Response from Denbighshire County Council to the Enterprise and Business Committee in undertaking their inquiry into Youth Entrepreneurship.

Youth Entrepreneurship and the development of enterprise skills are seen as being important to Denbighshire pupils and students. All Denbighshire secondary schools have access to the ESF funded Llwyddo’n Lleol project – a school based project in Conwy and Denbighshire that aims to embed a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship. Match funding comes solely from within Denbighshire’s allocation in the North Wales 14-19 Regional Network Development Plan. This is additional to activities that schools may arrange for themselves (as part of skills weeks and the like), and leads to accreditation for many.

Most schools have also had groups of students at some stage involved in Young Enterprise activities.

Progress has been made in implementing the Welsh Government’s Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy and Action Plan in a planned way through Llwyddo'n Lleol and other small programmes in order to engage with, empower and equip young entrepreneurs of the future.  We recognise the need for the YES Action Plan and believe that Llwyddo’n Lleol is having a very positive impact in implementing it.

The Llwyddo'n Lleol European Funded programme within Denbighshire and Conwy is the only programme which specifically targets learners within the secondary education sector.   It is essential that a culture of entrepreneurship is embedded within the sector and a change in the thinking of the learners encouraged in order to develop the skills and confidence needed to raise the awareness of enterprise and entrepreneurship as a potential future opportunity. 

It is important to encourage young learners to look at the opportunities available within their local communities, enable opportunities for them to meet and work with local entrepreneurs, and allow them to trial small business activities within a safe environment, whilst still affording them the opportunity to learn from mistakes.

It is also important that this culture is embedded within the secondary sector from Year 7 upwards, so that young learners move through a school system which supports the understanding and development of entrepreneurship.

We believe that here is a need for more funding and support targeted at the secondary sector, as current levels of activity are funded from temporary grants. 

It is also essential that if the strategy is to be developed further for pupils of school age, schools themselves need ownership to lead the strategy themselves to implement a progressive entrepreneurial pathway towards further or higher education or self employment.

The evidence base for encouraging entrepreneurship can be seen on a regional basis with most areas experiencing the outward migration of young people, in Labour Market Information that shows a high proportion of self employment, such as in the priority area of the Creative Industries, and in career intentions of young people that do not usually include self-employment as a future option.

Llwyddo'n Lleol within Denbighshire and Conwy is specifically targeted at secondary school learners 14 – 19 years of age, and activities focus on Sector Specific Areas which reflect the Welsh Government’s and the regions priorities.

As part of this ESF and WEFO programme learners can participate in :

·         Idea Generation activities,

·         Work towards an entrepreneurship accreditation, and

·         apply for a small business grant,

 

The latter allows them the experience of planning an enterprise, producing a product and then running that enterprise. 

The programme seeks to encourage entrepreneurship and recognises that the first step in the process will be achieved by encouraging young learners to consider entrepreneurship as a future life option and improving the climate for cultural change.

The programme also works with learners in helping them understand the key growth areas within their local communities in which enterprise and entrepreneurship can thrive, but also help them to understand the procedures required in order to set up a business.