AEIAG0054

Written evidence submitted by West of England Combined Authority

1.      Executive summary

1.1   Ensuring young people in the West of England have access to quality CEIAG is a high priority for the West of England Combined Authority. As a region we have been very successful at creating high skills jobs but less successful at ensuring our young people are accessing these high skills jobs. We see quality CEIAG as a key ingredient to solving this challenge.

1.2   In 2020 the Combined Authority commissioned research into the West of England CEIAG landscape. The research identified several gaps and opportunities for CEIAG services in the region relating to different age groups. This submission touches on the research and we would be happy to share the research with the Committee in full.

1.3   Government should devolve the National Careers Service to Combined Authorities. Serious consideration should also be given to the option of Careers Hub funding coming directly to Combined Authorities rather than through the Careers Enterprise Company (CEC). Devolving these services has the potential to allow regions to create a joined up, more accessible CEIAG landscape for residents. One that can best meet the future needs of residents and employers in the region.

1.4   The trailblazer devolution deals offered to West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority brings an opportunity to not just trial the devolution of CEIAG services but also a wider suite of employment, skills, and business support services to create a less complex, more targeted support landscape that can best respond to local needs.

1.5   We recommend Government consider what further role they can play in ensuring the Careers Advice workforce has the skills, knowledge, and expertise to offer high quality careers advice to all.

2.      Introduction

2.1   The West of England Combined Authority was formed to bring decision making closer to the region, ensuring investment and action is taken to deliver on our regional priorities, to drive clean and inclusive economic growth.

2.2   Alongside establishing the Combined Authority, significant powers and funding were transferred to our region. These new powers allow us to make decisions here in the West of England about the things that affect us all every day – decisions about homes, transport, the skills we need and how we can support our businesses, for the benefit of everyone. In total, over £1.15bn of new funding has been secured for the region.

2.3   Devolution to the Combined Authority has enabled the development of employment and skills programmes that are helping people tackle the barriers they face to progression in work and helping develop the skills that the employers across our region need. This includes Future Bright, a programme that helps residents in work to progress their career, the devolved Adult Education Budget (AEB) and the delivery of the West of England Careers Hub in partnership with the CEC. The Careers Hub is helping to establish a talent pipeline for the region. It works with all 95 schools and colleges from across Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset.

2.4   As a region the West of England has been very successful at creating high skills jobs and attracting a highly skilled workforce into the region. The area has been less successful at ensuring our young people are accessing these high skills jobs. This is partly due to our educational pipeline under-performing with educational achievement below average in both primary and secondary schools, however quality CEIAG is also an essential ingredient to solving this challenge and therefore a central area of focus for the Combined Authority.

3.      Whether the current system of careers education, information, advice, and guidance (CEIAG) is serving young people

3.1   In 2020 the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) undertook a research and improvement project looking at CEIAG in all its forms in the West of England. Their research illustrated that there is no one source of information outlining careers services and resources across all ages for the region.  It also identified several gaps and opportunities for CEIAG services in relating to different age groups[1].

3.2   IES research found that CEIAG in the region is often targeted to specific groups and delivered through a range of specialist organisations. These target groups included disadvantaged young people including unemployed or young people NEET (or at risk), children in care/care leavers; young people in lower achieving schools/neighbourhoods; and young people in highly deprived areas.

3.3   The research identified several gaps and opportunities for CEIAG services in the region including amongst target groups, either across the region or in specific local geographies. Examples of where there were gaps in provision or potential to improve services include:

• For young people with learning difficulties, disabilities, or mental health issues it was identified that outside of Bristol there was limited dedicated CEIAG support as well as a lack of work experience opportunities.
• Few dedicated programmes were identified for minority ethnic groups. The same was the case for older workers and low earners in South Gloucestershire.
• Carers were too often unable to access services due to eligibility requirements

3.4   The research identified some of the broader challenges the area faces on the CEIAG front. These include:

• The need for greater coordination, communication and signposting between and across services, and to raise awareness of the full range of employment and learning/training options and pathways for residents.
• Ensuring employers, particularly SMEs, are involved in making sure their future talent pipelines and skills gaps are being identified and catered for.
• There is a need to address key barriers such as transport and service eligibility restrictions (driven by differing administrative boundaries) which are thought to create unequal access to CEIAG provision.
• Challenges for providers in accessing (sustained) funding to continue to develop programmes and to cope with increasing demands/workloads.

