March 2006
The DWP Green Paper 'A new deal for welfare' was published in January, with consultation until April. The document builds on the view which the government, and in particular Gordon Brown, has articulated since 1997, that work is the best route out of poverty for most people. With higher employment levels and lower unemployment levels it is clear that progress has been made, but stubborn and persistent problems remain both in terms of geography (the high concentrations of workless people) and groups (the increased number of people on Incapacity Benefit [IB]).
The Green Paper sets out a number of targets for the next decade. It aims to reduce those on IB by 1 million, to increase the number of older workers (roughly those over 50) by 1 million and to get a further 300,000 lone parents back into work. The overall objective is to increase to economic activity rate in the UK to 80% from the current level of 75%.
A large part of the emphasis in the document is on IB. This is partly because of the large numbers involved and partly because of a number of recent trends. For example, the number of those on IB citing 'mental health' issues has risen from 20% in the 90s to 33%, whilst a third of those on IB have moved to it from another benefit (such as JSA) rather than as a direct result of losing their job. Once a person has been on IB for two years they have more chance of death or retirement than getting a job.
The government aims to tackle the flow of new claimants by putting in place health improvement measures and reducing the attractiveness of IB in relation to other benefits. Both IB and Income Support for incapacity will be replaced by the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from 2008. ESA will require employment seeking activities from those who are deemed capable and failure to do these will see ESA reduce to the level of JSA in stages.
The existing stock of IB claimants will be tackled through rolling out 'Pathways to Work', reducing the current level of IB through the ESA and putting in place measures to support those wanting to work. In particular, support will not end when someone gets a job.
There are also specific measures to help lone parents, by increasing the amount of child care provision and maternity support, and those over 50 by improving back to work support and working with employers to create more flexible jobs for this group.
A key element in these reforms is Housing Benefit which has a huge impact on the attractiveness, or otherwise, of jobs at lower wage rates. The Government is looking to build a more flexible local housing allowance structure on a pilot being run in 18 local authority areas.
The Green Paper ends by talking about bids from local consortia to implement measures but in a way tailored to local circumstances and involving both employers and delivery agencies at that local level. It gives the green light, in principle, to pooling funds and resources in order to join up services more effectively. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the country and how learning is captured and transferred.
For more information on this please contact Alistair Grimes or Richard Scothorne
Employability Framework for the North East of England
ONE NorthEast and its regional partners are developing a strategic framework for employability services. The central theme will be looking at employer demand and the future needs of the labour market in the north east as well as those who are out of the labour market and wish to get a job. The work will have two stages.
The first stage will look at existing organisations and the gaps and overlaps in provision for particular geographical areas and for particular client groups. The second stage will look at how this, and funding for employability, needs to change to meet both employer demand and the needs of those clients who are trying to get back into the labour market. Rocket Science are working with the partners to design the framework and will also devise a programme of training and development to implement these changes and a series of scorecards to benchmark and improve performance.
The framework is likely to provide some very practical insights into the role of local city consortia as proposed in the recent Welfare Reform Green Paper.
For more information on this particular project or for information on how Rocket Science could carry out similar work for you please contact Alistair Grimes or Richard Scothorne.
DTI launch of consultation on EU Structural Funding Priorities
The DTI has launched a wide-ranging consultation to identify the priorities for EU Structural Funding in the UK from 2007-2013. The UK is expected to receive approximately 9.4 billion Euros (roughly half its allocation in 2000-2006) which will be disbursed across three new objectives.
The new objectives are:
Convergence (replacing the current Objective One) - 2.6 billion Euros for the poorest areas of the UK (Cornwall, West Wales and the Highlands and Islands)
Competitiveness and Employment (replacing the current Objectives Two and Three) - 6.2 billion Euros for other regions of the country
Cross-border and trans-national projects (replacing the Interreg Community Initiative) - 0.6 billion Euros.
The consultation document, which can be downloaded from: http://www.dti.gov.uk/europe/nsrf.html invites responses on two particular issues - the government's proposals for distributing its Structural Fund allocations under the new Competitiveness Objective, and its proposed administrative arrangements for delivering the Funds during the next programming period. Rocket Science has developed two toolkits to support the administrative efficiency of the Structural Funds - an online Bid Assessment Tool for use by Co-financing organisations and the Readiness Assessment Tool for projects to use in preparing their exit strategies from ESF funding.
For more information please contact John Griffiths or Ruth Evans.
Saving the world! How do your carbon emissions score?
Rocket Science have been invited to contribute to a partnership launched in the Highlands and Islands in February to pilot new ways of reducing the carbon emissions from new buildings.
