Written evidence submitted by the Local Government Association (IPO0063)
About the Local Government Association
The LGA is the national voice of local government. We work with councils to support, promote and improve local government. We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We aim to influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils so they are able to deliver local solutions to national problems.
1.1. National economic growth can ultimately only be achieved if every local economy is firing on all cylinders. Only with the right powers and adequate long-term funding which allows councils to plan properly, can we play a lead role in unlocking the labour market, building new affordable homes, creating jobs, plugging skills gaps and delivering on other key government priorities. The LGA is developing a white paper from local government for local government and communities. Our ambition is to secure a national-local partnership, a new local deal, in which local government can work to its full potential for our people, our places and our planet.
1.2. The LGA’s Work Local model is a ready-made blueprint for making this happen. By giving democratically elected local leaders the power and funding to work with local partners – businesses, training providers, the education system – to join up careers advice and guidance, employment, skills, apprenticeships, business support services and outreach in the community, they could deliver improved outcomes for young people at reduced cost. Work Local would allow councils to effectively deliver their statutory duties and provide the wraparound support for those with complex needs and those experiencing disadvantage.
1.3. To tackle many of the barriers young people are facing, there needs to be a joined-up, cross-Government approach to addressing vulnerability and supporting young people facing disadvantage. This must be backed by sustainable investment in the national benefits system to ensure it meets households essential living costs and investment in the local public services young people rely on, including SEND services, mental health services, children’s services and youth services.
1.4. The Government should appoint a Youth Minister to work across Whitehall, coordinating the various representatives of government departments, local government representatives, including the LGA, business and other representative organisations. This will foster a more co-ordinated and cross-departmental approach to deliver an integrated and adequately funded offer for young people.
2.1. Local Authorities are major employers in England with a workforce of over 1.2 million. As a significant employer and apprenticeship levy payer, councils provide support for young people to gain access to employment with their local council. The LGA has been providing improvement support to councils as employers to help them create more apprenticeship and T level Industry Placement (IP) opportunities.
2.2. All councils in England have active apprenticeship programmes and since the launch of T levels in 2020 councils have been providing IPs where training providers exist. More of course can be done and having the appropriate brokerage in place to help all employers work successfully with providers is essential. Although we welcome the additional investment in provider support, for example to help increase T level placements, direct employer incentives have a greater impact in changing employer behaviour. Consideration should be given to how and when incentives can be used to increase more opportunities.
2.3. In a recent LGA T level survey of councils, the majority said they would provide more Industry placements if incentives remained in place to help with the additional capacity needed to provide placements for young people. The LGA is committed to working with DfE to promote how T levels and apprenticeships can continue to be a positive experience for young people to gain long term employment.
3.1. Currently, Apprenticeship Levy funds can only be spent on apprenticeship training and not on many of the other associated costs. The LGA believes the government should introduce flexibilities on what apprenticeship levy funds can be spent on.
3.2. We have consistently called for employers to be granted greater flexibility over how they can spend apprenticeship levy funds, including on administration costs, salaries and pre-apprenticeship training. Councils should also be given maximum local freedom, including the ability to pool levy funds to better plan provision across their areas, and use a proportion of the levy to subsidise apprentices’ wages and administration costs and devolve non-Levy apprenticeships funding.
3.3. If levy payers were permitted to use a portion of their levy funds to pay for some of the wider costs of maintaining an apprenticeship programme, it would help to create more apprenticeships and give local government greater flexibility to tackle our own skills shortages and bring more young people into the sector.
3.4. For example, if the government’s 10 per cent top up funding (which typically goes unspent and is returned to government after the two-year expiry limit) was used for this purpose, it would give councils access to approximately £14m per year, which would allow us to potentially unlock up to £70m more of our levy funds and create up to 5,000 more apprenticeship starts.
4.1. Poor-quality and insufficient CEIAG remains a key barrier to youth employment. At present, provision of CEIAG is complex, patchy and fragmented. In any one area, schools, colleges, councils and national agencies like the National Careers Service (NCS), Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), Job Centre Plus, and Education and Skills Funding Agency, deliver initiatives for different age ranges and groups, with no one organisation responsible or accountable for coordinating it with the local jobs market.
