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Section 4: Moving Forward

To achieve significantly higher levels of performance and create a coherent employability service for Scotland we need to put in place a range of actions that will drive, recognise and reward effective performance by those who deliver employability services. We propose to do this in three ways:

• By supporting the establishment of focused local Workforce Plus partnerships, working in local labour markets and working together to achieve shared objectives in terms of both outcomes and a managed local infrastructure.
• By supporting these local partnerships with a National Workforce Plus Partnership drawn from the key agencies which will ensure that the national infrastructure (specifically in terms of policy, shared objectives and funding streams and their flexibility) supports effective local action and procurement; and
• A Workforce Plus Team which will direct policy and practice, monitor and review the overall performance of the framework against agreed indicators, identify and help to scale up and roll out practices that work and to support the piloting and evaluation of new and existing services.

In this Section we consider the nature of each of these structures.

Local Workforce Plus Partnerships

The local partnerships will be responsible for driving forward collaborative action and delivery, accountable locally to their parent organisations; and, through their local 3 year action plans, to the National Workforce Plus Partnership. There are examples of such partnerships - in various stages of development - across Scotland and we describe some of these throughout the Framework. Their future development will also take into account the UK Government's proposals for a cities strategy.

It will be important for this work to be done within the Community Planning Partnership framework. In many areas, there will already be a forum or partnership set up to tackle employability-related issues. We are not suggesting that an additional body need necessarily be set up for the purposes of this framework; rather that the existing partnership takes forward the actions in this document.

The principles that should guide the design and activities of these local partnerships are:

• They should involve all the key agencies who need to be involved to fund an effective local employability service.
• Organisational representation needs to be at a senior decision making level so that funding decisions can be made and implemented.
• They need to cover an area which makes sense as a labour market.
• They need to be able to act swiftly and decisively.
• They need to be able to receive and respond to high quality management information which records the performance of local employability services as a whole.
• They need to manage collectively the delivery infrastructure provision they fund, while of course retaining responsibility for commissioning and managing their own contracts.
• They need to engage with and understand the needs of the different communities and groups in their area.

With a small group of key funders, the leadership should be essentially collective, but local partnerships will be expected to select their own lead organisation and select an appropriate Chair.

Although the different local partnerships will be starting from different positions in terms of infrastructure, local partnership arrangements and models and contracts, we expect partnerships to start with the following basic processes:

• Service delivery (for example, in specific areas or for specific groups) needs to be analysed in depth by sharing information on who funds what, and what it delivers. Mapping studies can provide a starting point by identifying projects and services funded by more than one agency. Many areas already have such maps and some have taken significant action to rationalise delivery based on these.
• Service planning then builds on this information, taking into account major external factors such as the impact of reduced EU funding post-2006.
• Funders can then begin to develop a more co-ordinated approach to commissioning service delivery which might lead eventually to joint commissioning of some services.

Building on the above, the partners need to develop both a strategic and a tactical perspective on the service delivery infrastructure, by answering the following questions:

• What is the size and nature of the local workless client group and what barriers do they face?

Many workless individuals make few demands on current services - despite their needs often being higher than average - and employment services find it hard to reach them and difficult to engage them in work-related services. This is because many face multiple barriers that may require specialist support. Each local area will need to define their workless client group to ensure that the appropriate necessary specialist support can be provided.

The Full Employment Areas Initiative ( FEA) Glasgow and Routes to Work Ltd are examples of initiatives designed for early engagement with workless individuals. Further information on them can be found in Section 3 and Annex 4.

• What is the nature of the local labour market and how to link in with the employment opportunities currently and likely to be available, including those in the public sector?

Local partnerships need to have a clear understanding of their local labour market and that people are able to access local employment opportunities. Equally important is the provision of an information system for local employers complementing the role of Jobcentre Plus.

The Employment Academies in Edinburgh were a response to recruitment difficulties experienced by employers in Edinburgh. Further information can be found in Section 3.

• What are we trying to achieve for jobless people - particularly those further from the labour market - over the long term?

There should be a strong emphasis on comprehensive assessment of individual needs and on sustaining progress as clients tackle their barriers to work. Successful initiatives will need to have a strong focus on the case management of an individual's progress. For jobless people, the Framework should provide the ability to gain a job, stay in work and to make progress in work.

