Minutes:
David Ayton-Hill (Assistant Director – Communities) presented the item and raised the following points:
· Data presented for Warwickshire unfortunately looks at ethnic minorities as a single group as disaggregated data is just not available at this geographic level
· In Warwickshire the employment rate of ethnic minority groups was higher than the national average and this improved recently
· Ethnic minorities in Warwickshire have a lower economic inactivity rate than the national average which suggested more employment
· Warwickshire only data on levels of pay and earnings was not available because of the small sample size but national data showed that some ethnic groups (Indian and Chinese) were above the average pay rate but others were significantly below (Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black ethnic groups). Supporting this earning growth needed to be looked at due to other determinants like health
· High inflation rates and energy costs affected the earning rates especially with slow pay rate increases. Between 2021-2023 there would likely be a loss of real earnings (2% reduction)
· Ethnic groups have a lower earning potential on average than others which was made worse by inflation pressures; this could impact their wellbeing/lifestyle
· Work around supporting businesses was done (Survive & Sustain) as well as business start-up opportunities for deprived communities and supporting self-employed people (Jump Start Programme). These operated successfully, and still were at the time of the meeting, for over 18 months
· c. 8% of these projects beneficiaries were from ethnic minorities which was in line with Warwickshire’s demographics, and one quarter of new businesses started in 2021 following support provided were by individuals from an ethnic minority background
· A lot of focus is now on employment and skills as we move more into economic recovery. The Warwickshire Skills Hub, which is both a virtual hub for information (https://skillshub.warwickshire.gov.uk) and a physical hub based at Eliot Park Innovation Centre in Nuneaton, is the core focus for this work.
· The Skills Hub are launching a programme called ‘fair chance employer’ shortly that will work with businesses to encourage them to become fair chance employers i.e. get businesses to expand their job-search horizons and not always go through the traditional job routes and look at hiring people with disabilities, care leavers, NEET people (not in employment, education or training), people who left the armed forces, migrants/refugees and people with mental health issues especially with businesses facing labour shortages. These groups were being worked with to get them into employment
· The council has also obtained funding from the Community Renewal Fund and the Warwickshire Brighter Futures project is focused on running employment support programmes for c. 1000 young people to get them back into employment. This will be done with five different strands, providing a range of initiatives, including a programme (extra ability) focused on people with special educational needs and how they could have an easier transition from education into sustainable employment
In response to Councillor Chilvers, David Ayton-Hill stated that the council would push people into apprenticeship programmes which were tailored to business needs; the council tries selling the idea of apprentiships to businesses. The council tries to look ahead to get people ready for future jobs e.g. automotive and low carbon jobs.
In response to Councillor Baxter-Payne, David Ayton-Hill stated that the fair chance employer scheme had not been launched at the time of the meeting, but the skills hub would contact him with the project details.
In response to the Chair, David Ayton-Hill said that if a business wanted an apprentiship, the skills hub would tailor one for the business depending on what skills were needed; if a business wanted an apprentiship but could not fund it then some money from the levy could be used to fund this. Work experience for schools was difficult to obtain during the pandemic so this was another reason why the fair chance employer scheme was set up; apprentiships and academies needed to be blended together.
In response to a point raised by the Chair, Councillor Jan Matecki informed the committee that requesting a degree for a job interview instead of skill-based interview, was a form of indirect discrimination.