Youth Unemployment and the Future Jobs Fund

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 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 of26 weeks. Most employers commented that 6 months is not long enough, with new employees taking 2 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 6 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.

Contributors to Report

Liz Logan (Author) Glasgow Works

David Coyne Glasgow Works

Tony Crosbie Glasgow North Regeneration Agency

Charlotte Craig Glasgow South West Regeneration Agency

Graham Harrison Glasgow Council for Voluntary Sector

7 September 2010