Ready for Work, an initiative run by Scottish Business in the Community, helps those who face disadvantages in the labour market to gain skills and experience. The programme provides support for individuals from pre-employment training, right through to supporting individuals to sustain employment. Further information can be found in Section 3.

• What kind of delivery infrastructure do we need to achieve this - raising the employability of jobless people and helping meet the demands of employers in the local labour market?

Through the work of the Interventions Supply Workstream, seven key components of an effective employability service were identified.

• Effective assessment systems
• Individualised service
• Effective referral and case management
• Measuring and appreciating progression
• Targeting real jobs and developing skills, aptitudes and approaches to meet their demands
• Supporting the employer and the employee
• Engaging individual clients and employers in the design of services

The development of a successful delivery infrastructure needs to include these key components in a coherent local framework which will sustain progression for clients as they tackle their barriers to work.

All of the examples set out in Section 3 and Annex 4 incorporate some or all of these components.

• How does the current delivery infrastructure need to change to match this requirement, e.g. in the design of health and mainstream social services to support employability?

We have much of the necessary infrastructure in place to provide employability services which provide the support and experience that clients need to tackle their barriers to work. But, we do not have an employability service as such. Local partnerships will be asked to map out current interventions to identify gaps and duplication and decide what interventions will be most beneficial in helping people make the transition into work and who is best placed to provide them.

• What do we, as funders, need to do in the short and the long term to create such a delivery infrastructure?

Funders need to develop a more co-ordinated approach to commissioning service delivery. Funders can work together to improve performance when it it is linked to outcomes and at national and local level procurement agencies must share planning approaches to setting targets and outcomes for suppliers.

The Glasgow Fort Partnership is an example of a co-ordinated approach to a local regeneration project providing local jobs for local people. Further background is set out in Section 3.

• What information do we need to manage effectively and describe performance?

We need to create a monitoring and evaluation framework that provides management information needed to assess the performance of the service.

The answers to these questions should influence the development of local Action Plans for a 1 and a 3-year period. This is the route to generating a top class delivery infrastructure, particularly in those areas with large numbers of jobless people and a diverse delivery infrastructure.

Local partnerships should tackle the predominance of short-term funding. It acts as a barrier to effective staff development and organisational capacity building as good staff move on to more secure posts. Generally, it generates short term thinking and a reluctance to invest in the future effectiveness of delivery on the part of organisations funded in this way.

The partners will need to look critically at issues of local labour mobility - in other words the ability of local people to access local jobs. There are three elements to this:

• people's perceptions about local jobs - which are not always fully informed and may sometimes reflect a deeper lack of willingness to work; there are example models under Pathways to Work pilots of how to address this, as well as initiatives such as Routes to Inclusion in Lanarkshire;
• the importance of economic, physical, environmental and social regeneration making the link between new job opportunities and local people; and partnerships having a sound knowledge of the local labour market; and
• improving transport links between communities and available jobs and new areas of employment growth.

It is fundamental that the members of each local partnership are funders of employment or specialist services - and therefore in a position to drive change. They will include members with responsibilities based on parent organisations/national representatives on the national group. Local partnerships will call on other local groups as necessary to take forward working, but they need to maintain their own focus on service funders. Likely members will include:

Jobcentre Plus Districts
Communities Scotland local offices
Local Enterprise Companies
Local Authorities
NHS Boards

Although these key funders will be the principal drivers of the partnerships, others involved in employability services will need to be engaged: including the Scottish Prison Service, Community Justice Authorities, Further Education Colleges, Alcohol and Drug Action Teams and Community Health Partnerships.

Links with the local Community Planning Partnership will be essential. Members will also need to engage with other partnerships responsible for services that help specific elements of employability, such as Adult Literacy and Numeracy Partnerships and Learning Disability Partnerships in Practice.

