Hartlepool Borough Council’s Jobs and Skills Team celebrates ‘good’ Ofsted rating

Hartlepool Borough Council’s Jobs and Skills Team has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted following its first full inspection since 2013.

Part of Hartlepool’s Community Hubs, the Jobs and Skills team offers a range of services for adults including careers advice, learning opportunities, qualifications, personal development activities and employment support.

Inspectors found that the service has created a curriculum that is targeted effectively at the most disadvantaged residents in Hartlepool, including people lacking skills, suffering from social isolation and the barriers of poor mental and physical health and refugees.

The report said: “Most learners achieve their learning goals and qualifications and progress on to the next level of study, either with the service or with another provider, and a growing number of learners use their English skills to gain employment.

“Learners on inclusion courses, such as volunteering, grow in personal confidence and take on roles with voluntary and community groups.”

Inspectors also noted that “learners benefit significantly from the additional services available at the Community Hubs.”

The report said: “They can access support for their physical and mental health, receive financial advice and use the resources available in the library and digital suites.”

Learners’ attendance was also high adding: “Learners thrive in the calm and orderly learning environments created by the service and teachers check up on the welfare of their learners and show care and attention towards them.”

Gemma Ptak, Hartlepool Borough Council’s assistant director of preventative and community-based services, said: “Whether people want to gain new skills, study for a qualification, become a volunteer or progress into their chosen career, the friendly Jobs & Skills team can support them to achieve that.”

Councillor Bob Buchan, chair of the council’s adult and community-based services committee, added: “The ethos of Hartlepool’s Community Hubs is to bring people together and to give them opportunities, support and encouragement to live their best lives, and the same is true of Jobs and Skills.

“I congratulate the Jobs and Skills team on maintaining their ‘good’ rating under the new Ofsted inspection framework and on the praise which they have earned from the inspectors, which is very well deserved.”