Agenda item

Employment Growth and Apprenticeships

It was moved by Councillor Colin Ross, seconded by Councillor Ian Auckland, that this Council:-

(a)       wholeheartedly welcomes the latest labour bulletin, which reported an 11% drop in Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in Sheffield;

(b)       furthermore, welcomes reports that 25,000 jobs have been created in Yorkshire in the past three months;

(c)       further welcomes news that the economy grew by 0.8% in the third quarter of 2013 and notes that the International Monetary Fund has upgraded its growth forecasts for the UK by more than any other advanced economy;

(d)       notes that a million private sector jobs have been created since May 2010 and contrasts this with the claim of the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition that the Government’s policies would lead to the disappearance of a million jobs;

(e)       believes the Liberal Democrats in Government have been crucial in re-building Britain’s economy following the economic disaster presided over by the last Government;

(f)        specifically thanks Liberal Democrats in Government for helping to secure measures that will build a stronger economy for Sheffield, including:

(i)        millions of pounds invested in local businesses through the Regional Growth Fund and the Growing Places Fund;

(ii)       a new University Technical College to provide the next generation of Sheffielders with the skills they need;

(iii)      record investment in transport infrastructure including £1 billion to enable the Streets Ahead project to proceed, electrification of Midland Main Line and a Tram/Train pilot; and

(iv)      a Sheffield Enterprise Zone, which could deliver as many as 12,000 new jobs;

(g)       in particular, highlights the Sheffield City Deal, which the Deputy Prime Minister was crucial in securing and has already created 370 apprenticeships across the city region;

(h)       however, notes that other city regions have outpaced Sheffield with Greater Birmingham & Solihull having already established 1,351 apprenticeships and Greater Manchester having  outperformed their own target by creating 2,755  apprenticeships; and

(i)        therefore, calls upon the Council to drop its anti-business rhetoric and work with local partners to ensure the Sheffield City Region maximises the potential of the City Deal.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Leigh Bramall, seconded by Councillor Mick Rooney, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)       welcomes any fall in unemployment which is especially important given the mismanagement of the economic recovery by the present Government over the past three and a half years and notes reports from the Daily Express in May this year that ‘George Osborne's economic policy has led to the "weakest recovery in recent history", according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).’

(b)       is concerned that the present Government are becoming increasingly complacent about the recovery and is concerned by the celebratory tone of the Leader of the Council’s main opposition group’s motion when many Sheffield families continue to face extremely challenging economic circumstances including the cost of living crisis which this Government is failing to tackle;

(c)       notes an article in the Guardian newspaper on 23rd October 2013 which states that “the recovery has so far been enjoyed by a relatively small number of people in a few patches of the country. Analysis of official statistics by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (Cresc) at Manchester University [shows that]: London and the south-east have come roaring out of the crash, and now account for a greater share of growth than they did even during the boom. Nearly every other part of the country has got relatively worse off. And while the typical worker is going through the longest squeeze in living standards since the 1870s, top-earning households are comparatively better off than they were before the crash.”

(d)       is committed to doing everything possible to support small businesses who are central to Sheffield’s economy and therefore welcomes the following programmes of the present Administration to support local businesses:-

(i)        breaking down the barriers for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to access the Regional Growth Fund;

(ii)       the RISE Graduate Scheme which supports local SMEs employ graduates;

(iii)      the export project supporting local SMEs in the export market;

(iv)      the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme;

(v)       Skills Made Easy designed by Sheffield City Council, in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), to put the purchasing power for training for the first time, in the hands of businesses in the Sheffield City Region (SCR);

(vi)      Business Summits;

(vii)     the small business loan fund;

(viii)    up to 50% reductions in off street parking charges;

(ix)      the Chapel Walk scheme;

(x)       the Digital Direction Programme; and

(xi)      securing a Start Up Loans for Young People, the only Council to have done so;

(e)       recalls the principle that the City Deals were led by the cities and the ideas behind the Sheffield City Region Deal were formulated within the city region, led by local public and private leaders, and it is not the Deputy Prime Minister or Whitehall that have delivered the 425 apprenticeships, it’s the City Region, with Sheffield as its Core City, providing the vision, leadership and delivery to make a difference to young people in SCR and to our businesses and is therefore pleased that the main opposition group have recognised the work taken by the present Administration, neighbouring authorities and the Local Enterprise Partnership;  

(f)        regrets that the main opposition group have yet again attempted to mislead the Council, this time about apprenticeships, and notes an article from the Liverpool Daily Post from 10th June 2013 which states that “Liverpool is outranking most of its rival cities when it comes to helping young people into apprenticeships, new council figures reveal. Some 5.2% of the city’s 16 and 17-year-olds now take up apprenticeships. That compares to an English average of 3.2% and is higher than the figures in other “core cities” Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle. Only Sheffield performs better, with 6% of young people taking apprenticeships.”;

(g)       regrets that the main opposition group have resorted to making misleading claims about apprenticeship figures and confirms the following facts:

(i)        the Sheffield City Deal is unique in that it allows apprenticeships to be designed specifically to meet the needs of the local economy and welcomes that the private sector in Sheffield City Region are leading the skills deal with the SCR Skills for Growth Partnership which oversees the delivery of the deal;

(ii)       Sheffield City Region has only counted additional apprenticeships created by Skills Made Easy and all other City Deals are simply counting the apprenticeships created during the period by providers, which is not additionality;

(iii)      data from the Skills Funding Agency suggests that there were 18,785 Apprenticeship starts in the City Region during 2012 – 13;

(iv)      9,269 successful apprenticeship completions are being reported for the same year at the moment; and

(v)       the latest figures show that 7.8% of Sheffield’s 16 and 17 year olds are taking up an apprenticeship which exceeds the English average of 4.1% and the Core City average of 4.6%;

(h)       welcomes that these figures recognise Sheffield’s success in delivering apprenticeships and the efforts of the present Administration who have prioritised apprenticeships;

(i)        notes that this record is in stark contrast to the previous Administration who broke a promise made by its Leader to commit £1 million of council resources to the Future Jobs Fund; and

(j)         regrets that one of the first actions of this Government was to scrap the Future Jobs Fund and believes that this was a costly mistake.

