Agenda item

·             Public List of Organisations

·             Table of contents

·             SKMP03 - East Mercia Rivers Trust application – Communities & Place Priority

·             SKMP04 - Harlaxton Manor College - The Social Economy Accelerator – Supporting Local Businesses Priority

·             SKMP05 - Grantham College

a)     SKMP05a - Employer Engagement Officer

b)     SKMP05b - Employability Skills for employment/employers’ project

c)     SKMP05c - Bespoke Skills for Business Provision

·             SKMP06 - Lincolnshire Community Voluntary & Service – South Kesteven Care Worker Micro-Enterprise Pipeline - Supporting Local Businesses Priority and People & Skills Priority

The Board were notified that three organisations would be making presentations, with one now unable to attend SKMP04 – Harlaxton Manor College, the Social Economy Accelerator – Supporting Local Business Priority.

SKMP03 – East Mercia Rivers Trust – Communities and Place Priority

The Board received a presentation in respect of the East Mercia Rivers Trust which through the River Academy was looking at how rivers could be brought back to life.  Their aim was to educate people of all ages about water courses such as checking the health of a water course, looking at the plant species and pollution.  The River Academy would be based at Belton House, near Grantham in the Old School House. The river Witham ran through the Belton site which offered an ideal environment for river studies. The location also had good connectivity links with both the A1 and the rail network.  Age specific courses would be offered to all age groups from primary and secondary school children, to those in adult education and Post graduate studies.

Funding was being sought in respect of transport costs and also funding for equipment such as water quality kits and also coats and wellington boots to enable all sessions to be inclusive.

Members discussed the request for funding and were supportive of the overall project. The request would be discussed by the Local Economic Forum sub-group and would come back before the Board in the new year.

Funding requested: £35,000

Board minded to support the funding application

(As Nicola McCoy-Brown was a governor of Grantham College she left the meeting during the Grantham College presentation)

SKMP05a – Employment Engagement Officer - £61,816 (year 3)

SKMP05b – Employability Skills for employment/employers’ project - £97,000 (year 3)

SKMP05c – Bespoke Skills for Business Provision - £67,000

The Board received a presentation from a representative from Grantham College on three funding applications which supported the people and skills and local businesses priorities.  The first and third funding applications complimented each other. 

The first funding application centred around the recruitment of a full-time employer engagement officer based at Grantham College, who would work with local businesses with a particular emphasis on those operating in key sectors where there was a skills gap as identified in the LSIP and by the GLLEP, e.g., digital, engineering, care, leadership and management and construction and visitor economy.  It was proposed that the Employer Engagement Officer would engage with businesses to find out their training needs and what they needed to enable their businesses to grow and to help demystify the various qualifications available. 

The second proposal was to continue the work supporting those individuals living in South Kesteven who are furthest from the labour market, often with significant barriers, to achieve their full potential and move them closer towards sustainable employment and/or into training, learning or volunteering opportunities.

The third proposal was centred around funding for a Business Skills Trainer to develop and deliver bespoke skills training for local businesses. The project would enable us to create, develop and deliver workshops and tailored programmes to businesses largely based on the collaborative, employer engagement work undertaken by the Employer Engagement Office.

Members asked questions about the proposed posts and whether the proposals could be looked at individually and also whether there was funding already in place.

Following the presentation, the Board were not minded to support the funding proposals but acknowledged that the applications would be looked at in more detail by the relevant Local Economic Forum sub-groups before they came back to the Board in the new year for a decision.

(Nicola McCoy-Brown returned to the meeting)

SKMP08 - South Kesteven Care Worker Micro-Enterprise Pipeline - £61,000 (year3)

The Board received a presentation on a project to support the establishment of up to15 care worker micro-enterprises in South Kesteven by March 2025. It would provide an opportunity for unemployed and underemployed local people in South Kesteven to become self-employed in a supportive environment and to work in a network which ensures they are able to offer as a group 24/7 care to the individuals they support. 

Background information was given to the board on how, for some people, the rurality of the district and the lack of transport infrastructure were detrimental to some sections of the work force.  Detail was given on how the proposed funding would be used to provide support to enable people to set up businesses closer to their homes.  Support packages would be in place for these micro enterprises but it was stated that they would not be CPC regulated.

Members acknowledged the programme currently being carried out on the east coast but were concerned about the proposed lack of CPC regulations or safeguards that would be in place for the proposed micro enterprises proposed for this area and also how the level of support would be managed and also issues such as the carrying out of DBS checks.  

Members were not minded to support the funding proposal.