item No.

Timings Agenda Items Lead

1. 2:00 – 2:05 Welcome, Introductions and Apologies FB

2. 2:05 – 2:10 Chair and Vice Chair Arrangements FB

3. 2:10 – 2:15 Employment and Skills Board 9 October 2019 (as meeting on 10 December 2019 was cancelled)

• Minutes and Action Summary

FB

4. 2:15 – 3:15 Hot Topic: Skills Evidence Base Update from Metro-Dynamics

5. 3:15 – 3:25 Employment and Skills Board Progress Report SS

6. 3:25 – 3:30 Written Resolution Update:

• CEIAG Report SS

7. 3:30 – 3:45 ESB support for a virtual Apprenticeship Levy Transfer fund for Cornwall & Isles of Scilly

CK

8. 3:45 – 4:15 Cornwall College update JE

9. 4:15 – 4:30 Any other business FB

Date of next meetings

• 8 April 2020 (Cornwall College)

• 10 June 2020 (Cornwall Marine Network)

• 14 October 2020 (New County Hall)

• 9 December 2020 (Cornwall Marine Network)

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• 10 February 2021 (Cornwall College)

Papers to be included: • Paper 1: Agenda • Paper 2: Minutes of meeting 9 October 2019 (as meeting on 10 December was

cancelled) • Paper 3: Employment and Skills Board Progress Report January 2020 • Paper 4: ESB support for a virtual Apprenticeship Levy Transfer fund for Cornwall

& Isles of Scilly Report • Paper 5: Cornwall College Briefing Note

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Minutes

Meeting Title: CIoS Employment and Skills Board

Date: 9 October 2019

Time: 2pm to 4:30pm

Location: Boardroom (J417), Level 4 John Keay House, Tregonissey Rd, St Austell PL25 4DJ

Chaired by: Paul Massey

Membership:

Paul Massey Phil Mason Tim Osborne David Walrond Dawn George Jim Grant Trevor Doughty

Lindsey Hall Paul Wickes Stuart Roden Tarn Lamb Mark Williams John Evans

Observers: Frances Brennan Mark Duddridge

Terri Whitten Josie Gough

Officer support

Clare Harris Cathie Kessell Emily Kent Ben Bolton

Glenn Caplin Stacey Sleeman Debbie Osborne

Minutes Action 1. Welcome, Introductions and Apologies

Paul Massey welcomed everyone to the meeting and in particular John Evans who is replacing Elaine McMahon as Principal of Cornwall College, group in turn introduced themselves.

Apologies received from Ben Bolton, Glenn Caplin, Dawn George, Trevor Doughty, Clare Harris, Tim Osborne, Josie Gough, Lindsey Hall, Mark Duddridge, Phil Mason and Terri Whitten.

2. Employment and Skills Board 12 June 2019

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Minutes Action

Minutes from 12 June 2019 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

All actions completed.

3. Employment and Skills Board Progress Report

Progress report to be brought to each ESB to help capture all activity in one report to allow ESB agendas to have more focused items. Report to be taken as read.

Highlights

Skills Hub 2: will now be approved through PCR route rather than a formal bid. Josh Hoole from Skills Hub is in contact with DWP.

Beacon: Additional £79k funding secured for AI work and has submitted proposals for Phase 2 to take project up to April 2020. Will keep ESB updated.

Skills Advisory Panel: ESB advised that Christopher Mussett has now left authority. LEP Executive now working with Metro Dynamics to turn into evidence base for Local Industrial Strategy over the next couple of weeks. Will be invited to attend the next meeting of ESB in December.

Careers Hub: State of Nation report received from CEC with CIoS LEP receiving its own congratulations letter. Is currently 8th in country and above average on indicators. Had successful Skills Show on 8 October with 3 to 4k visitors. CEC were present and met with LEP representatives. Going forward the Careers Hub should have similar arrangements to this academic year.

Digital Skills Partnership: Treasury have signed off another years funding and working locally and nationally on a sustainable model.

