Written evidence submitted
by Oxfordshire County Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I. Part of the "Backing Young Britain"
campaign, Future Jobs Fund programme was designed to create and
subsidise new employment opportunities for long term unemployed
18-24 year olds. This report is based on the experience of Oxfordshire
County Council in delivering this initiative with our unique design
and delivery model involving:
- 2 weeks paid pre-employment training for all
appointed young people,
- follow up workshops monthly during 26 week placement,
- one third of all jobs created are within the
private sector.
II. The scheme has enjoyed great success to date,
with 79% of those appointed in Phase 1 either having completed
or expected to complete the full 26 weeks of employment. In addition,
almost 60% of those who have completed the programme have remained
in employed beyond 6 months. Positive feedback about the scheme
has been received from both the target audience of unemployed
18-24 year old and receiving employers.
III. Identified areas for improvement include
the interface between Job Centre Plus advisers and eligible candidates,
as well as relaxation of the community benefit restrictions to
ensure more employers in all sectors were able to offer opportunities
under such programmes.
IV. Oxfordshire's relatively high number of young
people not in education, employment or training (NEETs), especially
in the target age group for FJF (18+) means that it has been disadvantaged
by the loss of the FJF. Our candidate data shows we successfully
reached individuals with multiple disadvantages through this scheme
across our county. We welcome schemes that could replace it and,
in particular, schemes within the Work Programme that would enable
young people with qualifications at less than level 2 to obtain
sufficient skills to undertake further training and work related
development opportunities.
BACKGROUND
1. In 2009, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire
Economic Partnership (OEP) successfully bid to create 120 jobs
for 18-24 year olds in the county over 18 months under this programme.
Asked to accelerate delivery, the first half (60 jobs) were created
and filled between November 2009 and May 2010. Phase 2 of the
programme, delivery of the second 60 job starts, continues with
29 further starts and will run until March 2011.
2. Of the jobs in Phase 1, a wide variety of
roles were created, approximately one third with private sector
employers, one third with voluntary sector and one third with
public sector organisations including NHS and local colleges as
well as councils.
3. A unique feature of the Oxfordshire scheme
is the two week pre-employment programme given to all FJF employees
which covers a number of key skills and reinforces successful
behaviour at work, Annex 1. It has been a challenge to
take each cohort of anything from six to 18 young people through
this programme; with academic ability ranging from some who dropped
out of school aged 14 to recent graduates but all have found it
valuable. See Annex 4 for a sample of employees' views of the
ending of this programme.
SUCCESS RATES
4. Over half of the jobs created through this
initiative had the potential to last more than the minimum of
6 months should the young person get on well with the position.
Outcomes to date show that 54.5% of those who have completed the
full six month placements to date remain in employment. 79% of
the young people recruited in Phase 1 have either completed or
are expected to complete the full 26 week placement.
5. Of the young people who participated in Phase
1 of the programme, filling the first 60 jobs, 13.24% were Black
& Minority Ethnic (BAME), 10.3% had some disability, 54% were
male and 46% female. Three of the young people were parents and
one was a recent care leaver.
6. A sample of case studies is included as Annex
2 with comments such as "I've landed two jobs thanks to FJF
in my desired line of work that would have been near impossible
to get without it" and "For me, the Future Jobs Fund
has proved a very good initiative. I lost my confidence after
my spell of unemployment and this placement has given me the focus
and opportunity to regain it", "The Future Jobs Fund
I think is a very good scheme for young adults looking for a way
into the working industry. It basically gives you a foot in the
door into work. Before I was on this scheme I found it hard to
get work, wasn't as confident or happy and had a lazy approach
to doing anything. Now I am working I am bubbly and having a great
time with new work mates."
STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESS
Lead Awarding Body (Oxfordshire County Council)
perspective
STRENGTHS
7. One of the strengths of the Future Jobs Fund
programme from the lead awarding body perspective is that it was
designed to be tailored to the particular needs of a county or
region rather than all elements designed nationally. Oxfordshire
traditionally has very low levels of unemployment and the number
of young people who would meet the criteria were therefore in
the hundreds not thousands and had particular barriers or additional
needs. This enabled us to build into our bid and subsequently
very successful programme, the two weeks pre employment course
which developed confidence, work readiness and provided on going
support to the young people, see programme outlined in Annex 1.
8. Employers selected their FJF employee from
candidates referred by Job Centre Plus (JCP) and employed them
directly so all terms and conditions of their contract were the
same as their co-workers. The salary subsidy, passed directly
to employers, covered full cost of minimum wage x 25 hours x 26
weeks for candidates under 21 and cost the employer only £12
per week for employees 21+. That fact made this a relatively easy
sell to employers, although there was considerable effort expended
to get things off the ground which should not be under-estimated.
The business benefit of being able to try inexperienced or untrained
young people at no real risk made it very attractive to employers
and this approach has paid real dividends for both employees and
organisations involved.
9. Working with regional Job Centre Plus (JCP)
contacts and business leaders to identify how to evidence the
community benefit of private sector employer job offers was crucial
to delivering the range and number of positions we had committed
to achieving. Initially it had been anticipated that all new roles
would be generated by public and voluntary sector but the inflexibility
and bureaucracy associated with many of these potential employers
required a re-think to achieve our goals. Promotion of the offer
through Oxfordshire Economic Partnership, letters to key partners
from the Leader of the Council, Keith Mitchell and closer links
to Connexions Service and apprenticeship initiatives made this
possible.
10. By having a third of the FJF opportunities
within the private sector or linked to longer term apprenticeships,
we have been able to extend the paid employment for many of the
young people who have come through the programme.
WEAKNESS
11. Candidates were referred for interview by
Job Centre Plus and there were many examples of lack of preparedness
of candidates who alleged they had received very limited advice
or guidance from Job Centre Plus (JCP) about application and interview
process as well as the precise nature of the roles for which they
were applying. Local JCP contacts did confirm that, although job
descriptions or role outlines were provided by the Future Jobs
Fund programme team for every vacancy, these were not always passed
on to candidates which meant they arrived at interview with little
preparation or confidence.
12. Those candidates who were successful at interview
often secured the role despite, not because of, their application
form. Many applications had little or no detail about the candidate's
suitability for the position which was perhaps unsurprising when
many were unclear about the job for which they were applying.
However, with so many having completed earlier interventions such
as A4E 2 week and 13 week programmes, it is surprising to realise
they remained so far away from work-readiness.
13. For some of the opportunities advertised
through the scheme it was not possible to fill the vacancy because
JCP advisers were unable to identify any potential candidates,
i.e. care work or put forward individuals who were completely
uninterested in the job perhaps an admin role for someone seeking
warehouse work, meaning there were high levels of non attendance
for some interviews.
14. We did lose some employment opportunities
with private sector employers due to the strictness of the rules
and guidance around community benefit because it had to be much
more than simply taking on an unemployed person and many employers
struggled with the logic and ideology behind this.
EMPLOYERS' PERSPECTIVE
15. Brief interviews with the six employers who
accounted for a third of the FJF jobs filled in Phase 1 confirmed
their positive experience of the programme in a short survey.
To the question "How would you rate the FJF experience from
an employers point of view" we received the following comments,
"Useful, positive"; "excellent"; "refreshingly
straight forward, easy"; "Good communication with us";
"Scheme good, candidates limited"; "Good".
16. A snapshot view of the employers' experiences
in engaging with these unemployed young people includes the following
comments about what they found to be most surprising part: "Range
of backgrounds, wasted potential" and "Enthusiasm from
candidates". There was considerable disappointment that the
programme is not continuing, see Annex 3 for full results.
EMPLOYEES' PERSPECTIVE
17. Our short survey of 32 of the Phase 1 FJF
employees found that 16% have never worked before so would previously
have been considered NEET (not in education, employment or training).