National Workforce Plus Partnership

This group will oversee the implementation of the Framework and would ensure that the national infrastructure can support the local delivery. Its prime responsibility will be to support the effectiveness of local partnership action by:

• Aligning national funding approaches and incentives.
• Setting clear performance indicators in terms of outcomes and levels.
• Identifying ways in which procurement models can support local partnership action.
• Monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the achievements of Workforce Plus and providing benchmark information to local partnerships.
• Support local partnerships on issues which can only be dealt with at a national level.

Membership of the group will be based on the current Welfare to Work Planning Group, which consists of:

• DWP/Jobcentre Plus: accountable to DWP Ministers. They have responsibility for strategy and funding for client engagement, job search, vacancy handling, benefits handling, and employer engagement.
• Scottish Executive: accountable to Scottish Ministers; pulling together policy objectives for "employability" from across the Executive as well as disparate strands which the Executive direct funding for, e.g. skills, transport, children's services, health (including Healthy Working Lives), social care, regeneration and community justice; will be responsible for Workforce Plus, working closely with DWP/Jobcentre Plus.
• Communities Scotland: for their roles in Regeneration Outcome Agreements and CtOG targets; Registered Social Landlords; investment in regeneration and housing to create training and job opportunities; funding and providing support for social economy organisations; Adult Literacy and Numeracy.
• NHSScotland: for their role in operating the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, their occupational health and rehabilitation services, and potential as a leading employer to offer opportunities for training and employment.
• Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Careers Scotland: for their role in: vocational skills programmes such as Modern Apprentices, Skillseekers, Training for Work and Get Ready for Work; particularly for young people, including key worker services; linking opportunity (business growth, economic regeneration) to the local labour market; and labour market intelligence.

To these will be added:

• Local Government representation, bearing in mind their wide powers for economic development and regeneration, and statutory services in education, health, housing and homelessness, social care and criminal justice social work services, including Community Justice Authorities; and taking account of their accountability for Regeneration Outcome Agreements and CPPs.
• Scottish Prison Service: Community Justice Authorities work is one of the most important factors in reducing re-offending. Recent research estimates people in this group are 13 times more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population and that employment can cut the re-offending rate by half.
• Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council: for their role in funding and strategic direction for Further and Higher Education.
• learndirect scotland: for its role in providing routes to learning at both a national and local level, for example through the network of local learning centres.

The National Partnership will engage at a strategic level with employers and employer organisations, as well as trade unions and the STUC.

Employer Engagement

Workforce Plus emphasises that local partnerships must be able to demonstrate a strong understanding of the labour market in their area. They must also be able to show that employers in key sectors influence how programmes are developed.

It will be important for the National Partnership to understand the employer's perspective in implementing the Framework. A range of Scottish and local employer liaison groups already exist, from Ministerial business liaison, to local groups such as Employer Coalitions in Glasgow and the Highlands and Islands; and the Local Economic Forums. Additionally, Jobcentre Plus and the Enterprise Networks have regular contact with employers. Organisations like Scottish Business in the Community have a range of contacts and experience in engaging with employers to help people distanced from the labour market into work.

We will examine all the current methods of employer engagement at a local and Scottish level and seek to identify the best mechanisms for ensuring effective links with employers. The Workforce Plus Team will be asked to co-ordinate this activity. We will also identify a suitable individual from the Scottish business community who can be appointed to the UK National Employment Panel, and who will be able to provide leadership for employer engagement across Scotland.

Workforce Plus Team

The Workforce Plus Team will be based in the Scottish Executive but will draw on experience from a range of organisations such as local government, health, economic development and those who deal with employer engagement and services to the most disadvantaged.

This team will have a dual national and local role, and a broad range of functions, supporting the National Partnership in influencing policy and practice, overseeing the funding and evaluation of Workforce Plus; building up the capacity of the employability sector; as well as helping local areas to develop their action plans, to identify and disseminate good practice, and to pilot new approaches.

As a forerunner to this work, the Executive has supported the Scottish Union of Supported Employment to develop a blueprint for supported employment and how it relates to this Framework; gathering together existing material on quality standards in supported employment; and doing a preliminary assessment of training needs across supported employment organisations. This will be made available as a resource for partnerships later in 2006.

The team will develop effective relationships with organisations and groups throughout Scotland, such as the voluntary sector, the STUC, equality and racial commissions and employers, ensuring a link with local and national partnerships.

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