Institute of Technology: Building work starts on facility in Truro in February 2020 with a finish build date of December 2020 at a cost of £7m. Looking at 240 learners by 2024. Another 6 IoTs were announced at the recent Conservative Party Conference.

Skills Action Plans: More work to be undertaken to develop statements and priorities and how feeds into existing strategy.

Apprenticeship Campaign: Website now live and

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Minutes Action receiving good social media visibility. Had an Apprenticeship Zone at the Skills Show on 8 October and will be attending Festival of Business at the end of October.

ESF Programme: o ITI Board have now written to DWP re delays, response

received which will be shared with ESB Members. Action 1: LEP Executive to share DWP letter and response with ESB Members.

o Has received positive feedback on new applications. o Meeting with Clare Maguire taking place on 15

October. o Report on match funding being taken to Cabinet in

relation to project pipeline. o Are still issues on Skills Delivery but Mark Williams in

conversation with Sebeail Fowell. o With regards to Smart Specialisation, have had a

response from approver but questions have been raised and currently being looked at.

o The recent calls have received some good bids. o Need to ensure no gap in delivery. Have written to MA

asking for CIoS to be taken out of the single pot process. Action 2: LEP Executive to share MA letter with ESB members.

Construction: Building Cornwall website now live. ESB members encouraged to take a look and share with networks www.buildingcornwall.co.uk

Discussions taking place over the potential of the PA2 group including the Employer Led Skills Group members to allow the group to be more operational. Over the next couple of months though SAP process will be the opportunity to appoint more members to the ESB and the sub groups.

Community Grants Fund: to build on the CLLD work the ability to have a flexible fund will be useful. This will be raised in the meeting with Clare Maguire on Tuesday.

TA Team have commissioned Ash Futures to prepare some social economic data. Will be interviewing people involved in Growth Programme and would be useful to involve the ESB members in that consultation. Will then

SS/DO

SS/DO

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Minutes Action be brought back to ESB as a future hot topic. Action 3: LEP Executive to liaise with Ash Futures over involving ESB members in consultation.

SS

4. Digital Skills Partnership Update

Report to be taken as read.

With regards to the 3 recommendations: o The Employment and Skills Board ratify the proposed

structure and membership. RATIFIED o The Employment and Skills Board recognise the

expectation that the DSP will become locally sustainable in year 3 (Further paper to follow as the detail is developed). AGREED

o The Employment and Skills Board nominate a dedicated Member to sit on the Digital Skills Partnership Executive Group to represent and report to the ESB. AGREED TO LEAVE THIS VACANCY UNTIL THE ESB RECRUITMENT HAS TAKEN PLACE.

5. Any other business

None

Date of next meetings:

11 December 2019 2pm to 4:30pm (Cornwall Marine Network)

12 February 2020 2pm to 4:30pm (Grenville NCH)

Actions from today’s meeting 9 October 2019 1. LEP Executive to share DWP letter and response with ESB

Members. 2. LEP Executive to share MA letter with ESB members. 3. LEP Executive to liaise with Ash Futures over involving ESB

members in consultation.

SS/DO

SS/DO

SS

Meeting finished at 2:45pm

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Employment and Skills Strategy Update – January 2020

Progress Report:

Project Description Progress to date Overall progress RAG Lead

Skills Hub Delivery of ESF funded independent skills diagnostic and referral service, aligned with the CIOS Growth Hub Project Completion date – PCR agreed for extension to End March 2020

• Outputs- 301 out of 300 (Target) Businesses engaged in TNA and referred into training provision (100% Financial YTD)

• Pipeline going well for Skills Hub and project now expected to overachieve on target by 41 CO23 outputs or 12.5%.

