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Skills East Sussex Minutes 18 April 2024

Skills East Sussex Minutes 18 April 2024

Meeting details

Skills East Sussex Board Meeting

Thursday 18th April 2024 14:00 – 16:00

Online via Teams

Attendees and apologies

Attendee	Name	Organisation, Role
DG	Diana Garnham	Skills East Sussex Board CHAIR
AP	Andrew Pritchard	Assistant Principal – Business Engagement, Bexhill College
BC	Bruce Campbell	Partnership Team, DWP
CBe	Chris Bending	Wealden District Council, Director of Place
CW	Claire Witz	Skills Project Director, Sussex Chamber of Commerce
CG	Craig Garton	CXK, Director of Operations and Quality
DHu	Dee Humphreys	ICB - Senior Policy & Corporate Affairs Manager NHS Sussex
DHa	Donna Harfield	East Sussex College Group, Vice Principal, Business Development
GH	Glenn Haffenden	Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough Council
IN	Ian Noble	Uckfield Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Director
JD	Jude Day	SCDA, Employability Programme Manager
JB	Julie Barker	Independent Consultant
KM	Kathy Martyn	University of Brighton, SSHS Apprenticeships, Technical Education and Flexible Learning Lead / Chair, Health & Social Care Task Group).
KB	Kim Byford	Talent Accelerator, Project Director / Co-Chair Creative, Cultural, Digital, Media Task Group
SS	Sally Staples	ESCC Culture Team, Team Manager – Culture and Tourism / Co-Chair Creative, Cultural, Digital, media Task Group
VP	Vanessa Potter	SCTP, Director
VC	Victoria Conheady	Hastings Borough Council, Deputy Chief Executive
Guests
DGale	Darrell Gale	Director of Public Health

 

Apologies
BS	Becky Shaw	Chief Executive, ESCC
CllrSt	Cllr Bob Standley	ESCC Councillor, Lead Member for Education and Inclusion and SEND
CMcK	Caroline McKiddie	ESCC, Strategic Lead, Participation and Skills
DW	David Walker	University of Brighton, Pro Vice Chancellor, (Education and Students)
JH	James Harris	ESCC, Assistant Director - Economy
PS	Pauline Smith	CXK, Chief Executive
CE	Christina Ewbank	Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce, Chief Executive
DK	Dan Karlsson	Plumpton College, Head of Business Services
JK	Jeremy Kerswell	Plumpton College, Principal

 

 

Secretariat
CB	Caroline Bragg	Employability and Skills Strategy Manager, ESCC
HA	Holly Aquilina	Employability and Skills Strategy Manager, ESCC
HB	Hannah Brookshaw	Partnerships and Projects Manager, ESCC

Actions arising from this meeting

Actions from this meeting, 18th July 2024  

 

ACTION	LEAD	DUE BY / STATUS
1. HA to follow up with DH re procurement /social value best practice discussions	HA	By next meeting
2. SES members to contact Darrell re participating in the ESHT inequalities board	All	Ongoing
3. DHu will pick up item on ICB work mapping T level placements to try and get an understanding of the position now and what it’s going to be.	DHu	By next meeting
4. SES secretariat to organise a follow up meeting for SES representatives with Dhu regarding the development of the Sussex Health and Care Social and Economic Wellbeing Plan.	HA/HB	By next meeting

1. Welcome, Introductions and Apologies

1. DG welcomed all to the meeting and minutes of previous meeting were approved.

2. SES Operations

Updates on previous actions:

 1.    CBr to look into potential philanthropic funding options for Transform – update from CBr: we have secured internal funding so we can retain one part-time adviser, who will continue working on Transform. Further communication will follow regarding what the service will look like. We will continue to seek philanthropic funding if required.

 2.    KM to follow up on whether T level placement requirements need to be added to ICB mapping.

 3.    Review data, identify T levels that will be delivered from Sept 24, identify potential gaps, bring conclusions and recommendations to SES – update from CBr: Colleges have provided data about their vocational provision. Not sure from them which courses are being dropped, so it is difficult to know what lobbying is required, we will speak with the colleges regarding key areas of concern and will progress this through SES lobbying as required.

