WORKLESSNESS

1
WORKLESSNESS

• Councillor Stephen Houghton
• Leader, Barnsley MBC
• Chair of National
• Tackling Worklessness Review

2
WHY DO WE HAVE WORKLESSNESS?

• Paradox sustained economic growth, but
  concentrated pockets of worklessness
• Legacy of post-industrial society
• Imperfections of Labour markets uncompetitive
  Labour supply, lack of mobility
• Inappropriate standardised national programmes
• Changing economic demands for skills

3
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WORKLESSNESS

• Localised and Entrenched Neighbourhood
  Deprivation
• Societal low confidence, poor mobility, poor
  information networks, ingrained way of life, high
  social needs
• Long term IB claimants benefit dependency and
  alternative economy
• Financial and Social Costs
• Child Poverty
• Poor Mental and Physical Health
• ASB Cohesion, Local Environment
• Resources lost to economy
• Low skills correlation
• Influence of Wider Labour Markets

4
THE BARNSLEY EXPERIENCE

• 18,000 Incapacity Benefit claimants 14 of
  workforce
• Increasingly young profile 25-49 years
• Estimates-
• 1/3 permanently incapacitated
• 1/3 need support
• 1/3 on the system
• Highest numbers in 7 most deprived wards
• 59 claiming 5 years or more

5
DISTRIBUTION OF WORKLESSNESS

• Worklessness Neighbourhoods 54 below NVQ Level
  2 of which, 26 have no qualifications
• Geographical concentration
• Highest in North and Midlands
• But can be close to places of affluence
• BME Impact Employment Rate
• 75 National Average
• 62 BME
• 40 47 Bangladeshi and Pakistani
• Defined by Place

6
HOW TO TACKLE WORKLESSNESS

• Understand Local Labour Markets Intervene!
• Reconcile Demand and Supply Side
  Interventions
• Demand Side Enterprise, Business Growth
• Supply Side Skills, Attainment, Counselling
• System Solutions
• Joining Up
• Sharing Resources
• Invest to Save Benefit Recycling
• Lead Partners ?

7
UTILISING WNF TO TACKLE WORKLESSNESS EARLY LA
IDEAS

• Used to complement and fill gaps in mainstream
  activity e.g. IB claimants beyond one year
  cut-off
• Funding Projects
• Individual opportunity adviser and brokerage
  schemes
• Stimulating enterprise
• Business Growth and sustainability
• Job Creation
• Wider context tackling poor health, street scene

8
WHO ARE THE KEY PLAYERS?

• Local Level
• Job Centre - support people into work and fill
  vacancies
• Local Councils Leader of the Locality
• LSPs Production of S.C.S Performance of LAAs
• Business Link Support for Business Start Up,
  retention and growth
• Volcom Sector Outreach support and delivery
• Work and Skills Boards Employer led oversight
  of Labour Market
• Local Employment Partnerships JC Employer
  Agreements
• Educational Institutions attainment, skills
  planning

9
WHO ARE THE KEY PLAYERS? (CONTINUED)

• Strategic Level
• RDAs Production of R.E.S.
• City Regions LA Collaboration on Economic
  Growth
• L.S.C.s planning and funding of Ed and Trg

10
WHAT APPEARS TO WORK?

• Demand Side Interventions
• Business support and development entrepreneurial
  support
• Supply Side Interventions
• Initial engagement via outreach
• A holistic individualised approach personal
  advisers
• Employment focused education and training
• Specific Work Activity Schemes
• Targeting specific groups e.g. lone parents BME
• Upskilling existing workforce

11
WHAT APPEARS TO WORK? (CONTINUED)

• Job and Skills Matching Employer Recruitment
  Events
• No single model of successful intervention
• Multi-element packages work best

12
CHALLENGES

• Complex and fragmented service delivery
• High cost of demand side measures, e.g. Business
  Support
• Resource intensity of supply side interventions,
  e.g. case workers
• Tradition of short term funding
• Data sharing M.O.U. a good start
• Breaking the Dependency Cycle
• Making the transition to work

13
TACKLING WORKLESSNESS REVIEW

• DCLG/DWP Project Review Team Of Three
• Steve Houghton Public Sector
• Clair Dove Volcom Sector
• Iqbal Wahhab Private Sector, BME Perspective

14
FIRST MEETING

• Refine Terms of Reference
• Mapping Exercise
• Scope project and timescale
• What are we dealing with?
• Review academic research where are we?
• Whats worked? Whats not? What could work?
• Develop a work programme

15
TERMS OF REFERENCE

• To examine how councils and partners are using
  WNF to tackle worklessness within worst
  performing neighbourhoods
• Identify what more Government departments can do
  to support local partners to deliver better
  employment and skills services for residents and
  employers
• Consider how private sector, social enterprise
  third sector and RDAs, help local partners to
  improve employment in WNF areas and through the
  new local performance framework
• To identify an evidence base to demonstrate the
  additionality of a multi-agency approach to
  worklessness
• To identify how partnerships can extend support
  and deliver improved outcomes for disadvantaged
  groups, (including BEM) and how areas are
  responding to needs of their local residents
• To consider the role of enterprise in delivering
  employment outcomes and whether partnerships have
  successfully co-ordinated supply and demand side
  interventions through LAAs and particularly LEGI
  and WNF areas

16
WHAT NEXT?TASKFORCE WORK PROGRAMME

• Identify and visit 12 different Stories of
  Worklessness
• Identify Best Practice
• Collate academic and empirical evidence
• Findings to Ministers October 2008
• Final report to follow