• Innovation Challenge Fund has funded: o Isles of Scilly Access to Training Fund to fund travel & accommodation for businesses

on IoS to access training on the mainland and for training providers to travel to IoS to deliver training ONGOING

o Cornwall Apprenticeship Campaign launched MAY19 to encourage apprenticeship uptake https://cornwallapprenticeships.com ONGOING

o Business Skills & Recruitment research of over 1,000 employers by PFA research using open data principles and public website now available at https://businessobservatory.com/recruitment/skills-survey-dashboard/ COMPLETE

o Social Care Virtual Reality Training App by Dynamo Healthcare to top up essential training requirements in Health & Social Care sector http://www.dynamohealthcaretraining.co.uk/app-solutely-healthcare/ COMPLETE

• New Marketing Campaign in development for final 6 months, including webinar delivery and increased online advertising

• ESF Connections – PA1 Group member to encourage links between PA1 & PA2. Project Management Group member for Innovation in Higher Level Skills. Increase in referrals to ESF Projects including DS4B, Developing Leaders, Hospitality Table Cornwall.

• Skills Hub Phase 2 bid submitted on 19th Feb and included some new elements such as an Outreach Programme and Aftercare work with clients. This will take Skills Hub to end March 2023 – Currently awaiting decision/next stage

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Josh Hoole/Stu Anderson

Beacon The project aims to identify a clear narrative for businesses to shape the work and health agenda as an opportunity to address their skills and productivity issues, through a co-produced social marketing campaign, and

Beacon Project (progress to date) PR and Comms Marketing of Beacon continues with the next Advertorial feature in the December / January edition of ‘Business Cornwall’ magazine on ‘Creating a good place to work’. Over the next quarter, we are also planning a PR and marketing campaign and you can read the latest press release on our LEP website here It has also been covered by Business Live online: https://www.business-live.co.uk/professional-services/businesses-urged-embrace-tech-solution-17449258 and appeared in local press. As part of the Beacon Project, we agreed to sponsor some Business Awards to help raise awareness of the project. Beacon sponsored the ‘Environmental and Sustainability’ Award at the Cornwall Manufacturing Awards that took place on 31st October and we created a new category ‘Beacon Award for Inclusive Apprenticeship Recruitment’ for the recent Truro and Penwith College

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Clare Harris

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by intensely working with SME’s to develop Disability Confident as an effective and useful resource for business. The aim is to test how business engagement and local action could achieve the Government’s ambition to increase disability employment. Funding – The People and Prosperity Team in the LEP has secured £465k from the DWPs Strategic Work and Health Unit to deliver the Beacon Project. Project Completion Date – March 2020

Apprenticeship Awards on 15th November. We were involved with the judging for these awards and we had 3 nominations for the Beacon Inclusivity Award from Cornwall Council, St Austell Brewery and Disability Cornwall. Invitation to Tender for Beacon animation films went out on 20th December and closes on 10th January. The animation film will support the introduction and launch of the digital tool, approx. 30 seconds to 1 minute in length and this work should be completed early February. Digital Solutions – Evident Agency Beacon brand refresh is now complete and full colour design has now progressed for the digital tool (see screenshot below). The overall content structure is now completed and includes:-

• Homepage

• Dashboard

• Category (4 primary) and sub categories for each section

The project is on track and the limited beta release went live on 29th November according to schedule. Evident are in the process of completing testing and interviews with the initial adopters in order to better shape future phases of development. Further features are being added to the Digital product in a phased approach, alongside further development of the content management system and scoping the implementation of Artificial Intelligence functionality. Link to the prototype animation can be found here. Next Steps during January 2020 include:-

• Produce digital style guide for new brand and circulate with the wider project team and DCA PR

• Complete feedback interviews with Beta phase 1 users and continuation of testing phase • Continue development for the Beta Phase 3 release mid January, which will include increased

functionality, design enhancements and iterations based on feedback from our initial adopters

Impact and Evaluation – University of Exeter

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The University of Exeter’s evaluation tasks have focussed on the Cornwall recruitment and retention survey and a scoping task regarding the influence of local navigators on health / employment related initiatives for businesses. The survey now has 60 responses from Cornish businesses. The initial phase of collating and analysing results has started. Furthermore, the scoping task has identified 36 relevant studies and these have been used to form a repository of key themes around the influences of local navigators on health / employment related initiatives for businesses. The University of Exeter evaluation researcher will put together the final evaluation report structure during January and will include the evaluation insights gained to date. A meeting with Evident Agency and the wider project team is to be scheduled in January to finalise the interview script and survey for evaluating the Beacon Digital solution.

