The Scottish Government

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Section 5: (v) Joint commitment and action

The challenge

122. Currently, no-one really owns NEET. The Scottish Executive's Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning ( ETLL) Department leads on reducing 'the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training by 2008', a CtOG target. The Enterprise Networks and Careers Scotland - have a specific remit to target 16-19 year olds NEET as a priority group. But in practice, young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET may well be in contact with - and receiving support from - a number of agencies and services ( e.g. school; college; social work services; youth justice services; voluntary sector organisations; housing providers; Jobcentre Plus; GP and other health services). This is entirely appropriate, and each service required by the young person is critical to an effective response. But there is no one body acting as the champion for this group, taking an overview of the services and support on offer and ensuring there are no gaps or weaknesses in the overall provision required.

123. To achieve significantly higher levels of performance and create a coherent response across Scotland to young people who are NEET and those at risk of becoming NEET, we need to put in place action that will drive and support delivery. Underpinning this, at a national and local level, are two essential features of future action: clear leadership and better partnership.

124. We propose to do this in three ways:

• by building on the unique national partnership between the Executive and business and education leaders, to spearhead efforts to reduce the NEET group;
• by supporting local partnerships, working in local labour markets and working together to achieve shared objectives in terms of both outcomes and a managed local service infrastructure;
• by setting up a NEET Delivery Team which will direct policy and practice, monitor and review the overall performance of the NEET strategy against agreed indicators, identify and help to scale up and roll out practices that work and to support the piloting and evaluation of new and existing services.

National partnership

125. Tackling NEET is a national priority. Within the Executive, Ministers for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning ( ELL) will continue to lead in the context of an explicit collective Ministerial commitment to - and ownership of - the NEET strategy, with Education Ministers fronting up the action required of the school and integrated children's services systems.

126. The First Minister has underlined the Executive's commitment to the NEET challenge with the announcement of a major extension to the unique partnership approach with business and education leaders, set up under the leadership of Sir Robert Smith, to deliver Determined to Succeed in Scotland, the Executive's strategy for enterprise in education. The Smith Group ( TSG) will build on that approach by taking oversight of, and providing strategic direction to, the Executive's efforts to tackle the NEET agenda, with a particular focus on stemming flows into NEET. Strong stakeholder buy-in and engagement is essential. TSG membership will therefore remain flexible to ensure the involvement of those with a direct contribution to make on'pre- NEET' issues such as social work, health and the voluntary sector, as well as other committed business figures.

Local partnerships

127. Locally, we believe that the issue of lack of real ownership of, and locus for, the NEET agenda can be addressed only by one organisation taking lead responsibility within the context of a - most likely pre-existing - forum of local partners. Given their remit for many aspects of the required responses to the NEET challenge - including improving attainment, transitions practices and post-school outcomes ⁹¹ - we believe that local authorities are best placed to take on this lead role working closely with a wide range of community planning partners. ⁹²

128. Local partnerships, with local authorities in the lead, will be responsible for driving forward collaborative action and delivery on NEET, accountable locally to their parent organisations; and, to the Executive through existing frameworks. The latter reflects the Executive's commitment to streamline planning, reporting and quality improvement arrangements.

129. Given the strategy's emphasis on both NEET prevention (pre-16) and reduction (post-16), the inter-relationship between existing planning structures and roles these imply for a range of agencies is vital. These need to be used and brought together in a effective way in order to provide the right 'fit' for the broad agenda and broad range of partners that will be involved in local delivery on NEET. Local partnerships might therefore wish to bear in mind the Executive's guidance to local planners which clarifies that Integrated Children's Services Plans ( ICSPs) should form part of community planning and link with local community planning priorities. ICSPs are effectively the children and young people's element of local community plans. Integrated children services planning, which forms part of the Executive's wider integration agenda for children's services, ⁹³ therefore has the potential to offer a solution. Local partnerships should also aim to build on employability action set out in their Regeneration Outcome Agreement ( ROAs). But ultimately, it will be for local partners to decide.