4.2. Recent years have seen a plethora of new policies, initiatives and new bodies, some of which have proved counter-productive. While in schools, careers advice has been identified to be often inconsistent, not independent, and not start early enough. Poor CEIAG risks disproportionately impacting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, as they are potentially less likely to benefit from resources and advice from family and friends about the breadth of career options.
4.3. Quality, locally-tailored and independent CEIAG is vital to ensure young people are fully informed of the full range of careers and pathways available to them, including vocational and technical education training options, apprenticeships, and university degrees. It also plays a role in raising aspirations.
4.4. It is important that CEIAG informs young people about the local and national job market, which industries/ sectors are growing, and which skills are in demand to support young people into quality jobs. Too often, young people finish training and struggle to find suitable employment or take up low-paid or insecure jobs that do not match their skills or interests. This can lead to frustration, disillusionment, and a lack of motivation to pursue further education or training.
4.5. Councils report that the reduction in careers advice and guidance over recent years means that young people and their families are less well informed about career options due to insufficient staff and resources to spend sufficient time looking at options, support, and reasonable adjustments. The reduction in Disability Employment Advisors in local jobcentres has further reduced the support available.
4.6. Nevertheless, many councils are working to ensure an inclusive service for all. For example, Surrey County Council now hosts the Surrey Careers Hub. To address this and enable Careers Leaders and Education Leaders to access the support and resources of the Careers Hub, an Inclusion Community of Practice is being created. The Inclusion Community of Practice (ICoP) is an integral part of the Surrey Careers Hub. The Careers Hub team also works collaboratively across the internal directorates in Surrey County Council, particularly with colleagues in Education and Lifelong Learning who are providing support services to special schools, and alternative provisions and PRUs and providing direct support services to young people in these settings who have EHCPs and/or are at risk of being NEET.
5.1. We live in an increasingly digital world, with banking, democratic functions, job applications, benefits and other public services increasingly being moved online. Digital skills, equipment and reliable digital connectivity are crucial to enable people to fully participate in society and engage in 21st century education and employment systems.
5.2. According to recent LGA research there has been important progress in closing the digital divide in the coverage of superfast and ‘decent’ fixed broadband. However, a new digital divide has emerged in gigabit and full fibre coverage. The top 10% of district/unitary local authority areas enjoy full fibre coverage of over 60%, while the bottom 10% have less than 10% of premises able to access these services.
6.1. Local authorities have great ambitions to achieving net zero, with over 300 councils declaring a climate emergency and they understand the need to act now to achieve net zero and mitigate climate change. These ambitions can only be achieved if there is the skilled workforce and the availability for good jobs, matched with the right support and investments to deliver it.
6.2. There is a huge opportunity for local communities to create green jobs which can also help tackle inequalities, support people through the cost-of-living crisis, as well as achieving levelling up ambitions. For example, with proper investment, local government could retrofit 1,000 properties a day, which would create 31,000 new skilled jobs in construction and retrofit industries, and there is the potential of 1.18 million new jobs by 2050 in low-carbon and renewable energy industries. There are also significant opportunities in nature restoration, food, agriculture, and STEM industries.
6.3. Through engagement with local government and their partners, some of the main systemic barriers that places current face in the development of green jobs and skills include:
6.4. National government could create and strengthen relationships with local places through a green jobs framework. Based upon the LGA’s Work Local Model principles, the framework would enable national and local government, with partners to collectively develop green jobs and skills, and achieve the step change needed to achieve net zero. This could provide the much needed, longer term strategic planning, coupled with the right support and investments to deliver net zero ambitions for both 2030 and 2050 collectively.
6.5. This approach must enable local authorities to fulfil their place leader roles and strengthen collaboration with businesses, skills providers, and industry, as well as play a part in supporting national investments in net zero.
6.6. Principles of a green jobs framework:
6.7. To make the framework a reality, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero should lead a cross departmental co-production process, in partnership with the local government sector, to develop a national green jobs framework and local green jobs delivery plans. This should include collaboration on a co-production process, working with organisations on the Green Jobs Delivery and other net zero forums and the priority net zero sectors.