On being put to the vote the amendment was carried.

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       welcomes any fall in unemployment which is especially important given the mismanagement of the economic recovery by the present Government over the past three and a half years and notes reports from the Daily Express in May this year that ‘George Osborne's economic policy has led to the "weakest recovery in recent history", according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).’

(b)       is concerned that the present Government are becoming increasingly complacent about the recovery and is concerned by the celebratory tone of the Leader of the Council’s main opposition group’s motion when many Sheffield families continue to face extremely challenging economic circumstances including the cost of living crisis which this Government is failing to tackle;

(c)       notes an article in the Guardian newspaper on 23rd October 2013 which states that “the recovery has so far been enjoyed by a relatively small number of people in a few patches of the country. Analysis of official statistics by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (Cresc) at Manchester University [shows that]: London and the south-east have come roaring out of the crash, and now account for a greater share of growth than they did even during the boom. Nearly every other part of the country has got relatively worse off. And while the typical worker is going through the longest squeeze in living standards since the 1870s, top-earning households are comparatively better off than they were before the crash.”

(d)       is committed to doing everything possible to support small businesses who are central to Sheffield’s economy and therefore welcomes the following programmes of the present Administration to support local businesses:-

(i)        breaking down the barriers for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to access the Regional Growth Fund;

(ii)       the RISE Graduate Scheme which supports local SMEs employ graduates;

(iii)      the export project supporting local SMEs in the export market;

(iv)      the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme;

(v)       Skills Made Easy designed by Sheffield City Council, in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), to put the purchasing power for training for the first time, in the hands of businesses in the Sheffield City Region (SCR);

(vi)      Business Summits;

(vii)     the small business loan fund;

(viii)    up to 50% reductions in off street parking charges;

(ix)      the Chapel Walk scheme;

(x)       the Digital Direction Programme; and

(xi)      securing a Start Up Loans for Young People, the only Council to have done so;

(e)       recalls the principle that the City Deals were led by the cities and the ideas behind the Sheffield City Region Deal were formulated within the city region, led by local public and private leaders, and it is not the Deputy Prime Minister or Whitehall that have delivered the 425 apprenticeships, it’s the City Region, with Sheffield as its Core City, providing the vision, leadership and delivery to make a difference to young people in SCR and to our businesses and is therefore pleased that the main opposition group have recognised the work taken by the present Administration, neighbouring authorities and the Local Enterprise Partnership;  

(f)        regrets that the main opposition group have yet again attempted to mislead the Council, this time about apprenticeships, and notes an article from the Liverpool Daily Post from 10th June 2013 which states that “Liverpool is outranking most of its rival cities when it comes to helping young people into apprenticeships, new council figures reveal. Some 5.2% of the city’s 16 and 17-year-olds now take up apprenticeships. That compares to an English average of 3.2% and is higher than the figures in other “core cities” Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle. Only Sheffield performs better, with 6% of young people taking apprenticeships.”;

(g)       regrets that the main opposition group have resorted to making misleading claims about apprenticeship figures and confirms the following facts:

(i)        the Sheffield City Deal is unique in that it allows apprenticeships to be designed specifically to meet the needs of the local economy and welcomes that the private sector in Sheffield City Region are leading the skills deal with the SCR Skills for Growth Partnership which oversees the delivery of the deal;

(ii)       Sheffield City Region has only counted additional apprenticeships created by Skills Made Easy and all other City Deals are simply counting the apprenticeships created during the period by providers, which is not additionality;

(iii)      data from the Skills Funding Agency suggests that there were 18,785 Apprenticeship starts in the City Region during 2012 – 13;

(iv)      9,269 successful apprenticeship completions are being reported for the same year at the moment; and

(v)       the latest figures show that 7.8% of Sheffield’s 16 and 17 year olds are taking up an apprenticeship which exceeds the English average of 4.1% and the Core City average of 4.6%;

(h)       welcomes that these figures recognise Sheffield’s success in delivering apprenticeships and the efforts of the present Administration who have prioritised apprenticeships;

(i)        notes that this record is in stark contrast to the previous Administration who broke a promise made by its Leader to commit £1 million of council resources to the Future Jobs Fund; and

(j)         regrets that one of the first actions of this Government was to scrap the Future Jobs Fund and believes that this was a costly mistake.

(Note: 1. Councillors Rob Frost, Sylvia Anginotti, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Anders Hanson, Katie Condliffe, David Baker, Alison Brelsford and Trevor Bagshaw voted against paragraphs (a) to (c) and (e) to (j) and abstained on paragraph (d) of the Substantive Motion and asked for this to be recorded.

2. Councillor Robert Murphy voted for Paragraphs (a), (c) and (h) and abstained on Paragraphs (b) and (d) to (g) and (i) and (j) of the Substantive Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)