Prospects South West

Further education and skills inspection report

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Prospects South West National Careers Service

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Inspection dates 29 November – 2 December 2016

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Overall effectiveness Good Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of information, advice and guidance Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Summary of key findings

 Advisers engage with customers very effectively, helping them build confidence and self-worth; they pay particularly good attention to customers’ personal needs and aspirations.  Advisers are particularly skilled at motivating and encouraging customers to develop their communication, decision-making and research skills, alongside enhancing their ability to look for jobs.  Managers collect, and advisers use, very detailed and up-to-date information about opportunities in the region to advise customers accurately on the options available to them.  Managers use their partnerships with other organisations very well to contribute to priorities for improving the lives of people in the South West, and to gain access to the communities and customers most in need of advice and guidance.  Managers monitor the quality of provision in subcontractors very closely.  Managers provide high-quality training for advisers and share relevant information and

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Summary of key findings

best practice well across the region.  The organisation is consistently meeting and often exceeding its business targets set by the Skills Funding Agency.

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Information about the provider

 Prospects holds the National Careers Service contract for the South West region, which covers Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, covering a total of 28 local authorities. The head office is located in Taunton.  Prospects is the prime contractor and manages nine subcontractors. Advisers meet with around 30,000 customers each year in one of around 70 sites across the South West. The region includes a diverse mix of urban and rural communities and includes significant pockets of rural deprivation.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Advisers should ensure that they plan and deliver group sessions to address more comprehensively the diverse needs of the customers within the group.  Advisers should strive to empower customers to take greater responsibility for their future; they should ensure that skills action plans are clear and legible, and focus on the specific needs of each customer.  Managers should ensure that less experienced staff receive the training, guidance and support they need to develop their skills and achieve a suitable qualification within a sufficiently short timeframe.  Managers should continue to identify and implement strategies to minimise non- attendance.

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Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Inspection judgements

 Leaders have successfully increased the number of people receiving information, advice or guidance in the region since Prospects South West took responsibility for the careers service in the region in October 2014. Managers have developed a good-quality service, which helps a high proportion of customers progress into, or towards, employment or training.  Managers have developed very good partnerships with stakeholders, including Jobcentre Plus, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), local authorities and local employers. They respond well to the priorities of each LEP in the region. Through these partnerships, they collect very useful information to identify the people most in need of support and the opportunities that exist in the region. Managers use this information well when deciding where to locate their services. For example, having recognised that a low proportion of people from the most deprived areas of Cornwall were gaining employment, managers

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Inspection judgements

targeted their service at these communities. As a result, the proportion of people in these areas progressing into employment or training over the most recent 12 months, compared to the previous year, has increased.  Managers use other partnerships well to identify customers, for example through local careers events at schools and also by working with people whose companies are making them redundant, who need support and guidance.  Managers offer good support to their subcontractors, who deliver around half of the service across the region. This support successfully ensures that subcontractors share information about local employment opportunities and redundancies, and work well together, for example by enabling a cross-over of experienced staff for advice sessions when necessary.  Managers monitor closely the performance of each of the subcontractors. As a result of this monitoring, they quickly identify and tackle any shortfalls in performance against

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Inspection judgements

targets or concerns about the quality of provision.  Managers monitor the outcomes for different groups of customers, including their destinations, very closely. They take appropriate action to make improvements where necessary. For example, managers recognised that a relatively low number of people aged 50 and over were progressing into jobs or training. In response, they arranged workshops for customers in this age group, which have led to an increase in the number applying for jobs, securing an interview or feeling more confident to apply for work.  Managers provide very good training and support for their advisers, including those in their subcontractors. Advisers gain particularly useful knowledge and skills on days dedicated to sharing good practice.  Advisers mostly receive a good induction to their jobs, through mentoring from an experienced adviser, and by working with a reduced caseload as they develop their

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Inspection judgements

knowledge of the role and the region. Most advisers are appropriately qualified. Those that are most highly qualified use their knowledge, skills and experience to support their customers particularly well. However, a small number of advisers have been slow to complete the necessary qualifications.  Managers monitor the quality of advice and guidance closely and provide advisers with useful guidance on how to improve their work. Their observations recognise advisers’ good communication skills and knowledge well; however, on occasions, the observations do not focus sufficiently on the benefits of the session to the customers.  Managers evaluate the quality of the provision well. They mostly identify the actions needed to tackle weaknesses well and place a particularly good focus on continually improving the impact of advice sessions.