Skills Advisory Panel (SAP)

The aim of SAPs is to support new local partnerships comprising of local employers, skills providers and local government to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs, and to work together to understand and address key local challenges. Funding - The People and Prosperity Team in the LEP has secured £75k from the DfE to increase analytical capacity and capability Project Completion Date – March 2020

Implementation Phase – The ESB Terms of reference (ToR) has been reviewed and a report prepared for presentation at the ESB on the 10th April. The ToR was approved by the ESB. The DfE undertook a summer review of work to date, the feedback was broadly positive in particular around the work we have completed for the ESB ToR and proposed recruitment process to have more people join the board. Feedback on the analysis was less positive and this is mainly due to slippage in the project due to the loss of our Assistance Growth Officer. To respond to this a commission has been prepared and is currently live which seeks a consultant to review the desktop analysis already completed and to undertake phase 2 of the project. It is hoped that this work will commence in December so that we can meet the March 2020 deadline. Metro-Dynamics have been appointed to undertake this work, the inception meeting took place on the 17th December, with a final report projected for the 8h April 2020.

Amber Stacey Sleeman

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Careers Hub and Enterprise Advisers

Careers Hubs are groups of schools and colleges working together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals to improve careers education. The LEP-funded Careers Hub -Cornwall & Isles of Scilly is one of 40 Careers Hubs within the UK as part of a £5 million government project running till August 2020. Funding – the People and Prosperity Team within the LEP has secured £341,629 from the Careers Enterprise Company to deliver a Careers Hub and continue to deliver the Enterprise Adviser Network. This amount is paid direct to

Enterprise Advisers – Business Volunteers that work with schools and colleges to improve the quality of careers work taking place.

Metric CIoS National Average

No of EAs 60

% of EAs matched to school or college 89% 78%

EA satisfaction rates 94% 88%

Institutions completing Compass 40

Benchmark

CIoS (%age of hub

members meeting

benchmark)

National hub average (%age of hub

members meeting benchmark)

1.) A Stable Careers

Programme 33% 44%

2.) Learning from career &

labour market information 53% 67%

3.) Addressing the needs for

every student 8% 28%

4.) Linking curriculum learning

to careers 33% 57%

5.) Encounters with employers 75% 71%

6.) Experiences of workplaces 78% 62%

7.) Encounters with FE & HE 38% 44%

8.) Personal Guidance 55% 69%

Average Benchmarks (met out

of 8) 3.7 4.43

Career Leader Training - 39 Careers Leaders from Cornwall have been allocated bursaries by the Careers & Enterprise Company, one of the highest figures nationally. Cornerstone Employers – The Careers Hub CIoS has a growing network of Cornerstone Employers: Pendennis Shipyard, Bluefruit Software, Cornwall Museum Partnership, Cornwall Care, St Austell Brewery, Cornwall Council. The Cornerstone Employers are focusing their work on quality experiences of work, use of sector ambassadors and engaging/pipelining a diverse future workforce.

Green Carrie Holmes

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Cornwall Council to deliver the project on the LEP’s behalf. This is matched with £100k of LEP funding. Project Completion date – August 2020

College/Secondary Funding - We have received and fully allocated a catalogue of Enterprise Activities to hub members to a value of £148,000 through being awarded one of 10 ‘virtual wallets’ by the Careers and Enterprise Company. We engaged with more than 20 local and national partners to increase bids to the Cornish wallet from 5 organisations to 12 representing a wide ranging and comprehensive offer. Primary Funding – The Eden Project are one of 9 organisations nationally to be awarded some funding to develop careers activity with primary school children. National Charity Education and Employers are also delivering some primary school activity to 20 primary schools in Cornwall.

