Issue - meetings

Please Note that an Exempt Appendix is Contained within the Exempt Appendices Section of this Agenda Below

(i)             to note the changing employability landscape with the implementation of the Scottish Government’s No One Left Behind (NOLB) strategy;

(ii)           to note the employability activity undertaken to date;

(iii)          to note the draft Aberdeen Local Employability Partnership Delivery and Action Plans;

(iv)          to note that the total employability funding received across all Scottish Government programmes for this financial year is £2.6million;

(v)           to instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth to develop a procurement framework and dynamic purchasing system for employability services and note that a report for this will go to the Strategic Commissioning Committee;

(vi)          to approve the issuing of grant awards to third and public sector organisations to reimburse the wages of those participating in paid work experience through the Long Term Unemployed Scheme; and

(vii)        to delegate authority to the Chief Officer - City Growth, in consultation with the Chief Officer - Finance and Head of Commercial and Procurement, to approve expenditure of grant funding in paragraph 3.14 for the employer recruitment incentive scheme.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer - City Growth which provided an update on activity undertaken and planned by the Council’s ABZWorks employability team; sought approval to create a procurement framework for commissioning of employability services to 31 March 2026; and to grant awards of funding to public and third sector organisations delivering paid work experience as part of the Long Term Unemployed Scheme.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)           note the changing employability landscape with the implementation of the Scottish Government’s No One Left Behind (NOLB) strategy;

(b)           note the employability activity undertaken to date;

(c)           note the draft Aberdeen Local Employability Partnership Delivery and Action Plans;

(d)           note that the total employability funding received across all Scottish Government programmes for this financial year was £2.6million;

(e)           instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth to develop a procurement framework and dynamic purchasing system for employability services and note that a report for this would go to the Strategic Commissioning Committee;

(f)             approve the issuing of grant awards to third and public sector organisations to reimburse the wages of those participating in paid work experience through the Long Term Unemployed Scheme; and

(g)           delegate authority to the Chief Officer - City Growth, in consultation with the Chief Officer - Finance and Head of Commercial and Procurement, to approve expenditure of grant funding in paragraph 3.14 for the employer recruitment incentive scheme.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.