Issue - meetings

Councillor Russell Holland, the Deputy Leader of Council and Cabinet Member for Commercialisation, Education and Skills, along with the Head of Skills and Education Partnerships, submitted a joint report setting out the role that Apprenticeships play in the Inclusion Early Years, Education and Skills Strategy to provide an alternative pathway to skills, qualifications and career progression for Employers and Swindon’s residents. The report provides an overview of the work overseen by the Growing the Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee to identify the key opportunities and challenges to increase Apprenticeship numbers and to set out the key recommended activity to achieve an increase in Apprenticeships offered and taken up in Swindon.

Councillor Holland introduced the joint report and offered it as a model of how Overview and Scrutiny Committees could contribute towards policy formation. The Cabinet Member also drew Members’ attention to National Apprentice week – 8^th to 14^th February 2021.

 The Leader invited Councillor Kevin Parry, Chair of the Growing the Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Councillor Barbara Parry, Chair of the Children’s Health, Social Care and Education Overview and Scrutiny Committee to address the meeting. The Councillors Parry drew members to their own vocational qualifications, the positive role apprenticeships were playing to support business and innovation, the need to ensure that apprenticeships are valued as highly as degrees – especially as apprenticeships may lead to higher qualifications without the financial burden of a degree course – and the desire to support and encourage more Swindon firms to take on apprentices.

Resolved: (1)That the recommendation that Apprenticeships specifically and vocational and technical pathways more broadly are firmly positioned in the Inclusion, Early Years, Education and Skills Strategy as a clear alternative to academic pathways to enable young people and residents to gain the skills and qualifications to achieve their potential in education, employment and training be approved.

(2) That the priority activity to increase the number of Apprenticeships outlined in the paper and in the Apprenticeship Action Plan (attached at Appendix One) be approved.

(3) That the progress that has been made by the work of the Growing the Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee, led by Councillors Kevin and Barbara Parry, be acknowledged and that they be thanked for their significant contribution.

(4) That the Head of Skills and Education Partnerships in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Commercialisation, Education and Skills be authorised to implement the measures set out in the joint report.

The reasons for the decision and alternative options are as set out in the report to the meeting.

(Councillor Dale Heenan, Cabinet Member for the Town Centre, Culture, and Heritage, returned during this item to participate fully in the remainder of the meeting.)