Digital Skills Partnership

The formation of Local Digital Skills Partnerships (LDSPs) in Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) regions across England. The aim of LDSPs is to coordinate and develop digital skills initiatives to meet the needs of local economies and communities. Funding – the People and Prosperity team within the LEP has secured £75k from DCMS to establish and implement the Local Digital Skills

Last year was dominated by stakeholder engagement and promoting the DSP as a potential facilitator of change. This ground work is now paying dividends as the DSP is rapidly seeing greater opportunities to influence digital skills in Cornwall and IoS. November saw the first official meeting of the DSP Board/ Advisory Group. This was attended by over 35 partners including the Digital Skills Lead from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. THis session gathered vast amount of intelligence about existing activity and desired outcomes for the DSP. We have co-hosted two Google Digital Garage workshops with over 60 participants, largely from SMEs. We are working on a formal performance framework to ascertain exactly what the outputs and outcomes of the DSP should be. This is the framework against which the success of future work will be measured. The Digital Skill Lead is working with Software Cornwall Board Members to undertake a review of Software Cornwall to ascertain opportunities for future and explore sustainability models based upon a more closely aligned future. We have agreed to support Agile on the Beach and Software Cornwall in establishing a large youth engagement day that will take place in July 2020 where we will inspire over 200 yr 7 and 8 pupils. We are also supporting several other industry partners to host a Girls in TEC event in April. Truro and Penwith College have approached us to help them shape their digital skills offer based upon the intelligence we have within the partnership. This is a huge opportunity and will allow the DSP to directly influence significant investment in digital skills training. Funding secured from DCMS for year 2 of the DSP.

Green Ben Bolton

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Partnership. Project Completion Date – May 2021

Working on a web presence for the DSP to enable us to take on a coordination role for all things digital skills. The site will publicise events, share updates and news and also be a mechanism for promoting our work. In the coming month we will explore alternative delivery models for digital work experience placements, promoting the new Computing Hub for teacher CPD and beginning to explore informal digital skills pathways and the role industry accredited digital badging could play a role in this.

Institute of Technology (Application Phase)

The DfE is creating a network of new Institutes of Technology (IoTs) across the country. These will be high-quality, employer-led institutions specialising in providing higher level technical skills for employers. Project Completion Date – March 2021

The South West Institute of Technology was one of 12 nationally to receive approval. The project team is now working on implementation and design. The South West partners finally signed the partnership agreement in October, signalling the multi-millon-pound investment in the region. At Truro and Penwith College, building work on a new £7m building is due to start in Spring 2020. https://www.truro-penwith.ac.uk/latest-news/truro-and-penwith-college-announces-new-state-of-the-art-technology-buildin

Green Senior Skills Officer

Apprenticeship Campaign

Delivery of a 1-year Apprenticeship campaign (starting on 1st October 2018 – 30th September 2019), aimed at SME employers, the campaign will raise awareness, help remove barriers and drive

January/Feb 2020 Update:

• Final Apprenticeship start figures for Cornwall in 2018/19 = 4,242

• Social Media coverage and support continues for employers and individuals making enquiries

via the website.

• New Apprenticeships Health & Social Care Guide for Employers being published in February.

• Supporting national Apprenticeship Intermediaries Service on 2-day a week secondment.

• 10 additional Young Apprenticeship Ambassadors received their training this month,

equipping them to visit Schools/Colleges to speak with students, parents and teachers.

• New Cornwall Apprenticeships posters for Schools.

• Sponsorship of the Cornwall Apprenticeship Games taking place this National Apprenticeship

Week (3rd-7th Feb) and Cornwall Apprenticeships Live Twitter Q&A on 7th Feb. Various other

school, employer and provider events taking place across the County.

• Cornwall Apprenticeships Evaluation specification being released.

Green Cathie Kessell

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recruitment of Apprentices and uptake of Apprenticeship training for existing employees. Helping employers address skills development and gaps, the Campaign will be aligned to the CIoS Employment & Skills Strategy and supports achievement of some key Apprenticeship targets within the Strategy. Project Completion Date – September 2019 Funding – the People and Prosperity Team in the LEP has secured £50k from the Skills Hub Innovation Fund to deliver the campaign.