130. We expect all local partnerships, jointly, to:

• clearly identify the nature of their leadership function, defining who is involved and the nature of support expected from other partner agencies;
• detail the specific partnership structures that will be responsible for ensuring a comprehensive and co-ordinated local response to NEET and the wider employability agenda;
• audit activity to better understand local needs ( i.e. young people at risk of becoming NEET and those already NEET) and resources ( i.e. current level and type of services and how they "fit" with each other);
• establish challenging local targets for NEET, and processes for monitoring and reporting. This should involve more than the headline NEET figures, and include details of stock and flow (particularly sustained long-term NEET status), and incidence of NEET by the key sub-groups most at risk of becoming NEET;
• define the local entitlement, including national training programmes, and how it will be delivered, in the context of a coherent framework of employability and support services;
• detail how the action set out in their ICSP and ROA contributes to the local response to NEET, including preventing the flow into NEET;
• undertake and use an analysis of current and future employment opportunities, with a view to demonstrating how area-based strategies to tackle NEET will meet the demands of local employers;
• detail action to build the necessary infrastructure, including joint training and development activities across partner agencies.

131. The actions identified in this strategy are for all local partnerships across Scotland. The Executive will provide further guidance on our expectations and the opportunities available to local partnerships as a result, including the support the Executive itself will offer.

132. We will work with Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, Dundee, West Dunbartonshire and North and East Ayrshire to develop the partnership approach, build on appropriate existing frameworks, lead developmental work, and learn the potential lessons for effective service responses to the NEET group, both in stemming the flows and helping those already NEET. We see there being wider benefits from this approach as the best practice developed here will be shared across Scotland.

NEET Delivery Team

133. We need improved delivery mechanisms and greater coherence within and outwith the Executive, together with a clear focus on outcomes and front-line activity to support young people. Working closely with The Smith Group, we will set up a NEET Delivery Team in the Executive to work across Departments and its agencies, and to support local authorities and wider delivery partners. To help direct the work of the Team, there will be a secondment - or secondments - from business into the Executive, reporting to a senior level.

134. The Team's main functions will be to:

• monitor and evaluate the impact of the NEET strategy, including progress towards targets;
• improve national and local data on the NEET group;
• develop and disseminate a body of evidence identifying effective practice in preventing NEET and working with the NEET group in a variety of settings;
• guide and support the development of effective partnership working between agencies across Scotland, particularly the local authority areas identified in para 132;
• account for the use of additional funding to deliver the NEET target in the NEET 'hotspot' areas;
• work closely with the Workforce Plus Team on wider employability issues;
• work with the UK Government on issues pertinent to the NEET group which fall within reserved areas of responsibility;
• further develop the focus on sustainable post-school outcomes through planning and reporting, self-evaluation and inspection;
• co-ordination and communication across Executive departments and its delivery partners.

Conclusion

135. To tackle the most difficult problems and to ensure our efforts are focussed on closing gaps in opportunities, we need strong leadership, strong partnership and strong accountability, at national and local levels. Additionally, we need to join up work to stem the flow of young people pre-16, with chances, opportunities and support post-16. And, we need the private, public and voluntary sectors to work together, to develop new ideas and to harness Scotland's energy and enterprise. Our strategy brings all these elements together in order to realise our ambitions for this important group of young people.

ACTION: JOINT COMMITMENT AND ACTION

Focusing on where the need is greatest:

(i) The Scottish Executive ( SE) will establish seven NEET hotspot areas - Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, North and East Ayrshire and Dundee - to lead developmental work in addition to the series of local tasks detailed in para 130.

Losing no-one:

(ii) The SE will set a challenging national target - supported by related local targets - for year on year NEET reduction.

(iii) The SE will undertake research in order to better understand the BME profile of the NEET population in Scotland and the particular barriers facing NEET individuals from an ethnic minority background with a view to improving provision for this particular group of young people.

Delivery which can meet the challenge:

(iv) Local partners, using existing structures where possible ( e.g. Community Planning, Integrated Education and Children's Services Planning, Welfare to Work), will collectively plan and develop the service infrastructure required to meet the needs of the NEET group, and those at risk of becoming NEET, as detailed in para 130.

(v) Local authorities will lead and put in place a joint delivery plan, integrating with pre-existing plans where possible, for the local NEET target, and account to the Executive on progress.

(vi) The SE will set up a NEET Delivery Team to support implementation of the NEET strategy by developing and sharing best practice, handling funding incentives, improving the employability focus of specialist agencies, monitoring performance against targets (national and local), and addressing other relevant national issues within the wider Employability Framework.

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