Written evidence submitted
by The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
1. BACKGROUND
1.1. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Future Jobs Fund partnership first met during the summer of 2009.
The partnership was led by the Royal Borough, and comprised the
following partner organisations who were offering actual placements:
- Royal Borough's Supporting People team.
- Kensington and Chelsea College.
- Kensington and Chelsea Social Council.
- Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust.
- Groundwork Trust.
1.2. Delivery was due to begin in October 2009
for a total of 62 starts.
2. TIMESCALE
2.1. The initial timeframe for the programme
was challenging not only for contractors and their partners to
achieve but also for Jobcentre Plus (JCP) staff for whom the programme
was also very new. This did lead to delays with referrals being
made to our partners due to lack of staff resources at the central
London JCP office but it was welcomed that there was flexibility
from DWP regarding re-profiling and extensions to the contract
end dates.
2.2 It was disappointing however that after the
end of May 2010 we were informed that unused weeks could no longer
be consolidated to create another start where there had been early
leavers. This was an unexpected change to our contract which prevented
us from passing on the full benefit of our contract to both young
people and our partner organisations.
3. SYSTEMS
3.1. The initial approach to making referrals
seemed to create a bottleneck and led to some degree of frustration
for all concerned. It was acknowledged that central London JCP
were themselves grappling with trying to launch the programme
at the same time as having to make all referrals to fill posts.
However, it did feel as though it took some time for Districts
to develop and establish a responsive system. Perhaps it might
have been helpful to compare best practice at an earlier stage.
Certainly it proved to be the case that once staff in local offices
had also been briefed about the programme that they provided a
helpful role in recruiting successfully. The Partnership had expressed
a desire to offer as many jobs as possible to local people and
to facilitate this. Our partners were keen to develop and progress
good working relationships with JCP staff at local offices.
3.2. At the outset of the contract this was not
something that management at central London were able to facilitate.
Their aim was to promote a London-wide programme with referrals
to jobs being made to young people from any part of London. This
resulted in one example of a young person from Dagenham being
referred to one of our vacancies - not a realistic daily commute
for a young person on a part time wage.
3.3. The lack of staff resource for this programme
at central London JCP office also caused significant delays and
frustrations. Our view was that the programme was being process
driven rather than adapting the processes to best meet the needs
of the employing organisations and young people
3.4. Over time this attitude relaxed and good
relationships were built with partners and the local JCP offices.
The referral process much improved and of our 62 starts, 26 were
from young people who live locally.
4. LESSONS LEARNED
THROUGH DEVELOPMENT
AND MANAGEMENT
OF THE
PROGRAMME
- Time spent with young people, in preparation
and support, before starting employment has been a sound investment
and led to excellent retention.
- Working with local offices of Jobcentre Plus
has significantly improved the success of this programme and also
built effective working relationships for the future.
- The decision not to offer the participants the
London Living Wage proved to be the correct one for this contract.
- Inclusion of 3rd sector partners has provided
significant benefits in building community capacity.
5. BENEFITS OF
THE PROGRAMME
5.1. Overwhelmingly all partners feel that the
programme has been of considerable benefit to all those involved
- both employing organisations and young people.
5.2. In the case of our partnerships there was
an aim from the outset to include partners from the 3rd
sector who would not have the resources to take the risk to employ
someone under normal circumstances. Being able to utilise the
programme has created opportunities for partners to take on a
young person, see how they respond to a working situation, develop
their skills, and be far more likely to find funding at the end
of six months to retain that person. This benefits both the organisation
and the young person and would not have happened without the support
of Future Jobs Fund.
5.3. Similarly one of our community focussed
partner organisations are located within a very specific area
of the borough which has high unemployment and deprivation and
have been able to recruit 75% of their young people from the surrounding
area. By offering the young people a chance to develop their skills
in employment they have not only enhanced their future job prospects
but also helped to integrate them into the wider community and
to become more active in supporting it.
5.4. There are still some young people participating
in the programme so final outcomes statistics are not complete
but already there have been considerable positive outcomes for
the young people participating in the programme:
- Attainment of NVQ/ITQs.
- Movement into external jobs.
- Retained in jobs created for FJF - due to other
funding being secured by partners.
- Development and attainment of new skills.
- Significant increase in confidence and motivation.
5.5. There will be more job outcomes to record
as our contract reaches its end.
5.6. One of our partners particularly noted that
there were graduates who were referred to the programme - young
people for who it should have been easier to obtain employment
but nevertheless had been unsuccessful. Future Jobs Fund has provided
them with just the opportunity to gain actual work experience
and references, allied to their increased confidence has made
all the difference to them gaining employment - a difference that
would not have been possible otherwise.
5.7. There have been some difficulties encountered
with young people who have not responded to the opportunity offered,
where high levels of support and intervention have not resulted
in any appreciable benefits to them. But these have been clearly
outweighed by the majority.
5.8. All partners strongly believe that Future
Jobs Fund has been an excellent use of funds with tangible benefits
for participating organisations and young people alike. It has
been a distinct disappointment that it is not being taken forward,
especially after such a short lifetime, and that the skills and
capacity developed to establish and manage will not be used to
run the programme for a longer period.
10 September 2010
6. SUMMARY
- The initial phase of the programme caused some
teething troubles that might have been avoided but these were
improved upon during the lifetime of the contract.
- Partner organisations have experienced benefits
to themselves from the participation and employment of young people.
- New jobs, that would otherwise not have existed,
have been created and sustained as a result of the programme.
- Young people have gained valuable work experience
and retained jobs that they would not otherwise have done.
- Valuable and effective working relationships
have been developed between partners and local Jobcentre Plus
offices as a result of this programme.
This report is submitted on behalf of the Royal Borough
of Kensington and Chelsea Future Jobs Fund partnership.
10 September 2010
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