 4.    Discussion item to be taken to the Task Groups to understand how net zero skills/AI/automation will impact on their sector, particularly entry level/part-time roles – update from HA: task groups are discussing this and they are identifying sector specific actions.

 5.    Link to the Local Transport Plan consultation to be shared – this was shared, and people were encouraged to contribute.

Task group highlights

2.1   HB shared a presentation on the SES Highlights April 2024, based on extracts from the SES Board Members’ Update Report. Presentation attached with the minutes.

 East Sussex Economic Strategy

2.2   DGarn thanked everyone who has contributed - this is being revised and will be circulated in due course. DHu commented that there is a connection to be established over time, with the NHS supporting the economic case for health, and this is a link that we can hopefully strengthen.

3. Health, Wellbeing and Work findings and progress

3.1  DGale shared a presentation on Work, Skills & Health (the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health in East Sussex).

Discussion on the presentation:

3.2  DGarn – in your report, do you make the economic arguments for the link between poor health and poor work chances and skills? DGale response – we do make the economic arguments, but one skill that we are missing in our department is a Health Economist skill, that can focus on a health condition or an issue and the impact that has on employability/jobs/benefits and producing a sharp business case. We haven’t been able to do this to that level of detail, but we aspire to do that work in the future.

3.3  IN commented to encourage the work that is taking place – we have had a speaker at our networking breakfast about the Wellbeing at Work programme (and will be having a speaker at our online event), and the awards ceremony in Eastbourne that IN attended was fantastic. Uckfield Chamber of Commerce are doing all we can to encourage our members to participate in schemes like this, because we recognise the importance of this work. DGale response – thank you, really good to hear that. The companies and workforces involved in the awards ceremony felt good about doing something extra for their staff, and with that comes a risk, but as we know risk is a key part of business, which can reap benefits of a healthier workforce, greater retention, and greater productivity.

3.4  DHu commented that we should explore coming together to articulate the economic value, to make as powerful case as possible.

3.5  DGarn commented on the resilience of the Sussex workforce and employers, and the importance of that element in this area.

4. NHS as anchor institution in context of skills

4.1  DHu shared a presentation on Progressing the Fourth Purpose in Sussex through the anchor role of the NHS. Presentation attached with the minutes.

Discussion on the presentation 

4.2  DGarn commented that partnership with Skills East Sussex is fundamental to make this get traction in all of the places that you need it to work – what is the key message to our partners?  DHu response – this is a cultural change from the NHS which will take some time internally. For our partners, it’s about supporting that message and to hold us to account a little bit in this plan, but also using this plan to draw out the opportunities to work in partnership, and saying where we are going wrong and where we can go right.  DGarn – so there is a cultural change in the NHS that is saying we don’t know all the answers, but we want to be part of the solutions.

4.3  CBr commented on being interested in the procurement element – has the detail been set out as yet as an action plan?  DHu response – not yet, the approach to procurement in the NHS can be quite varied. There is a big push in the NHS regarding the development of learning around procurement.  CBr – that is an area that the Local Authority has come on quite a journey over the years and it would be good to share our learnings around procurement with NHS colleagues.  DHu – we would welcome that, and that is part of the idea of the Sussex anchor network, where all procurement colleagues can come together, all sustainability colleagues can come together, etc – and all pull in the same direction. Because the social value frameworks that the Local Authority have, these are things that the NHS needs to develop. The understanding is already there but we just maybe need to apply it differently in the NHS, while reaching for the same outcomes.  HA – there is something about having similar approaches amongst large institutions and contracting organisations across Sussex, because it helps businesses understand what is expected of them.

ACTION: HA to follow up with DH re procurement /social value best practice discussions

4.4  DHa flagged that having been to meetings with local trusts, there’s been a miscommunication around some of the approaches with training providers. Chichester College Group have been quite involved with the NHS Sussex approach and have given the message that they can deliver learning in East Sussex. DHa added that it would be helpful to have a local Sussex communities approach where learners are signposted to their local training institution (a place-based approach). Perhaps there is a bit of a mapping exercise that we can do, to say who is where and what do we offer where, across each organisation.

