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Part 3 - Skills for future growth

We want to work with emerging businesses, their supply chains, and academia and skills providers, to prepare a comprehensive future skills programme.

3.1 Action plan aim: Improve digital skills for residents across the Ashfield District

What we already have and do

  • Ashfield Innovation Centres in both Sutton and Kirkby Library will be available for residents as Digital Hubs in order to complete IT training. Lead provider will be Inspire, and the focus will be delivering basic Level 1 IT courses, ensuring residents have the digital literacy they need for life and work
  • Inspire will be operating a mobile IT provision across the district, which will offer the same IT provision as the innovation centres. They will aim to go harder to reach communities within the district
  • As part of Ashfield District Council's allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Academy Transformation Trust Further Education (ATTFE) College is delivering a Digital Support in Local Communities project in priority wards in the districts. This is to help residents use digital devices to enhance their career
  • Adult education budget providers such as Inspire, Futures, and Academy Transformation Trust Further Education (ATTFE) College, based at Sutton Academy, deliver basic IT and IT Level 1 courses, which is free for adults aged 19+
  • Citizens Online is available for residents to access and improve their IT skills
  • Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a Digital Zone provision in its job centre premises that is tailored around digital inclusion
  • DBC Training deliver the iProgramme 1.1 and 1.2, which is medium level IT provision for unemployed residents and business workforces
  • Local Enterprise Partnership (D2N2) is delivering fully-funded Digital Skills Bootcamps, which will include programmes to achieve higher level digital skills. This will be for the unemployed and businesses workforce. This will be from the new National Skills Fund (launched full April 2021)
  • Vision West Notts College has secured a mobile training facility in the shape of an electric vehicle that will be visiting partner colleges, local schools, and community centres (including Sutton and Kirkby libraries) to introduce individuals to this developing automation and robotics skills
  • Vision West Notts College’s Automation and Robotics courses at the Engineering Innovation Centre will be available for residents that need advanced IT provision and to learn how to operate and collaborate with automation and robotics.

What we need to do

Ensure all residents have the digital skills required for life and work:

3.1.1: Discover Ashfield to engage with schools to ensure digital literacy is part of their curriculum. Also, to ensure they have knowledge of the digital skills journey that is available in Ashfield

3.1.2: Ensure Adult Skills Strategic Partnership (including Department for Work and Pensions) customers with no digital qualifications are accessing the basic, Level 1, and International Computer Driving License (ICDL) IT provision that is available through the Adult Education Budget and UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

3.1.3: Engage with libraries/Inspire and gather impact data of how many are accessing the innovation centres in libraries and mobile provision in the harder to reach communities (tackling the improvement of digital exclusion).

3.1.4: Ensure Adult Skills Strategic Partnership (including Department for Work and Pensions) customers are accessing the Vision West Notts College Automation and Robotics offer; through the courses available at the Engineering Innovation Centre and the mobile training facility.

3.1.5: Ensure the automation/robotics mobile provision is travelling to local schools.

3.2. Action plan aim: Graduate retention schemes are in place for businesses and students in Ashfield

What we already have and do

  • Enterprising Ashfield project will be delivered from a new business hub based in Sutton. Nottingham Trent University delivers the Graduate Talent programme, offering short-term, part-funded graduate placement opportunities for local businesses
  • Derby University’s Driven programme is available for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to receive funding for hiring a University of Derby graduate. Included is help with recruitment, such as free advertising, job advert creation, job promotion, sifting, and interview support
  • Local universities can offer funding to help small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) recruit graduates and talent through several support streams
  • Local universities offer the Productivity through Innovation programme, providing graduates to help businesses develop an innovative project.

What we need to do

Find out the universities that Ashfield students are studying from:

3.2.1: Work with all East Midlands universities to explore the number of Ashfield-originated graduates and their current destinations. Add this data set to Part 1 'Annex of Indicators' part of the Education and Skills Improvement Plan.

3.2.2: Ashfield District Council to engage with the careers teams of these universities. Potentially through a periodic tele kit, where these universities can dial in and receive information on the local labour market.

Ensure businesses and universities are working collaboratively to ensure graduate matching is taking place:

3.2.3: D2N2 universities (that have Ashfield students) in business networking forums.

