Agenda item

The emerging Employment, Skills and Enterprise Strategy (2015 -2020) is a strategy for the borough, not just the council. This will be the first time a strategy for this area has been formed. The strategy is designed to be an active vision for the borough and will be accompanied by a live Action Plan, detailing how the vision and strategic objectives will be achieved.

Jon Lloyd-Owen (Operational Director – Housing and Employment, Regeneration and Growth) delivered the first part of the presentation on the employment, skills and enterprise strategy consultation.  He began by referring to the consultation plan that involved specific dialogue with key stakeholders, including businesses, strategic stakeholders such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the College of North West London (CNWL), voluntary community services and with local residents through the Borough Plan.  Although the consultation had formally concluded, there were still opportunities to provide further feedback with regard to the strategy.  Jon Lloyd-Owen described the local demographics of the borough, which had experienced an 18% rise in working population since 2003, well above the 6.5% average nationally.  He referred members to the Job Seeker Allowance claims figures by ward and also adult qualification levels, which had seen significant improvements recently.  Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that both national and local research indicated that there was a mismatch between skills provision and market needs and it was estimated that over 50% of jobs would require a degree by 2036 and only 5% would require no formal qualifications.  Members noted job density and employment by sector comparisons between Brent and the London and national average and also the fact that Brent’s average gross median earnings were both below the London average and that of the neighbouring borough of Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow.  Jon Lloyd-Owen concluded by advising that employment levels were below the London average and unemployment was particularly high in some wards and in some cases were double the borough average.  There was also a lower than average jobs per population and earnings compared to the London average, with the service sector providing a quarter of the borough’s employment.  Jon Lloyd-Owen added that although qualification levels were improving, there were still some significant qualification and skills issues in some wards.  In addition, although the overall picture was improving across the borough in terms of employment, skills and earnings, there were still pockets of inequality at both ward and neighbourhood level.

Shomsia Ali (Head of Employment and Enterprise, Regeneration and Growth) then described the draft strategy and its emerging objectives and outcomes.  She explained that a 20 year vision oversaw the strategy which addressed the next five years and contained five draft strategic objectives and associated desired outcomes, the objectives being:

·         To ensure skills provision is informed by employers and the labour market

·         To reduce inequality by reducing economic and social polarisation in the borough’s most deprived neighbourhoods and amongst residents most in need

·         To reduce poverty through employment and progression in work

·         The council to influence and shape national programmes and agendas delivered locally

·         To promote economic growth through regeneration and increasing opportunities for local businesses

Members noted the desired outcomes for each strategic objective and Shomsia Ali then referred to the consultation response outcomes to each strategic objective and as a result of the feedback received, a consultation response document was being produced. The next steps included developing the full strategy, including a equalities impact assessment, developing a work in progress action plan, including continual discussions to inform the action plan, and an Employment Summit would be arranged to monitor progress.

During members’ discussions, an explanation and reasons as to what made Brent different to other London boroughs in terms of the challenges to overcome in increasing employment was sought.  A member asked how many of the officers involved in producing the report lived in the borough.  She felt that the consultation on the strategy was narrow in scope and was a wider consultation planned. She also felt that the strategy had not sufficiently highlighted the borough’s strengths.  Furthermore, she felt that the consultation document lacked details of important specific factors, such as health and creative indicators and she felt that further work was needed both in consultation and in developing the strategy.  Another member enquired whether the strategy was specifically for Brent only or whether there was also work being undertaken with other boroughs.  He also stated that as English was not the first language for a number of residents in the borough, clear communication of the strategy was especially important and efforts needed to be made to reach to a wider audience.  He also asked what percentage of staff lived in the borough. 

A member asked if linking employment to allocation of housing was a new initiative and he sought clarification as to whether a renewal of tenancy for council housing was dependent on being in employment.  He also enquired what formal indicators would be monitored to measure the success of the strategy.  Another member commented that schools were under increasing pressure with rising pupil numbers and he asked why there was no mention of where and when new schools would be built.  He enquired what steps were being taken to ensure every child received a good education in the borough and would not be required to spend excessive time travelling to a school far from their home.  It was also queried whether there had been any consultation with the Brent Youth Parliament about the strategy.  Another member asked whether engagement with local businesses was satisfactory or could more be done, including efforts to attract businesses to the borough using their style of language and setting out the reasons why Brent should be the borough of choice for them.   She also asked if the local DWP provision could do more to help residents into employment.

In response to the issues raised, Shomsia Ali advised that Brent was quite different from its neighbouring boroughs in that essentially it was an outer London borough with inner London borough issues.  There were also Brent specific issues and there were a number of people who were attracted to live in the borough for a number of reasons.  Shomsia Ali acknowledged that there were a number of positive features about the borough.  She confirmed that she had produced the consultation report and lived outside of the borough and HR could provide figures for the percentage of staff who lived in Brent.  She advised that the consultation report was a summary of the findings to date and so would not include all details on specific indicators.  Members heard that work was undertaken with other London boroughs through organisations such as London Councils and the West London Alliance where ideas could be shared.  The borough was a very diverse one and English for Speakers with other Languages (ESOL) providers and organisations like Brent Start provided an important link between those searching for work and potential employers.  Shomsia Ali stated that engagement with local businesses had been quite poor in the past and this needed to be undertaken more extensively.  The creation of the Brent Business Hub was addressing this issue and was already starting to forge more effective engagement and efforts were being focused in working in partnership with local business providers.  Members noted that the Work Programme was nationally prescribed and local Jobcentre Plus offices could not intervene in how it operated.  Shomsia Ali added that there was now more effective working with DWP, with some staff from both organisations co-locating.  Members also heard that the Brent Youth Parliament ‘s key theme for this year was employment and one of the measures being considered was how a ‘skills passport’ could be introduced.  Shomsia Ali confirmed that the Brent Youth Parliament had been consulted about the strategy.

Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that the south of the borough had seen significant demographic changes as the proximity to central London with excellent transport links attracted residents on higher incomes, resulting in higher rents.  Jon Lloyd-Owen acknowledged that in some instances, focusing on areas doing less well in the borough meant that some positive features were neglected and efforts needed to be made in highlighting the positives and building on them.  He advised that the consultation had engaged widely and there had not been a general public consultation on the strategy as such exercises had not generated a particularly large response in the past.  Efforts would be made to obtain feedback from any groups prepared to do so and focus groups were also providing valuable feedback.  Members also heard that a consultation was currently underway in respect of the Borough Plan.  Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that the employment strategy was being developed in parallel with the housing strategy, which sets out the importance of incentivising and encouraging residents to obtain employment.

Cathy Tyson (Head of Policy and Scrutiny, Assistant Chief Executive’s Service) added that any resident, as well as focus groups, had the opportunity to contribute to the Borough Plan through the call for evidence.  Focus groups were specifically set up to ensure that they were representative and residents also had the opportunity to provide feedback through the Residents’ Attitude Survey.

Councillor Mashari (Lead Member for Employment and Skills) advised that this was the first employment strategy that the council had attempted and so it was starting from afresh.  An open consultation had been undertaken as it was important that it was not council led and the focus group meetings were providing high quality dialogue and feedback.  In respect of the links between the employment strategy and the housing strategy, future services would be more targeted.  Councillor Mashari advised that the council could not build new schools unless they were academies, however the strategy was looking at building links between businesses and schools and the school’s building programme was not part of the strategy’s remit.

The Chair acknowledged the substantial work that had been undertaken in developing the strategy and the progress made so far.  He requested that a progress report on the strategy be presented to the committee in two to three months’ time.