• Preparation for anticipated application to ESF Innovation Funding (round 2) to further

develop Cornwall Apprenticeships, including possible development of a Levy Transfer Pot for

Cornwall.

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ESF Programme

The ESB provides advice and guidance to the ITI Board in relation to the strategic fit and allocation of European Social Funds. Project Completion Date – March 2023 Funding - £131,908,947

Correspondence and phonecalls have taken place with the managing authority to outline our continued concerns around programme delays and contracting. The team is working with the MA and IB to pull together the current status of the programme following some local project failures, national performance reporting and commencement of the reserve fund. On receipt of this information a strategic fit meeting with ITI and ESB Board members will be called so that the remaining allocation can be strategically planned.

Amber Stacey Sleeman

Employment and Skills Devolution

In 2015 the Council signed its Devolution Deal.

The Council’s Devolution Board was presented with the audit completed by the People and Prosperity Team, with the recommendation that we mark the Employment and Skills section of the deal as complete. This was agreed and the close down process has commenced. Any residual or new areas of employment and skills devolution has or will be reflected in an update of New Frontiers. Any update to the Skills section for New Frontiers has been submitted. Further information will be shared when this submission has been agreed and accepted into the refreshed plans.

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Employment and Skills Board Sub-Groups

Pathways to Employment and Employer Led Skills Group

The Chairs and leads from the People and Prosperity Team met before the ESB meeting on the 10th April to agree the next steps:

1. The Chairs of the ESB, P2E and ELS groups will meet on a 6 month basis to set and review the workplans for the ESB and its sub-groups – this will allow better scheduling, meeting content and outcomes

2. The P2E and ELS groups will alternate meaning that representatives do not need to attend both groups in one period

3. The sub-groups will focus on demand and supply issues accordingly and will at times have the same theme or issue to debate

Amber

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Construction Work around the construction sector is primarily focused at rebranding the sector and presenting construction as a ‘career of choice’ and highlighting the vast opportunities that exist within it.

Update on Capacity to Deliver Housing and Workspace: - The enquiry resulted in the formulation of 15 recommendations predominantly aimed at ensuring construction is represented as a ‘career of choice’ and to showcase the excellent work being produced by the sector. These recommendations have now been accepted by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

- EBP will host career development days to be attended by curriculum leads from schools across Cornwall within Q1 2020 with the aim of informing teachers of the variety of career opportunities within the sector as well as providing industry examples for teaching the general curriculum.

- Working with Redruth School to assess viability of employing a teacher part-time to develop construction inspired resources in line with curriculum.

- Assessing feasibility of a Construction Centre of Excellence to further promote the sector. Cornwall Construction Executive Group - first meeting in June and is focusing on improving communications within the sector as well as establishing working groups on the following topics:

• Careers and skills

• Productivity, digital, low carbon and Modern Methods of Construction Building Cornwall – Website launched in October and very well perceived by sector. Social media use has been very successful in promoting the ‘brand’ but needs more strategy behind it which is proving difficult given the current resourcing of Building Cornwall. Developing Skills For Business – Targeted to achieve 47 business engagements (outputs (CO23)) and 38 completed project outcomes (R9) - Business engagement targets have been achieved now and the project outcomes should be achieved by the end of January ahead of the project end in April. Future Funding Opportunities: - ESF Business Clusters bid was submitted on the 18th of July

• Project will closely work with 30 tier 2/3 constructions SMEs to deliver LEAN training

- CITB Flexible Fund could be used as precursor to Business Clusters in providing businesses with training on successful team formation, smart data usage and long-term sustainability of business improvements. A bid has just been submitted by Cornwall Construction Training Group representing the wider project partnership consisting of Kier, Midas, Cormac and Gilbert & Goode.

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Inga Geach

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Date of Board Meeting: 12 February 2020

Report Title: ESB support for a virtual Apprenticeship Levy Transfer fund for Cornwall & Isles of Scilly

Author: Cathie Kessell

Contact: cathie.kessell@cornwall.gov.uk

Decision Required by the Board Y/N Y

For Information Only Y/N N

Recommendation(s) The Board supports the principle of setting up a county-wide virtual Apprenticeship Levy Transfer fund scheme.

