Written evidence submitted by Glasgow
City Council and Glasgow Works
INTRODUCTION
Glasgow Works delivers Glasgow's Employment Strategy
on behalf of Glasgow City Council and has programme managed Tranch
1 and Tranch 7 of the Future Jobs Fund bid culminating in 553
new jobs for the city.
The Partners engaging in delivering the bid were
the five Local Regeneration Agencies, FE Colleges, the Wise Group,
Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, City Building, Glasgow
Community Safety Services, Culture and Sport (now rebranded as
Glasgow Life) and the Marriott Hotel.
THE EXTENT
TO WHICH
THE FJF HAS
SUCCEEDED IN
MATCHING NEW
WORK EXPERIENCE
OPPORTUNITIES TO
YOUNG UNEMPLOYED
PEOPLE.
Future Jobs Fund offered the opportunity for young
people with little or no employment experience and qualifications
the opportunity to access a position they would have found difficult
to attain otherwise. It further afforded opportunities for employers
to think creatively about how they could develop jobs that would
enhance the capacity of their organisation whist at the same time,
providing exposure to formal and informal training for the individual
and making a real contribution to the community at large.
The opportunity has allowed young people to undertake
positions that they may never have applied for in a mainstream
vacancy due to their inexperience and lack of work related qualifications.
The positions have been supportive through the provision of "Wrap
Around support" which has helped give focus and structure
to supporting the longer-term goals of the young person through
a constructive Action Planning process detailing training, personal
development and additional supports. This has been beneficial
to both employer and employee as it has encouraged regular communication
relating to support and supervision with tangible outcomes.
STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES OF
THE FJF PROGRAMME
FROM THE
PERSPECTIVE OF
PROVIDERS (INCLUDING
THIRD SECTOR),
EMPLOYERS AND
YOUNG PEOPLE,
AND PARTICULARLY
IN RELATION
TO LONG-TERM
SUSTAINABILITY OF
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.
LAB Perspective
From a Glasgow City Council perspective, FJF provided
an additional resource to tackling youth unemployment. We embraced
the opportunity to work with employers to support genuine employment
for some of our most disadvantaged young people. Often young people
are portrayed as having no desire to work, but our experience
told us differently. We knew that with our collaborative partnership
and the support of Job Centre Plus that we could meet the challenge
of creating attractive, progressive jobs and to that end, we have
succeeded by creating over 550 jobs that would not have been there
without the FJF.
Our employers have advised that from their perspective
the opportunity to take an employee on as opposed to a trainee
had a massive impact on the learning curve of the individual.
Individuals became a part of the team with their own roles and
responsibilities. They had the same accountability in terms of
policies and procedures as their colleagues and hence had an equal
status. Each young person employed under the FJF vacancy had the
opportunity to access a number of different training and employability
facilities, which augmented the FJF programme. A huge benefit
for the individual is that this is a real job as opposed to a
placement but still has the support allowing an individual to
"learn to be at work".
In terms of challenges, the early implementation
was difficult, also disappointing in that there was an expectation
that there would be a huge demand for these posts. This did not
happen and was down to the restrictive eligibility criteria. This
was quickly rectified through local flexibilities and from then
until the new Coalition Government's announcement to wind up FJF,
we experienced a marked increase in the number of people referred
for positions, making it easier to recruit and fill the vacancies.
Since the announcement however, we have seen a dramatic downturn
in the number of referrals resulting in some employers not being
able to fill posts and opportunities being lost.
We have now reached the end of our job submissions
but have a further 6 months of delivery to go. At the midpoint,
we noted 41% of those who had participated in a
FJF job had gone onto other employment. In the current economic
climate, we believe this to be a positive return.
The Third Sector Perspective
The FJF programme has enhanced the Third Sector with
many interviewees realising what an asset the programme has been
to their small organisation. Employers have mentioned that FJF
has given them the opportunity to employ new people, who bring
great enthusiasm and fresh ideas. They also see the benefits to
young people, by giving them the opportunity to try something
new or unconsidered in the past. The participants are then given
the opportunity to train in flexible environments, and enhance
their skills.
The main complaint about the FJF programme is the
time constraint of 26 weeks. Most employers commented that six
months is not long enough, with new employees taking two months
to find their feet and gaining the confidence to express themselves
and benefit the organisation. The six month period is also restrictive
on training and education, with SVQs taking approximately six
months, meaning the young person must start their VQ from day
one of the job, in order for the training to be completed within
the time limit and for funding to be offered.
Another weakness highlighted was the risk that the
organisation took in employing young people who had had poor employment
histories, and the fear that they might not show up, want to learn
or be of any benefit to the organisation. Third Sector organisations
stated that with very little time, money and staff at their disposal
they were reliant on the FJF participant to engage with them fully
from the outset in order to make the most of their experience
The Employer Perspective
Employers noted both positive and negative experiences
of the young people that came to them stating that some were highly
motivated and made excellent contributions to the work place and
as a result, a number secured further employment within the participating
organisation whilst others found themselves in the wrong opportunity.
In hindsight, they felt that perhaps there was a rush across the
City (and indeed the country) to place so many young people into
opportunities in order to achieve timing deadlines. For the young
people themselves, the employers feel that those who completed
the opportunity increased their skills, attained confidence in
the work place with many going on to find sustainable employment.
THE LIKELY
AFFECT OF
THE DECISION
TO END
THE FUTURE
JOBS FUND
IN MARCH
2011 RATHER THAN
MARCH 2012.
The premature end of FJF will leave a notable gap
in provision to a group, which already faces disadvantage. Unemployed
young people aged 18-24years who are more than six months unemployed
may now find themselves competing with more experienced job seekers
and increasing the likelihood of experiencing longer periods of
unemployment.
HOW THE
TRANSITION FROM
FJF TO THE
WORK PROGRAMME
WILL BE
MANAGED, INCLUDING
THE PART
TO BE
PLAYED BY
THE GOVERNMENT'S
PROPOSAL TO
FUND NEW
APPRENTICESHIPS
There is likely to be a gap between FJF and the Work
Programme, which may lead to a relatively larger number of young
people being eligible for a Work Programme start than would have
otherwise been the case. The Work Programme Contractor(s) will
need to factor this into their planning assumptions for the delivery
of WP.
7 September 2010
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