  • Action completed: 10 October 2022

3.2.4: Promote East Midlands University jobs portals with local businesses, so they can post higher-skilled vacancies.

3.2.5: Obtain information from the East Midlands universities of their jobs portals. 

  • Action completed: 21 February 2024

3.2.6: Ensure all D2N2 Universities Graduate Retention programmes (e.g. NTU Graduate Talent Programme, Enterprising Ashfield Graduate Talent Match, Driven, and Productivity through Innovation) are being promoted to local businesses.

3.2.7: Gather impact data from Enterprising Ashfield Graduate Talent programme and showcase.

3.3 Action plan aim: Collaboration and partnership working with providers is in place

What we already have and do

  • Ashfield’s Health and Wellbeing Partnership is in place, with its aim for the partnership to work collaboratively in order to reduce economic inactivity within the Ashfield district. Also to develop community projects, which will improve social inclusion in the area
  • Love Where You Live: Primary Schools Partnership has been formed, which is chaired by Discover Ashfield. Consisting of local primary schools. This partnership shares best practice to improve education and careers provision within the primary schools. The schools are also linked to local community projects
  • Succeed in Ashfield: Secondary Schools Network has been formed, which is chaired by Discover Ashfield. Consisting of local secondary schools. This network shares best practice to improve education and careers provision within the primary schools. The schools are also linked to community projects, as well as businesses to help shape the curriculum based on their skills needs
  • Ashfield’s Adult Skills Strategic Partnership has been formed, which is chaired by Ashfield District Council. This collaboration consists of further education, higher education, and independent training providers that deliver employment and skills services to Ashfield residents. This partnership shares best practice to improve employment and skills provision within the district. The partnership is also linked to businesses to help shape programmes based on their recruitment and workforce development needs
  • D2N2 People and Skills Board involves partners working collaboratively across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Data is shared in this arena and partners discuss how to improve important priorities in the area
  • Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) involvement has been set up in Ashfield’s Adult Skills Strategic Partnership meetings. Department for Work and Pensions talk about programmes and key priorities from Ashfield’s Job Centre claimant count
  • Nottinghamshire County Council is involved in Ashfield’s Adult Skills Strategic Partnerships to discuss its services and also updates from the Multiply programme.

What we need to do

To improve the local Primary Education, Secondary Education, Further Education (FE), Higher Education (HE) and Adult Skills offer, develop partnership arrangements that enable providers and employers to work together more collaboratively

3.3.1: Ensure the Love Where You Live: Primary Schools Network is working collaboratively to improve its primary education provision.

3.3.2: Ensure the Succeed in Ashfield: Secondary Schools Network is working collaboratively to improve its secondary education provision.

3.3.3: Ensure the Adult Skills Strategic Partnership has clear objectives and the educational organisations in the partnership are working collaboratively to improve their adult skills provision.

  • Action completed: 23 May 2022

3.3.4: Encourage Ashfield’s Adult Skills Strategic Partnership to secure funding and work together to promote vocational routes.

  • Action completed: 13 February 2023

3.3.5: Encourage partnerships that collaborate for the same solution; specifically are able to work together to bid for funding that links provision, pastoral care, and employers

  • Action completed: 13 February 2023

3.3.6: Ashfield District Council to create Career Boost resources for local residents, which will include the employment and skills programmes in the district. This will be updated every quarter. Ashfield’s Adult Skills Strategic Partnership to ensure this local resource is kept up to date.

  • Action completed: 1 August 2022

3.3.7: Ensure Career Boost includes case studies from residents that have had a positive impact from the education and skills offer.

  • Action completed: 5 December 2022

3.3.8: Ensure the partnerships have the tools to extract economic intelligence and labour market information and are working collaboratively to shape services to improve economic data.

  • Action completed: 12 June 2023

3.3.9: Ensure the partnerships are delivering employment and skills provision based on future needs.

3.3.10: Ensure economic intelligence is embedded into the partnership meeting agendas.

  • Action completed: 23 May 2022

3.3.11: Partnerships to regularly explore gaps/low resource in skills provision (through partner/business feedback). Discuss collaboratively about available funding pots that can support these services being delivered.

3.3.12: Arrange annual awards ceremony for the partnerships.

  • Action completed: 21 February 2024