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The governance of the provider

 Senior leaders and members of the wider Prospects board provide effective governance to the organisation. These governance arrangements help to identify risks well. For example, when the lead for safeguarding in the region went on sick leave, the board increased its support for, and scrutiny of, safeguarding.  The provider has also set up an area advisory board. This board monitors the extent to which the organisation meets local priorities. It also acts as a good source of information about local employment trends. For example, having recognised that a high proportion of ex-offenders gain employment in Wales, the organisation now captures relevant information from the Welsh careers service to inform the advice and guidance that it provides to those about to leave prison.

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Safeguarding

 Safeguarding is effective.  Staff deal well with the small number of safeguarding incidents, including those that occur in subcontractors and, where appropriate, involve relevant external agencies such as the police and social services. The provider carries out appropriate and timely recruitment checks on its staff.  Advisers understand their responsibilities to remain vigilant and look out for safeguarding concerns. Where appropriate, advisers draw customers’ attention to safeguarding issues, for example how to stay safe online. They understand the risks that customers face from radicalisation and extremism as a result of thorough training.

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Safeguarding

Quality of information, advice and guidance Good

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Safeguarding

 Advisers engage very effectively with customers, helping them build their confidence and sense of self-worth. They pay particularly good attention to customers’ aspirations; they clarify customers’ starting points accurately and skilfully adapt questioning techniques to gather relevant information and assess customers’ needs.  Advisers tailor each session effectively to ensure that they prioritise the key issues that may be preventing customers from entering employment or training, and discuss with them ways of overcoming those barriers. For example, they signpost customers to courses in English for speakers of other languages when needed; they also deal sensitively with ex-offenders to help boost their self-worth and sense of direction during their probation period.  Advisers have good interpersonal skills and engage well with customers to ensure that they maintain their focus. Customers generally contribute well to the sessions and they

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Safeguarding

appreciate the time given to discuss relevant issues. Advisers are particularly skilled at encouraging and motivating customers to develop their communication, decision-making and research skills alongside their ability to look for jobs.  Advisers provide customers with useful feedback on what they need to do to improve their job-search skills. Customers also benefit from effective advice from advisers on the structure and content of their curriculum vitae (CV) and how to make it more meaningful to employers and more relevant to the appropriate industry. Customers value the impartial feedback they receive, and this increases their motivation, confidence and knowledge.  Advisers have an in-depth knowledge of the local labour market to help customers to enter or re-enter employment, education or training. They promote apprenticeships, internships and volunteering well to help customers identify the most suitable

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Safeguarding

opportunities for them. For example, an adviser directed one customer to volunteer on a mobile chemotherapy unit. This helped the customer to make a more informed decision on her interest in a career change to work in healthcare.  Advisers make good use of a wide variety of resources, for example directing customers to relevant websites, such as the National Careers Service, recruitment agencies and local learning providers.  In the majority of cases, sessions take place in premises that are fit for purpose, where advisers respect customers’ privacy and have access to suitable facilities, such as computers and the internet, to support the session.  Advisers demonstrate high levels of respect and tolerance towards their customers and sensitively promote the importance of adherence to the rule of law.  Most advisers initially assess customers’ skills in English, mathematics and information and communication technology well, and promote the importance of them developing