3.5   The Combined Authority is acting on the recommendations made in the report. A key example is through the development of an “all age access hub”. The hub will ensure that people of all ages, qualification levels and previous experience can access the support, advice, and guidance they need to remain in or obtain new work.

4.      A national Skills Service and where it could sit

4.1   Employment and skills support (including CEIAG) is too often commissioned in silos, with funding coming from different government departments. This leads to a fragmented regional and local offer, often with some overlapping provision, and funding not directed most effectively towards local needs. It can also mean that certain areas of funding are prioritised while other downstream interventions, which can have significance longitudinal impact, are given secondary importance and do not get the levels of funding needed.

4.2   The creation of a single National Skills Service could help ensure a consistent and strategic approach to CEIAG activity and has the potential to create a system that is more easily accessible and navigable for the user. However, if this service were created it would be essential that it work very closely with DWP and other relevant services so that it doesn’t just lead to new silos being created.

4.3   Such a service could play a crucial role in setting a strategy and framework for CEIAG and highlight national priorities whilst acting as a mechanism for sharing best practice. However, local areas have the best overview of the skills, economic and CIEAG challenges their areas face. Combined Authorities are well placed to join up services and come up with strategic plans for their region which can ensure that careers advice is linked to the local labour market needs, with an eye on the jobs that will make up a region’s future economy.

4.4   For example, the West of England has set an ambition to be net-zero by 2030. Our research shows to do this, green jobs in the region will need to increase by over 50,000[2]. Taking this into account, through the West of England Careers Hub we are delivering the Green Futures Fund to help secondary schools deliver projects which deepen understanding of green careers and pathways. This will be delivered during the 2021/22 academic year and link into skills programmes supporting SMEs such as Workforce for the Future which the Careers Hub is co-delivering with other delivery partners.

4.5   In terms of where a National Skills Service could best fit, there are several options, but the key principles must include:

• Better join up between DfE and DWP provision (including JCP and contracted employment support).
• Empowering local areas to deliver on local needs should be at the heart of the Services role.

5.      Whether organisations like the Careers Enterprise Company (CEC) and National Careers Service provide value for money to the taxpayer

5.1   To deliver better value for money we would advocate for the devolution of the National Careers Service and think consideration should be given to Careers Hubs Funding coming directly to Combined Authorities rather than though the CEC. Devolving these services would allow regions to put in place a more joined up, more accessible CEIAG landscape for residents. One that can best meet the future needs of residents and employers in the region.

5.2   There are questions about how effective the National Careers Service is. For example, a 2017 economic evaluation of the National Careers Service could not identify ‘a positive impact of the National Careers Service on employment or benefit dependency outcomes[3].’ There are also concerns, amidst a tightening labour market with high levels of inactivity, about the roles and interplay between Jobcentre Plus and National Careers Service[4].

5.3   Devolving the National Careers Service to Combined Authorities will help give people access to a joined-up service that aligns with existing local services to meets the needs of the regional population and economy. It would allow for better join up of programmes in the region, in particular ensuring there can be more effective cross referrals and on and off ramps between other programmes in the region.

5.4   Combined Authorities have clear governance arrangements in place to manage funds and can make decisions which span functional economic geographies. In the West of England, we have already demonstrated successful delivery and accountability of large funding streams (for example through AEB delivery) and our capacity and maturity continues to grow. We know our local communities. We have an in depth understanding of the region’s skills and employment needs. We understand the touch points which best allow people to access support and, through our relationships with businesses, we can match skills with good quality decent jobs. A logical next step therefore would be the devolution of the National Careers Service funding. Not only could a similarly tailored and strategic approach be taken to careers advice but the interplay with AEB could be strengthened joining up career pathways for people so they can receive the highest quality support whatever their background or circumstances.

5.5   We are currently supported by the CEC to deliver Career Hubs. The Careers Hub encourages collaboration between education providers, the public, and the business community to provide positive career outcomes for our young people. The CEC continues to be a valuable partner in improving how we prepare young people for their next steps. The support they offer in pulling together best practice, sharing resources and guidance, as well as acting as a wider support network adds considerable extra value to the service.

5.6   Our evidence shows that schools and Colleges who have been in the Careers Hub for a longer period, perform better on average than those who joined later against the Gatsby Benchmarks. 96% of West of England Schools and Colleges are matched with a volunteer from a local employer to support their employer engagement. The IES report recommends that the region continues to deliver the Careers Hub to support better careers outcomes for young people and should invest in longer term funding[5]. Schools and Colleges also report that the Careers Hub is supporting them to deliver better careers programmes and therefore outcomes for their students.

