Decision details

Decision – That the oral report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills giving an update on “Staffordshire Means Back to Business” activity including the following matters be noted:

• Staffordshire job brokerage “Staffordshire Jobs and Careers” - The objective of the scheme is to support Staffordshire residents into work through the management and delivery of free recruitment and support services to businesses; achieved through a bespoke tailored service to match and screen potential candidates. A digital ‘Staffordshire Jobs & Careers’ platform will form part of the service to provide a quick and easy way to find employment and/or training opportunities. This is currently being built and will be ‘soft’ launched with the wider brokerage service by mid-July.

• Apprenticeship 500 - This programme was developed with our partners in response to the impact of Covid 19 on new Apprenticeships, the numbers collapsed.  As a direct result of SCC’s actions, with the support of partners, to date 205 businesses have taken on over 400 Apprentices.

• Ignite - This is a brand new county-wide initiative designed to encourage young people in their final year at College, to understand the basics of entrepreneurialism and enterprise. Ignite aims to invest in the innovation, energy and entrepreneurial spirit that the next generation have, to enhance their ability to help themselves through giving them the know-how they need to have more options and lead the world of work.  To date over 12,000 college students across Staffordshire have received focused training to set up their own business through the Ignite programme.

• The proportion of young people in Staffordshire aged 18-24 that are claiming work-related Universal Credit has decreased further and now stands at 3.9%, or 2,505 young people which is only 90 more than the pre-pandemic level. This is reflective of the record number of job vacancies currently available across the full economy, with more young people finding employment in areas of demand to aid the recovery from the pandemic. There remain clear opportunities for more young people in a number of our priority and locally important sectors such as manufacturing, construction, logistics, health & social care and hospitality.

This decline in young people claiming Universal Credit has contributed to an overall decline in our claimant rate which now stands at 2.8% of the working age population in May well below the regional rate of 5.0% and national rate of 3.9%.