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Safeguarding

skills in these areas. For example, an adviser referred a customer who was interested in becoming a teaching assistant to a local training provider to progress to level 2 in mathematics.  Advisers provide an inclusive and safe environment in which customers feel valued and develop self-worth. Customers who have specific additional support needs mostly receive effective signposting to specialist agencies. Advisers take a non-judgemental approach, and value working with the customers to help them overcome often significant barriers to employment.  In the large majority of sessions, advisers negotiate actions well with customers to ensure their agreement of short- and longer-term targets. Most customers leave the sessions with specific action points such as finding information to complete their CVs or using websites to inform their job search. In a small minority of cases, skills action plans are difficult to read for customers and actions are occasionally insufficiently challenging, or

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Safeguarding

unclear.  In a few instances, advisers do not promote customers’ independence sufficiently well so that customers take full responsibility for managing their career development. For example, in a few sessions, advisers are too quick to develop CVs on behalf of their customers.  Not all advisers are sufficiently skilled at planning and delivering group sessions. In these less effective sessions, advisers fail to engage all customers in discussions and meaningful activities, and do not systematically check customers’ understanding and progress.

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Safeguarding

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Safeguarding

 As a result of their meetings with National Careers Service advisers, most customers grow in confidence and develop an increased level of independence, taking greater ownership of their own development and career progression. Many customers also improve a range of skills, for example the ability to create a suitable CV, or how to complete job applications. They also acquire the knowledge of where to search for jobs or how to access suitable courses to help them develop their skills further.  Advisers review customers’ skills effectively, and help them identify and record the experience and expertise they have gained, both from previous employment and also from their personal life. This review process enables customers to recognise more objectively the range of transferable and job-specific skills they possess, and promote these more effectively to prospective employers.  Advisers also assess accurately any areas where customers need to develop their

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Safeguarding

knowledge, skills or experience further to improve their chances of gaining employment. For example, in one session an adviser made a customer aware of free drop-in information technology workshops at a nearby community centre, where the customer could gain support and advice on sending and receiving emails and applying for jobs online. In other sessions, advisers indicated to customers the potential benefits of gaining work experience through completing voluntary work.  The significant majority of customers who attend appointments are punctual, polite and respectful to advisers; they clearly recognise and value the support they receive. Most customers are suitably motivated to engage with advisers, which helps them to gain value from the experience.  Attendance rates at advice sessions are too low. While advisers make every effort to remind customers of forthcoming appointments, for example by text, telephone or email,

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Safeguarding

too often customers do not show up for their appointment.  In a small minority of sessions, advisers do not focus sufficiently on developing customers’ independence and responsibility for their futures. For example, on occasions advisers take on too much of the responsibility for preparing CVs and identifying suitable job opportunities, rather than supporting customers and encouraging them to take the lead with these activities.

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Safeguarding

 Customers make good progress from their starting points. Prior to their appointments with advisers, customers frequently have little motivation and lack the insight they need to make progress. Advisers work closely with customers to identify any possible barriers they may have that prevent them from undertaking further learning or work. They support them to find suitable strategies to overcome those barriers and set appropriate goals for progression.  A very high proportion of customers value the information, advice and guidance they receive, and as a result they feel better equipped to take more control of their futures. Following the sessions, customers are generally more motivated and keen to follow the opportunities that are available to them.  A high proportion of customers successfully achieve their objective to progress into employment or appropriate further learning or development and improve their longer-

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Safeguarding

term prospects. Managers ensure that the organisation is consistently achieving and exceeding the business targets set by the Skills Funding Agency.

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Provider details

Type of provider National Careers Service

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Provider details

At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors: Career Management Training Services Lymenet Westward Pathfinder Tomorrow’s People Cornwall College Ashley Community Housing Yarlington Housing Association Isles of Scilly Council Bristol, Gloucester, Wiltshire and Swindon Criminal Rehabilitation Company

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the area manager, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of customers and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed one-to-one adviser sessions, telephone interviews and group sessions. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

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Inspection team

Maggie Fobister Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Learner View Learner View is a website where learners can tell Ofsted what they think about their college or provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too. To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Employer View Employer View is a website where employers can tell Ofsted what they think about their employees’ college or provider. They can also see what other employers think about them too. To find out more go to www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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