Connexions Leicester Shire careers advice service axed

[davieG]

Careers staff busy advising hundreds of students after last week’s GCSE results could soon find themselves out of a job.

Connexions Leicester Shire, which employs about 250 people, is set to be wound up this week.

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  Connexions Leicester Shire, which employs about 250 people, is set to be wound up this week.
  

The organisation, jointly owned by Leicester city and Leicestershire county councils, is being axed as the authorities restructure the way they help 14 to 19-year-olds after changes to the law.

Until April, councils were responsible for giving career guidance to young people, but now that duty rests with individual schools.

Local authorities are now only obliged to cater for young people not in education, employment or training, or who have disabilities or learning difficulties.

Connexions, formed 10 years ago, was getting £6.4 million annually from the two councils.

It bid unsuccessfully for a new £2 million contract with County Hall which was awarded to another provider, Leeds-based Prospects, which takes over on September 1.

Leicester City Council had looked to offer an £800,000 contract but has now decided to run services itself.

About 60 Connexions staff are to transfer to Prospects and others will become city council employees.

Staff have been briefed on the changes. Final decisions on their futures are expected to be made at a board meeting on Friday.

It is understood there will be a significant number of redundancies.

Connexions chairman Martin Traynor said: “The Connexions service will close, though we hope there will be a seamless change as the service transfers to Prospects and the city council.

“Some of the staff will move across, so it is hoped young people will see familiar faces when they need advice.

“I have been immensely proud of the team at Connexions, who are going through a difficult time while working with determination to give the best advice to young people.”

Rosemary Beard, chief executive of Connexions Leicester Shire, would not comment.

A Connexions employee, who asked not to be named, said: “We do a really good job helping young people take the first steps to a career, but it seems that is not a priority.

“Our job will be done by schools, but what guarantee is there they will devote the proper resources to advising young people?”

Tony Mulhearn, county council assistant director of education, said: “It will be a legal responsibility for schools, some- thing tested by Ofsted when they carry out inspections.

“We hope for a smooth transition, but this is an unsettling time for Connexions staff.”

Trevor Pringle, the city council’s director of learning services, said Connexions had not bid for its £800,000 contract and that the cash would be used to run services in-house.

He said: “This is a change affecting all local authorities.

“I wouldn’t like to say more until all our staff have been briefed.”

[Charl91]

We had the connexions workers when I was still at school, but they were pretty useless. Still feel sorry for them though..

[davieG]

My only experience of this organisation was when I was recruiting apprentices and I have to say they were the worst applications I've ever seen.

Example: -

Q. What was it that attracted you to this career?

Answer = My mum found the advert in the Mercury.

Q. Do you know what the company manufactures?

Answer = Some sort of engineering stuff.

Many sections were also left completely blank.

I've paraphrased the questions/answer as I can't remember the exact wording but that truly reflects the quality of applications that came via this organisation.

I guess you could argue that it reflected on the true quality of the applicant but if this place was paid to advise young people trying to get employment then they certainly weren't earning their money and when you consider I was getting 50 applications for 4 vacancy

[lavrentis]

Connexions were pretty useful to me although I used a different area. Shame its gone

[Rincewind]

I've used the one on Charles Street. There is still Apex on Charles Street where Connextions used to be before it moved. Unless there are fewer applicants after each job it won't be easy for them. With them closing that one down they will have to advise themselves.

Had an email from Firstbus about the assistands job in their travel shop. I have failed this time but they won't say which parts I failed on. I am able to apply for other jobs with them but not a ssimilar position.

My job alerts in the past week or so have been useless. Either wrong location driving or managerial/supervisor roles or experience required.

[acooling08]

I had contact with connexions at College and they were pretty useless tbh. Rather than actually help you find and chose something, it's like being at a JSA sign on where they just interrogate you about what you've done.

[kingfox]

This is the best news I have heard for a while.

What idiotic people Connexions are, they sent me on a course last year and when I got there I found myself playing scrabble to help me with "maths and english"

I would happily smash their windows, but im not a chav so im gonna hold back my frustration.

[SemperEadem]

Think people need to just take a step back and realise that this is peoples livelihoods they are losing here.

[davieG]

Think people need to just take a step back and realise that this is peoples livelihoods they are losing here.

Well obviously not all of them

About 60 Connexions staff are to transfer to Prospects and others will become city council employees.

Hopefully not the ones that advised or failed to advise my apprentice applicants and having taken a step back I can see some pretty big savings for the County council which means they have a better chance of keeping my Council tax steady.

It's a bit galling see the poor product coming out of a Council funded organisation knowing you're paying to support it.

[RonnieTodger]

I was meant to go there this week for some pointless session. Strange.

[Saxondale]

The inherent flaw is that the people who are there to offer careers advice are in no position to do so - they've ended up working for a pointless public-funded careers 'service'.

[coale39]

The inherent flaw is that the people who are there to offer careers advice are in no position to do so - they've ended up working for a pointless public-funded careers 'service'.

Went there in around 2004. Was embarrassingly bad.

[Jon the Hat]

Think people need to just take a step back and realise that this is peoples livelihoods they are losing here.

Our taxes are not designed to provide employment to careers advisers. I have always found careers advisers utterly pointless.

[ADK]

Seems the government wants to just send all young people to work as slaves.

[davieG]

Councils were responsible for giving career guidance to young people, but now that duty rests with individual schools.

Surely schools should be a better option to advise than some stranger at a Careers office. TSchools may lack knowledge of potential employers needs but then seemly so do the careers staff and it's much more practical for local employers to visit schools to give career advice where you have a captive and group audience than to visit career offices.

[MooseBreath]

I think they alienated a lot of people by concentrating on youngsters. Often it's people who are a little older who want and need career advice. Younger folk may need it, but they tend not to want it reasoning that everything will sort itself out in the end. Then by the time they realise they need it, they're too old.

[Trav Le Bleu]

They substituted "ct" with "x" to be cool and down with the kid(z)s.

Doomed from day one.

[Saxondale]

Surely schools should be a better option to advise than some stranger at a Careers office. TSchools may lack knowledge of potential employers needs but then seemly so do the careers staff and it's much more practical for local employers to visit schools to give career advice where you have a captive and group audience than to visit career offices.

My school careers advice was simply 'why haven't you filled your UCAS form in yet?' - they were solely concerned with making their stats look good (ie. X% of our leavers go on to university).

[ADK]

My school careers advice was simply 'why haven't you filled your UCAS form in yet?' - they were solely concerned with making their stats look good (ie. X% of our leavers go on to university).

Yup same as my school.

[davieG]

My school careers advice was simply 'why haven't you filled your UCAS form in yet?' - they were solely concerned with making their stats look good (ie. X% of our leavers go on to university).

Maybe but I was suggesting they should be better provided they have the resources perhaps some of the money they save from Connexions could be given to schools to support Careers Advice but I wont hold my breath.

[Guest Col city fan]

As far as I know, Connexions didn't only offer careers advice.

A large amount of their work was setting up and running projects to help disadvantaged young people sort themselves out AND to look at ways of getting them into employment and, in some cases, back into work.

I wonder whether schools will do that?

Aren't schools completely over stretched as it is.

For many young people Connexions proved to be a success, a support and some sort of link to the world of employment.

I think it's a shame another yet another scheme for people having problems has gone to the wire. And it's about funding...