Agenda and minutes

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting. 

Councillor Oliver Donachie made a personal and non-prejudicial declaration of interest in respect of agenda item in his capacity as a Board Member of the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Councillor Chris Watts made a personal and non-prejudicial declaration of interest in respect of agenda item in his capacity as a Member of the Scrutiny Committee of the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th November 2018.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th November 2018, be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Committee received a report of the Head of Skills, Employment and Lifelong Learning and Head of Education setting out on progress on the Swindon Learning Town, Higher Education Strategy and Apprenticeship Strategy. 

The Chair read out questions received from Councillor Jane Milner-Barry relating to apprenticeships, the use of apprenticeships to upskill the Council’s workforce and funds in the Council’s apprenticeship levy account.

Following a presentation on the report the Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity and Officers responded to Members questions and comments in respect of the presentation and Councillor Milner-Barry’s questions on the following issues arising:

·       The different apprenticeships currently available which included level 7 Masters degrees; it was noted that been a growth in the use of higher and master degree apprenticeships by employers, included Swindon Borough Council.

·       The use of apprenticeships to employ staff and to upskill staff.

·       Funds available in the Apprenticeship Levy Account and the target the Council had for the employment of apprentices.

·       The mobilising of resources by Learning Cities to promote learning from basic to higher education, learning in the workplace, to extend the use of modern learning technologies and fostering a culture of learning, social inclusion, economic prosperity and sustainable development.

·       For the Borough this meant increased aspiration and ambition for Swindon’s residents, trying to increase the number of young people in higher education, especially from more deprived areas and an increase of skills and qualifications at all levels of employment.

·       The move towards lifelong learning and increasing wellbeing through employment opportunities.

·       The launch of the Learning Town Website in October 2018 and road shows and other publicity with schools and other partners to bring the website to residents attention.

·       Promotions, such as Tech Fest, during the year to raise awareness the learning opportunities available within the Borough and to promote the status of learning within Swindon.

·       The use of ambassadors, employers, community engagement and mentors in promoting messages related to learning opportunities and career pathways within the Borough.

·       The Words for Work Programme for post 16 year olds to assist their transition to employment.

·       Other on-going work to improve literacy across a range of age groups.

·       The positive use of stories on the Learning Town Website and social media.

·       The identification of barriers to learning across the range of programmes used within the Borough.

·       The role of Councillors to help promote future campaigns.

·       That education should be used by all residents on an on-going basis to help them develop their skills and opportunities available to them.

·       The variety of bursaries and grants available to those on means-tested benefits to help them in their educational development.

·       The targeting of education, especially in improving prosperity and how aspirations and outcomes were monitored.

·       The effect of technologies on the development of children’s learning skills.

·       The role of libraries across the Borough in the promotion of learning and skill attainment.

·       Work with all schools and colleges in the Borough through the Swindon Challenge Board to improve educational attainment and to raise aspirations and progression.

·       Work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

A copy of the presentation slides are attached for Members’ information.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity and the Head of Strategic Growth made a presentation updating the Committee on the work of Switch onto Swindon and answered questions in respect of the following issues:

·       That Switch onto Swindon, which was into its third year, had approximately 600 Ambassadors from over 400 companies who were working to make Swindon the best place to live and work.

·       The Business Board was aligned around business and its business members of the Board have taken on Lead Roles to co-ordinate activity within the themes of Governance, The Ambassador Network, The Talent Attraction Campaign, Discover Swindon and Ambassador Communication.

·       The message that Swindon was the place to do business which was being led and championed by representatives of the business community.

·       The Council’s support in the form of senior political and officer input, co-ordination, insurance for events, communications and administrative support and a base budget to stimulate other financial and in-kind contributions to agreed activity.

·       That Switch on Swindon had been reorganised to minimise political input and to allow business to deliver key messages.

·       Work to widen the message of Switch on Swindon to business and employees on a national scale.

·       The role of the Council in proactively seeking inward investment into Swindon.

Resolved – (1) That the Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity and officers be thanked for their presentation.

(2) That this Committee formally extends its thanks and appreciation to all of the Switch on Swindon Ambassadors for their work.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity and the Head of Strategic Growth and Place submitted a joint report setting out in broad terms the issues identified to date arising from the United Kingdom leaving the European Union and the Council’s response through its inward investment and business retention and expansion programmes.

Resolved – (1) That the report be noted and officers be thanked for their extremely detailed report.

(2) That the Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity and Councillors be encouraged to promote the Government’s website https://euexit.campaign.gov.uk to assist businesses with their preparations.

(3) That the Chair and Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity be requested to report the Committee’s consideration of this report to the Council.

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Law and Democratic Services setting out the Committee’s Work Programme, agreed at its meeting on 20^th June 2018.   

Resolved – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That an update on Learning Town be added to this Committee’s Work Programme for the Municipal Year 2019/20.