Executive Summary From April 2017, the way in which Apprenticeships were funded changed as part of a wider set of reforms to the Apprenticeship system in England. One reform was the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy for all UK employers with an annual pay bill of £3 million or more. The Levy is set at 0.5% of the value of the employer’s annual pay bill. The Levy is paid into an apprenticeship service account, and funds in this account can only be spent on apprenticeship training and assessment for new Apprentices or Apprenticeship training for existing staff. Levy employers can also choose to transfer up to 25% of their annual levy funds to any other employer(s), who may or not form part of the levy employer’s supply chain. Transfers can also be made to Apprenticeship Training Agencies who directly employ Apprentices on behalf of ‘host’ employers. Smaller employers pay 5% of the cost of training and assessment with UK Government contributing the remaining 95%. Note: UK Government pays 100% cost of training for smaller employers with less than 50 employees who employ apprentices aged 16-18

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(and 18-24 where they have been in care or have an Education, Health Care Plan). Plus, there are additional £1,000 incentives. Where a Levy Transfer does take place, the levy employer effectively pays 100% of the cost of training for the Apprenticeship. Progress/Update/Impact/Outcomes/Issues HMRC holds information on which employers pay the Apprenticeship Levy and this isn’t publicly available. We have undertaken our own research and estimate there could be in excess of 50 Levy paying employers in Cornwall, plus some school multi academy trusts and public sector employers, including Cornwall Council. Additionally, there are the levy paying employers operating in the County, not included in the above figure, with head offices outside Cornwall. Many employers are treating the Levy as a tax. According to the CBI’s 2018 Education and Skills Survey, more than a quarter (26%) of employers didn’t intend using their Apprenticeship Levy funds and have instead absorbed it as ‘as an added cost of doing business’. Unused levy funds expire 24 months after they enter an employer’s account. So, from September last year millions £ nationally is being returned to the Treasury on a monthly basis – arguably money lost to LEP regions. Cornwall Council have already shown Levy Transfers can be successful, whilst placing some administration burden on the Levy employer, they can be attractive to smaller employers who may struggle to pay the 5% contribution or find they could use the funding on other business costs. In 2019, Cornwall Council supported 98 Apprenticeship starts in local health & social care employers via Levy transfers and expects to be able to make more funding available from April. Likewise, Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust so far has supported 20 Apprenticeship starts, also in the social care sector. Whether these Apprenticeship starts would have happened anyway is unknown. Priorities

1. Identification of Levy employers willing to ‘pledge’ to transfer. 2. Set up a Cornwall wide Levy Transfer scheme – with eligibility criteria

responding to our priority skills (especially higher level) and sector needs, a single application process and matching service providing information, advice and support to both the Levy employer and receiving employer.

3. Marketing and promotion via Cornwall Apprenticeships, CIOS LEP and partners including training providers.

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Practicalities 1. Cathie Kessell, Employment and Apprenticeship Officer to lead on developing

the criteria, end to end process, marketing and management, with support from other staff.

2. Plan to set this up as a trial for the period of 1-year from April 2020, with a view to further extension, if successful.

3. Support and promotion will be sought from the Training Provider network a) to encourage Levy employers to take part and b) to promote and provide support to smaller employers who wish to apply.

4. Fund promotion and application will be via www.cornwallapprenticeships.com 5. It is expected further ESF Innovation funding will be available via Skills Hub 2,

to support further promotion of Apprenticeships and this initiative. Financial Implications

• Utilisation of existing staff time, so no additional staffing costs anticipated.

• Cornwall Apprenticeships (ESF Innovation Phase 2) to support promotional and marketing costs.

• Launch event (funded by ESF Innovation Phase 2).

• Potentially saving local smaller businesses £000s in Apprenticeship training contributions and increasing greater interest and engagement in Apprenticeships.

