The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support presented a report seeking approval from Cabinet to extend the Inspire 2 Achieve and Inspire 2 Work projects led by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council funded through the European Social Fund under Priority 3 (Youth Employment and Attainment). The report also asked Cabinet to delegate authority to the Corporate Director- Education and Family Support subject to the approval of the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer to enter into the necessary funding letters with WEFO and the associated agreements with BGCBC and other joint beneficiaries on behalf of the Council.  

The Corporate Director-Education and Family Support provided a background to the work programmes and explained that delivery of both projects was currently scheduled to end in December 2018, with the programmes closing in their entirety by the end of March 2019. The proposed extension for both would see the service running to December 2022 to continue to support young people who were not in education, employment or training or had the potential to be NEET. This work was pivotal to the local authority being able to deliver the requirements set out in Welsh Government’s Youth Engagement and Progression Framework.

The Corporate Director-Education and Family Support outlined the objectives of each programme, a summary of young people in Bridgend, the outcomes of the project to date and the proposals for a staff profile. He explained that suitable match funding would need to be sourced for the duration of the proposed extensions, one through a contribution from secondary schools utilising a fixed percentage of their Education Improvement Grant and one through the Welsh Government Youth Support Grant. The Corporate Director-Education and Family Support outlined the risk to the authority that match funding streams could reduce or cease to be available in future years and if this did happen, the option to source alternative funds or to withdraw from the project with the risk of a clawback of grant.

The Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations stated that the report was very positive and noted the number of people the authority had worked with and how the level had reduced. She said that this was an important group to be working with and an opportunity to set them up for life and she supported the proposals.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration supported the recommendations and said that he had case studies for a number of those that had benefited from the programmes.     

The Leader said this was excellent news and that it was important to invest in young people. The table spoke volumes and showed a reduction of over 50% across the local authority in the number of Year 11 school leavers presenting as NEET upon leaving school in the first academic year I2A became operational. He asked for his thanks to be conveyed to officers.  

RESOLVED:            That Cabinet:

(1)         Authorised the proposed extension of the Inspire 2 Achieve and Inspire 2 Work projects.

Delegated authority to the Corporate Director Education and Family Support, subject to the approval of the S151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer, to enter into the necessary funding letters with WEFO and associated agreements with BGCBC and other Joint Beneficiaries on behalf of the Council.