UK ‘welfare city’ model seeks local partnerships to tackle unemployment and child poverty
Newsletter 2009-3
Publication date : 2009-11-25
The
July 2009 Peer Review took place in the East End
of London – an area
with some of the highest levels of poverty and deprivation in the country. The
topic of discussion was the UK’s
‘City Strategy’ for tackling unemployment and child poverty, launched in 2007
as part of the government’s wider welfare system reform. In
simple terms, the policy is based on the premise that local people know more
about the situation in their area, are more committed and are able to make
better use of available resources. The basic idea is thus to help local
partners work together and deliver coordinated services to achieve real improvements
in employment levels. At the same time, this new form of “devolved welfare state”
can help to mobilise the resources of the public, private and voluntary sectors
and to combine them towards shared objectives. Since
2007, fifteen ‘Pathfinder’ areas – mainly major cities and urban areas, where
employment levels are furthest from the UK’s 80% target – have been required to
each develop their own business plans and local targets in terms of employment rates
and reduced dependency on social benefits. Target
groups are of two kinds: direct and indirect. Direct targets groups are the
so-called ‘hard-to-help’, such as longterm claimants of job-seeker allowances
and beneficiaries of income support and incapacity benefits. They include lone
parents, immigrants and refugees, persons over 50, exoffenders, those with drug
and alcohol problems, care leavers, people with mental health issues and young
people that are not in education, employment or training. Indirect target groups
are the public, private and voluntary sectors that are to be brought together
as partners in a concerted local programme. Despite
difficulties linked to the economic and financial crisis, the initiative has
shown signs of success and, in 2008, it was decided to extend it for a further
two years until March 2011. It has nevertheless been made clear that no further
support will be provided from then onwards and that Pathfinders are expected to
have merged into independent Local and Multi Area Agreements by then. While
reviewers lauded the initiative’s overall goal of increasing employment, they
nevertheless felt more should be stated about the quality and sustainability of
jobs provided. Also, it was felt that while the initiative has a child poverty
agenda, this is not made explicit enough as this is a vital objective that
should not be lost. The same goes for the gender issue, which should be
developed more explicitly within an equal opportunities framework. In
terms of transferability to other countries, reviewers felt that, to be
successful, such an initiative requires a strong civil society with an already
well-developed NGO network. Overall the City Strategy initiative was nevertheless
seen as an interesting approach to harnessing existing resources and to make
best use of them by providing a coherent one-stop-shop approach in the delivery
of social and employment services. This is essential in order to support the
most vulnerable people suffering from multiple disadvantages, in line with the EU
active inclusion common principles and guidelines.
The
centre, visited by the reviewers, was one of a group of five London-based
training centres specialising in ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages
– and ‘employability skills’ for adults. A private (for profit) organisation,
the main objective of the Metropole Learning centre is to provide foreigners with
the language skills they require in their specific occupation or sector of specialisation.
In parallel, the centre uses a variety of methods to engage potential employers
and even offers pastoral care for those learners with personal or family issues
that might represent a barrier to employment.
Around
4,000 learners per year follow the centre’s programmes, among which almost nine
out of ten achieve at least one qualification and around one in three is placed
in employment. For those who do not find work immediately, further job
preparation and search support is available.
Key
to the centre’s success is its strong integration in the local community,
enabling a good understanding of the students and a strong and trusted
relationship with the local business community – both of which are essential
when seeking to persuade an employer to take a gamble on the learners.
Since
2007, the centre has received support through the City Strategy and continues
to operate through effective partnerships with a wide range of government and
non governmental bodies.
Other
visits were made to the ‘Single Point of Access’ and ‘Groundwork Newham’
projects.