Appendices None

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Context In April 2016, the Cornwall College Group (TCCG) was placed under a notice of concern due to an inadequate financial health rating for the financial year 2014/15. The notice was triggered following the group’s submission of its three-year financial forecast to the Skills Funding Agency in February 2016. During 2016/17, TCCG required Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) to underpin its working capital position, pending receipts from anticipated planned asset sales. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) therefore, sought assurance about the college’s capacity to recover. This was set in the context of a Fresh Start status and its successful application to the Transaction Unit (TU) for significant levels of support from the Restructuring Facility (RF) which was approved at the end of March 2019. The College had a full Ofsted inspection in May 2019 which resulted in “Requires Improvement” for overall effectiveness and included an “Inadequate” grade for its provision for learners with high needs. In November 2018, the Principal resigned and an Interim Principal was appointed. The main priorities for the Interim Principal were to implement the recommendations of the 2018 and 2019 FE Commissioner’s stocktake visits and to deliver the Fresh Start recovery plan ensuring implementation of the terms and conditions of the financial assistance provided by the ESFA/TU. A further priority was to work with the Strategic Steering Group to implement the FE Commissioner’s Cornwall Review recommendations. A permanent appointment to the principal post was made in October 2019 when John Evans commenced in post. Since October the College has embarked on a significant recovery programme. The next six months will be challenging as it realigns the size of the College to its income (currently £64m) and implements systems and processes to significantly improve the quality of education consistently across the group.

Briefing Note

The Cornwall College Group: Strategic Direction

ESB 12 February 2020

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It is worth noting that TCCG has many excellent programmes and projects which the region should be proud of such as:

• Significant Higher Education offer which brings in learners from out of county, Foundation Degree Awarding Powers and a Silver Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Award

• Significant research activities within its Rural Business School and Newquay HE campus

• A comprehensive apprenticeship offer with many bespoke programmes that meet the needs of employers, including the land-based sector

• Large numbers of adults in learning, from the unemployed to masters’ qualifications

• Exciting projects and investments for example Future Farm, Developing Skills for Business, Agri-Tech and Unlocking Potential

The Future The College is making good progress against our stated mission: “Exceptional education and training for every learner to improve their career prospects”. Our Strategic Plan 2020-23 expands on how we are driving the successful delivery of our mission.

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Information Classification: CONTROLLED

In summary, we are focusing on five key priorities; these are: 1. Quality of Education – our target is Ofsted “Good” or better by 2021-22. A detailed and closely monitored Post Inspection Action Plan was put in place in September 2019 to drive improvement. Good progress is being made: these changes include the appointment of new high calibre senior staff, the overhaul of lesson observations and the quality assurance process, systematic delivery of teacher training and better use of data to target improvement. 2. College of Choice - we are focusing on delivering a high-quality, sequenced curriculum to meet our learners’ career intent and employers’ needs. To achieve this: our curriculum planning process has been overhauled, our positioning as the Career College is being reinforced, a new HE Growth Strategy is in development and the adoption of Apprenticeship new standards has been accelerated. 3. Position – the management of finances is being strengthened to ensure long term financial viability. Our site footprint is reducing as part of our ongoing sites and resources strategy, alongside investment in land-based and other resources to support exceptional vocational learning. We are looking at further efficiency savings through a restructure of teams. Our curriculum planning process will seek to increase group sizes to improve viability and we continue to lobby for fairer funding for Further Education. 4. Partnerships – some of our stakeholders are already benefiting from our fresh thinking. We are working hard to deliver mutually beneficial relationships with all employers, including in some cases co-teaching with them on our sites. We are pursuing closer links with schools and enhanced engagement with parents/carers and our community of supporters. 5. People – we are retaining, attracting and recruiting high calibre staff at all levels of the organisation in order to deliver a quality experience for our learners. Work has already progressed to enhance the support, training and development that our staff need to provide exceptional education for our learners. We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with colleagues from other colleges, locally, regionally and nationally, our local business partners, the Council, Local Enterprise Partnerships, funding agencies, FE Commissioner and Association of Colleges to support our progress. Prepared by: John Evans Date: 30.1.2020