Agenda item

22.1

Members considered a report of the Executive Director of City Futures which sought approval from the Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee of the draft Evidence Base Report, Vision and Strategic Framework to enable progression to the final round of consultation (scheduled for September 2024) and inform development of the final Strategy document, Action Plan and Roadmap.

22.2

Councillor Safiya Saeed joined the meeting.

22.3

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee:-

-       Notes the progress made to develop the Sheffield Employment and Skills Strategy

-       Approves the Vision and Strategic Framework elements of the strategy, to enable development of the Action Plan and Roadmap

-       Approves adoption of the draft Evidence Base Report and Evidence Base Dataset

22.4

Reasons for Decision

22.4.1

The Committee is asked to note the progress to date on the ESS including approval of the Vision and Strategic Framework elements to enable the next stages or the work. Next steps will be to develop the roadmap and action plan against these.

22.4.2

The Committee is asked to sign off the Evidence Based Report and Dataset which was been used to form the Vision and Strategic Framework and will be further utilised to progress the roadmap and action plan.

22.5

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

22.5.1

Alternative Option 1: Continue strategy development without Committee Endorsement - continue developing the Sheffield Employment & Skills Strategy without EDSPC noting progress and approving products developed to date Failure to seek EDSPC approval for the draft Evidence Base Report, Evidence Base Dataset, Vision and Strategic Framework at this stage of the Page 39 project would heighten the risk of the final document failing to gain approval when brought to committee. By reviewing the existing draft products and the direction the project is taking, Members have an early opportunity to validate the approach or suggest alternations to ensure strategic alignment. This will support the delivery team in developing products which are of a high quality and will be adopted by partners across the city.]

22.5.2

Alternative Option 2: Complete first drafts of the Strategy and Action Plan / Roadmap before bringing to EDSPC for review, ahead of production of a final draft] This would have significantly extended the delivery timeframe and delayed adoption of the strategy, which in turn would delay action being undertaken to address employment and skills challenges within the city. Producing full draft documents may have resulted in mission drift and/or quality issues, requiring work to be repeated and additional costs incurred. Delays may impact on the availability of the commissioned consultants and/or require variation of their contract for delivery should the resourcing budgeted for the project be exceeded.