Issue - meetings

The Board received the final recommendations proposed by the Scrutiny Topic Group agreed in January 2017 titled ‘Further developing links between Halton’s Businesses and Schools’.

It was reported that three lines of enquiry were agreed and then explored:

·       Employer engagement;

·       Careers education information; and

·       Business needs.

It was noted that whilst the scrutiny work was taking place, the Government released its new Careers Strategy: Making the most of everyone’s skills and talents.   Following this the statutory guidance for schools and colleges about the requirements for delivering careers guidance and linking with employers was updated.  These documents were reviewed by the Topic Group during their final meeting and had also influenced the final recommendations.  The final recommendations developed by the Scrutiny Topic Group were listed in paragraph 3.4 of the report and were discussed.

Members made the following comments:

·       The Careers and Enterprise Company based in St Helens had selected the 3 schools to be involved in the pilot mentoring programme in Halton without any input from Halton itself, so Members asked if Halton could be involved in future initiatives to support the selection process;

·       Members noted that although the termly Director’s report to Governors contained information about careers guidance and developing employability skills, this needed highlighting so that Governors were encouraged to read and disseminate the information.  Officers advised that there was also a ‘Chair of Governors’ briefing termly, and the careers articles were highlighted in those meetings; and

·       Members requested that the Careers and Enterprise Company attend a future Board meeting.

In response to Members’ queries regarding the quality assurance of Careers Plans developed by schools/colleges, Members were advised that the recommendation made by the Scrutiny Topic Group was to monitor the existence of plans in line with the National Careers Strategy.  The scrutiny of Careers Plans and also Careers Guidance in schools/colleges rested with Ofsted.

RESOLVED:  That the Board agrees the recommendations.