4.5  DGale commented on the Brighton & Sussex Medical School being set up as a beacon of training the local workforce. However, it is now the most oversubscribed medical school in the country, making it more difficult for local people to be accepted. We did have an issue that T levels weren’t being accepted as part of the application criteria for studying medicine at the Medical School. This has been raised in the past, but not sure where we’ve got to with that? – so this perhaps needs to be looked at. Also, ESHT have recently set up their own inequalities board, and part of their work is to tackle the anchor institutions work and DG said that he would be happy to link in anyone from Skills East Sussex so that we can support the work of ESHT.

ACTION: SES members to contact Darrell re participating in the ESHT inequalities board

4.6  KM responded to the query around T levels for studying medicine at the Medical School – they are actively being considered across the other health professions, but there is more work to do for medicine. Also, regarding mapping of placement practice provision across Sussex, the ICB have been doing a sterling piece of work, for all programmes. This piece of work is ongoing, but is suffering a bit of a hiccup at the moment –fear is that this work will be lost in the ICB restructure, so wanted to raise this here, as this work needs to continue and become even more robust. 

ACTION: DHu will pick this up to try and get an understanding of the position at the moment and what it’s going to be.

Comments from the chat:

 HA - I think it would be strongest (future workforce and widening participation) for ICB/NHS to deliver fourth pillar through join up with well-established programmes - lots of opportunities now and in next few years.

CW - LSIP working with FE Sussex about joined up approaches to comms and promotion of college initiatives to businesses, particularly for the LSIF projects.

HA - Our local providers have a strong offer around health and social care provision - definitely need to build on this and enable people to access learning near to them.

VP - SCTP would be happy to support from an Independent Training Provider perspective.

VP - UCAS points for apprenticeships are also under consultation. link

 ACTION: SES secretariat to organise a follow up meeting for SES representatives with Dhu.

5. LSIP & DWP questions

5.1   CW provided an update on LSIP in the Members’ Update Report, and highlighted that she is working very closely with lots of partners at the moment on the LSIP annual progress review, the first draft is due early May. Also, some projects from our Framework Action Plan are being finalised (one on Green Skills, one on Equality Diversity & Inclusion, one on Learning Difficulties, Disabilities and Neurodiversity) – hopefully these will be out during May, and will be sharedthem on website.

5.2   BC provided an update on DWP –in the Members’ Update Report, and wanted to draw attention specifically to the content that the DWP have started the migration of legacy benefit customers to Universal Credit. There is limited information that can be shared in terms of numbers at present, but hopefully more information will be available in time for the next board meeting. This will see a significant increase in Universal Credit claimants, but there needs to be some context added to these numbers, which will hopefully be provided at the next meeting. At a high level, essentially the number of people required to look for work and needing DWP support will increase over the next year or so, for some time.

6. DLUHC Skills capital funding

6.1 HA provided an update on the funding - as part of the levelling up funds that have been allocated to Rother and Hastings, a pot of £1million has been identified as Skills Capital funding (£500k for Rother, £500k for Hastings). This will sit with the Skills Team in the Local Authority to oversee and administer – we will need to go out to tender. The duration of the funding is one year, so there are very tight timescales. The Council is thinking about a mix of larger pots and smaller pots, so smaller training providers can also access some of this capital. But first, we will be speaking with Rother and Hastings for their steer, for a joined-up approach. Funds will need to support SES priorities. Short timelines so the specifications and tendering process will be made as simple as possible, with a goal of tendering over the summer, assessing and issuing contracts in September for delivery by end March. More information will follow.

7. Forward Plan & AOB

7.1 Forward Plan – the following items were suggested:

·       Annual Presentation from the colleges on new provision, new trends

·       Capital Funding in more detail

·       Coastal Catalyst Programme

·       Retrofit Programme update (in report)

·       Long term plans update (forward plan for October)

Next meeting: 9th July 2024, 14.00 - 16.00 (venue tbc)

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