5.7   While the CEC support is valued there is merit in seeing whether certain issues could be addressed, either through changes to eligibility criteria and funding (set by DfE not CEC), or by considering whether funding going directly to Combined Authorities could be beneficial. Issues to consider include:

• The lack of long-term funding certainty making it difficult to plan for the medium or long term. Greater funding certainty will allow for longer term planning and more strategic use of resources, benefiting young people in the area.
• The option to engage earlier in a child’s journey, potentially offering interventions in primary schools too.
• The ability to co-commission other programmes more effectively.
• Home educated young people and young people at independent SEND schools are not eligible for Careers Hub support and therefore may miss out on valuable careers support.

5.8   Some of these issues could be solved through guidance and funding changes from DfE, for example giving a longer funding settlement. However, it is also worth considering how the devolution of Careers Hub, alongside other CIEAG services, could give Combined Authorities the suite of levers to make the most tangible different to CIEAG outcomes in the region. We think serious consideration should be given to the option of Careers Hub Funding coming directly to Combined Authorities rather than through the CEC. The benefits of this would include increased flexibility and a strengthened ability to respond to local needs.

5.9   While there are some individual benefits of solely devolving either the National Careers Service or Careers Hub funding, it is through devolving both (and potentially other skills provision) that Combined Authorities can best create a more unified CEIAG and skills landscape thus maximising the effectiveness of provision. Doing so will help ensure young people in the region are receiving quality careers advice which can support them into the jobs at the heart of the region’s future economy. In the West of England, it would help us additional power to tackle a key challenge the region faces, supporting our young people into the high skilled jobs our region is so good at creating.

6.      Whether the proposals for CEIAG in the Government’s Skills for Jobs White Paper will effectively address current challenges in the CEIAG system

6.1   The Skills for Jobs White paper effectively identifies some of the CEIAG challenges but does not offer all the solutions or funding needed to address these challenges. However, the Skills White Paper can also be viewed through the lens of the Levelling Up White Paper, and in particular the framework for devolution presented in that paper.

6.2   While new CEIAG proposals are relatively limited in both the Levelling Up White Paper and the Skills White paper the direction of travel is broadly positive. In particular, the setting up of a new a “Unit for Future Skills” which will bring together skills data and information held across government has the potential to provide schools with important data that can be integrated into CEIAG and highlight positive outcomes of apprenticeships and technical education. The Unit should explore what can be done to better track destination data of students after the age of 16.  Currently destination data has a significant lag meaning it cannot be used as effectively as possible in relation to CEIAG strategic decisions. The Unit should also explore the lack of accurate information available on the number of children being home schooled and what can be done to improve this.[6]

6.3   The recognition in the Skills White paper that there is scope to improve alignment in careers advice and the commitment to improving both local and national alignment between the CEC and the National Careers Service to create a ‘clear, all-age careers system’ is welcome. So is Professor Sir John Holman’s appointment to advise in this area. As touched upon already, we believe the devolution of these services to Combined Authorities is a potential solution to improving alignment.

6.4   At the same time, it is essential that career provision is also joined up effectively with DWP provision for jobseekers and other employment and skills related provision. There is scope for even more ambitious devolution in the employment and skills space to bring together and localise the fragmented skills space. We would point the Committee in the direction of the Local Government Association and Learning and Work Institutes Work Local report which outlines how business support, local growth, careers services, JCP services, adult skills, apprenticeships support and employment programmes can be bought together to reduce costs, complexity, and duplication; improve services; and respond to local needs[7]. The trailblazer devolution deals offered to West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority brings an opportunity to explore the Work Local approach.

6.5   The allocation of UK Shared Prosperity Funds to Combined Authorities, kicking off with Multiply, is welcome and illustrates the confidence Government has in the Combined Authorities to deliver skills programme for residents in their regions. It gives Combined Authorities a further lever to join up skills and CIAEG services in the region.

6.6   The Skills White Paper has a clear focus on supporting outstanding teaching but focus most also be placed on coordinating and commissioning training to build capacity and professionalise the careers workforce. IES research identified increasing the skills and knowledge of career guidance professionals and wider support workforce as one of the areas of greatest need for the West of England[8]. Anecdotally, we hear from West of England schools that they are struggling to recruit CEIAG staff, and a central reason given is low pay. The Government can play a role in funding or part funding the upskilling of CEIAG professionals. The national recruitment campaign to communicate the opportunities in further education teaching mentioned in the White Paper should ensure that it also promotes opportunities to become CEIAG professionals.

March 2022