WEST MIDLANDS COMBINED AUTHORITY: VISION FOR A REGIONAL ALL-AGE CAREERS STRATEGY

Deirdre Hughes has been commissioned by the West Midlands Combined Authority to work with colleagues on the design and development of an all-age careers strategy in the West Midlands region of England. This builds on models of good and interesting policies and practices at an international, national and regional level. Preliminary work began in late 2017.

In May 2018, Stage 1 is being rolled out as follows: –

“The WMCA has recently appointed Dr Deirdre Hughes, OBE, to work closely with us in the design and development of a regional all-age careers strategy. This is a priority area identified in our emerging Regional Skills Plan. Over the coming months, it is our intention to consult widely on the new strategy as this unfolds. For further details of Deirdre’s relevant experience: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-deirdre-hughes-obe-28594911/

Stage 1

We are very mindful that there is much to celebrate in the West Midlands when it comes to various good/interesting approaches to careers work supporting young people and adults in local communities.

Careers work covers a range of individual and collective activities (online or offline) relating to information-giving, advice and guidance, competence assessment, support, and the teaching of decision-making and career management skills. An adaptation of the Council of the European Union (2008) Council Resolution on better integrating lifelong guidance into lifelong learning strategies, November 2014.

We are keen to ensure you feed into our initial development plans. We intend to commence with a brief auditing exercise across the West Midlands. Ideally, we would encourage you to complete this short Survey Monkey questionnaire, no later than 31st May 2018.  Please follow this link to complete https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/77BBD9J

Any information you share with us will feature, where appropriate, in a WMCA All-Age Careers Strategy: – Summary Fact Sheet No.1.

Many thanks in anticipation

Rachel Egan

WMCA Programme Lead for Skills, Employment & Productivity