DD2333 London Enterprise Adviser Network (LEAN) in Croydon

The Enterprise Adviser Network (EAN) is a national programme that supports social mobility through matching up to two senior business volunteers (Enterprise Advisers) with a school’s careers leader to support them to increase business engagement with the school and develop a whole-school careers strategy and employer engagement plan that is representative of all pathways into employment and considers all sectors.

The volunteers and schools are supported by paid employees called Enterprise Coordinators (EC). Each EC has up to 25 schools or colleges and oversees a portfolio of up to 40 Enterprise Advisers (EAs). These roles are match funded by the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC).

The Mayor approved expenditure of up to £ 2.668m, under cover of MD2262, to support the expansion of the London Enterprise Adviser Network for the period September 2018 to August 2020, comprising up to £1.268m CEC funding and £1.4m GLA funding.

Delivery of the network in Croydon was originally co-funded and delivered by Coast to Capital LEP but Croydon will now become part of the London LEP area from April 2019. This means the borough of Croydon will now be included in the delivery for the London LEP area.

It is proposed therefore, that the GLA’s Contract for services covering the LEAN South sub-region (which was procured in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015) will be varied to include the Croydon delivery. This will include an additional EC and the associated project service costs for Croydon.

This further investment would allow us to offer the LEAN to 100% of mainstream secondary schools, PRUs and colleges in the London LEP area.

We expect 80% of mainstream secondary schools, PRUs and colleges to participate in the expanded LEAN. With the inclusion of Croydon, the ambition is for LEAN to engage with:

• 490 schools and colleges, including pupil referral units (an additional 20 from Croydon);
• 720 senior business volunteers (Enterprise Advisers) (an additional 20 from Croydon); and
• All boroughs in the London LEP area.

Croydon will now benefit from the same support from the LEAN as the rest of London. The programme will enhance the capacity of participating schools and colleges to deliver quality careers education – providing school careers leads with personalised support to improve careers provision. We expect to see an increase in the average number of Gatsby Benchmarks achieved by London schools (2.0 out of 8 is the current London average). We also expect to increased levels of teacher confidence in knowledge of career pathways such as apprenticeships, higher apprenticeships and T-Levels. Through these mechanisms, the programme will improve access to high quality careers provision for young people studying at participating schools and colleges.

The inclusion of Croydon within the programme will give the GLA direct and ongoing relationships with careers leaders in the majority of London’s secondary schools and colleges. These relationships provide a mechanism for staff to signpost schools and colleges to other elements of the Mayor’s developing offer for London careers support.

Research by the Education and Employers’ Taskforce has been reviewed prior to the planning of this programme. Young people who have four or more encounters with the world of work while at school are 86% less likely to become NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and will earn up to 22% more. The LEAN aims to increase business engagement in schools and advance equality of opportunity so that every young person can have the chance to meet employers and experience work places therefore reducing the risk of them becoming NEET, regardless of race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment.

The Enterprise Adviser Network has worked with careers leaders in each school to address the needs of every cohort of students The lessons learned from this have been reviewed and incorporated into the new programme, ensuring equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it, and to ensure the programme will foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The development of the expanded LEAN programme has been informed by a review of the government’s Industrial Strategy, which states that there is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) skills gap in the UK and girls are less likely to choose STEM subjects at A Level than boys. For this reason, we have worked with STEM Learning to recruit volunteers with a STEM background which will advance equality of opportunity for young people, specifically girls, in London.

We have worked with cross sector organisations to ensure our pool of over 200 Enterprise Advisers are diverse (in terms of race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment), therefore fostering good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The Department for Education’s (DfE) National Careers Strategy, “Careers strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents” and Statutory Guidance states that access to the Enterprise Adviser Network will be available to all secondary schools and colleges to support careers education. If funding is not secured Croydon’s schools and colleges would not receive this support. Government has committed to match-funding contributions from local areas to help achieve full coverage of the EAN in each LEP area. Funding for the current LEAN does not cover Croydon. If the project does not proceed, there are reputational risks for the LEAP and Mayor, especially given the high demand for careers support so this funding will mitigate this risk by providing funding in Croydon.

This investment in the LEAN will give London a careers support co-ordination function, which could be used going forward to direct and co-ordinate other elements of the Mayor’s Careers for Londoners Action Plan and is now able to include Croydon as an integrated part of the London offer, rather than being part of another LEP area.

The LEAN supports the achievement of a variety of Mayoral Strategies including, the Mayor’s Skills for Londoners Strategy, Sport for all of us, The Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy for London and the Mayor’s Culture for all Londoners Strategy.

Approval is sought for expenditure of up to £60,000 to support the delivery of the London Enterprise Adviser Network.

The expenditure will be funded from the GLA’s 2019-20 LEAP Programme budget (£30k), and external income to be received from the Careers & Enterprise Company (£30k), for which approval is also requested.

The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the activity in respect of which approval is sought may be considered to be facilitative of and conducive to the exercise of the GLA’s general powers to undertake such activity as may be considered to promote economic development and wealth creation in Greater London and have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

(a) Pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;

(b) Consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

(c) Consult with appropriate bodies.

In taking the decisions requested, the director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

If the director is minded to make the decisions sought officers must ensure that:

(a) Officers must ensure that no reliance is placed upon an estimated/forecast external funding until legally binding arrangements are in place with CEC and they are content that the GLA can comply with any conditions applicable to the provision of such funding; and

(b) The GLA’s contract for the provision of LEAN South sub-region services is varied to include the proposed service provision in Croydon and related increase in sums payable by up to a maximum of £60,000 before the commencement of such services in Croydon.