In addition, 25% were living independently or with a partner while
participating in this programme meaning they would have been receiving
other out of work benefits in addition to Job Seekers Allowance.
18. Many of the young people travelled quite
a long way for their jobs through this programme with 21.87% travelling
40 minutes each way and 12.5% travelling for an hour or more.
This indicates high levels of motivation from this group as many
of the roles paid only minimum wage.
19. 50% of respondents felt that lack of experience
was their main barrier to employment but, interestingly, none
felt they were hampered by lack of qualifications. Only 16%, five
individuals, felt the lack of any financial incentive was deterring
them from securing employment but three felt constrained by lack
of confidence and one person had caring responsibilities. However,
the greatest barrier to employment for this group they felt to
be poor support from the job centre (59.37%) which is disappointing.
20. When asked what they thought of the decision
to end the programme there was universal dismay and comments such
as: "I think they should keep it going as it is a superb
scheme. A brilliant idea and it's been so helpful for people who
may not be able to get a job any other way" and "It's
a good plan and a shame that it's being disbanded but I understand
why, as it's not really doing much or making any money. I think
it was a little cheeky of the old government to use it as a way
to boost employment rates". For all comments see Annex 4.
CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS
21. Oxfordshire's relatively high number of young
people not in education, employment or training (NEETs), especially
in the target age group for FJF (18+) means that it has been disadvantaged
by the loss of the FJF. However we welcome schemes that could
replace it and, in particular, schemes within the Work Programme
that would enable young people with qualifications at less than
level 2 to obtain sufficient skills to undertake further training,
e.g. apprenticeships.
22. We are fully supportive of any measures that
help to move young people off Job Seekers' Allowance and on to
job based training and apprenticeship schemes.
23. We are very keen to see more incentives for
employers to provide apprenticeships and development opportunities
for disadvantaged groups but, in particular:
- To young people aged over 19 (because at present
there is no funding for employers so a young person over 19 is
at a disadvantage against a young person aged 16 to 18 when applying
for an apprenticeship) at level 2.
- For the Learning Difficulties and Disabilities
(LDD) cohort up to the age of 25 there are additional barriers.
At present there are no incentives for employers to take on young
people with LDD so, again, these young people are disadvantaged.
Funding and support for social enterprises and public interest
not-for-profit companies could be a way forward in this instance,
as could taking advantage of Corporate Social Responsibility programmes
(Tesco is cited as a good example of this) to encourage employment
of young people with disabilities.
- For young people who have had problems in school
such as ill health, truancy or exclusion - employers and training
providers are rewarded by success and attendance so they are often
reluctant to take on a young person who has a history of poor
attendance at school - this means that a young person is effectively
written off at 16 and may be denied a second chance, even if the
attendance problem in the past was not their fault or if their
circumstances have changed.
- Introduction of pre-apprenticeship courses, to
prepare young people for the environment of work and learning,
for example in terms of workplace and "soft" skills.
For maximum benefit these need to be directly linked to work opportunities
and not take place before there is the offer of a placement because
young people quickly become disaffected if they are unable to
see the benefit of their effort.
24. An expansion of the salary supplement model
of Future Jobs Fund programme to enable the offer to be accessed
by other disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities,
lone parents, carers returning to the workforce to name a few,
could provide the real benefits of this scheme to a wider audience
as part of the broader welfare to work programme.
25. A clearer link between work-related skills
development and employment prospects will help more unemployed
people to re-enter the workforce. Although many of these FJF employees
had attended via Job Centre Plus, the local employment directed
interventions lasting for two or 13 weeks, they had still failed
to develop the necessary understanding of application and recruitment
processes or how best to secure employment. They all benefitted
from our pre employment programme, covering customer service,
health & safety, dignity at work and dealing with difficult
situations training, and ongoing workshops, which have been a
key part of our success resulting in a 79% completion rate for
young people on this programme in Oxfordshire, and 59.5% in employment
beyond 26 weeks.
9 September 2010
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