The GreenSpace Project aims to support the design of new buildings that minimize their energy use; and to maximise the use of renewable energy supply in the design of new and existing buildings. The Project is applying a powerful suite of simulation tools that will help building designers to integrate renewable energy systems and rationalise use of energy technologies into every stage of the building lifecycle, starting with the initial outline design. Partners in the project include Green Building Studio, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and UHI Millennium Institute.
Rocket Science is working with these partners to develop and trial a new e-Scorecard for use by local authorities. This will help local authorities benchmark themselves against outstanding environmental performance both in terms of their compliance with upcoming European legislation on carbon emissions and in terms of their wider role in sustainability. Another e-Scorecard will be produced for architects to help them assess their readiness for the legislation and to benchmark themselves against outstanding practice in their profession.
Please contact Richard Scothorne for more information.
Reviewing Community Development Finance Initiatives (CDFI)
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has just completed a review of community development finance initiatives (CDFI) in the region. The review was prompted by changes in government funding on CDFIs through its 'Phoenix Fund' initiative and the decision to devolve these funds to Regional Development Agencies.
CDFIs have been an important mechanism in getting finance to companies with a good business idea but who cannot get finance from banks because they lack assets or a track record. One of the most successful, DSL, is based in Glasgow and has moved from being 100% funded by public sources to generating over £4 million from a commercial bank. It is this journey, from public subsidy to financial sustainability that both the Government and EEDA are keen to promote.
The report details the ways in which this might be achieved in collaboration with commercial banks and public agencies, leading to a sustainable regional fund over a 5-10 year period.
For more information on this particular project - which was carried out by Rocket Science - or for information on how we could help you with similar issues contact Alistair Grimes or Andrew Carter.
Measuring performance in community learning
Learning Connections at Communities Scotland have developed the performance information project (PIP) for community learning and development (CLD). Its aim is to develop better information on the inputs, outputs and outcomes of CLD at local and national level. Rocket Science is helping them to survey local authorities across Scotland to identify systems that are already in place to collect and use performance information.
The objectives of this work are:
To look at best practice in terms of performance information
To understand if there is a 'common core' to the information currently being collected
To determine how best we can support development of effective systems at local level
The outcomes of this work will feed into other strands of the PIP that will help with the collection of information to support policy development on CLD. The outcomes will also support the development of local systems and their effective use of information in delivering quality services.
The survey, carried out by Communities Scotland, asked all 32 local authorities across Scotland to gather information in one week in November 2005. They collected information on the uptake of their services; the resources they provided to others to deliver on their behalf; and, in some cases, the uptake of services that they supported others to provide.
This exercise found that across Scotland during the reporting week (through direct delivery by local authorities) approximately:
62,000 adult learning opportunities were accessed
85,000 youth work opportunities were accessed
5,000 community groups were supported
If you would like more information on our work in this area please contact Debbie Adams
Engaging the community in Local Area Agreements
Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are a key part of the Government's commitment to modernise local government and reform the delivery of public services in England. LAAs potentially offer a radical approach to the way local authorities and their partners can use Government funding to support the implementation of national, regional and local priorities in their areas. Rocket Science recently assessed the experiences of 17 London Boroughs which have been chosen to pilot LAAs, focusing particularly on the extent to which they have engaged the voluntary and community sector.
Voluntary and community sector (VCS) representatives in London have broadly welcomed the concept of Local Area Agreements. They have concerns about the resources required to participate effectively in the LAAs' development, but they report that the process has been useful in terms of embedding trust; challenging the status quo; increasing partners' mutual understanding; and unearthing new ideas.
Rocket Science's report will shortly be available from the London Voluntary Service Council's new-look website (www.lvsc.org.uk). Among the key lessons for the future roll out of LAAs are:
The need to be aware of the strong correlation between the level of VCS involvement in LAAs and the quality and resourcing of voluntary sector infrastructure at a local level. Additional resources to build infrastructure in boroughs where it is weakest may help to redress this imbalance and reduce disparities in the health and effectiveness of the sector.
The danger of an emerging dichotomy between large voluntary sector organisations (including national charities) that will benefit from the opportunities provided by LAAs to deliver public services and small community-based organisations which have neither the capacity nor motivation to do so.
Considerable uncertainty remains over the continuation of small-grants funding. This will be particularly important for sustaining community-based organisations. Any reductions will invariably have a disproportionately adverse effect on Black, Minority Ethnic and Refugee community groups that are so critical to social cohesion. As a matter of principle, the introduction of a LAA should not result in a net loss of resources allocated to a local area's VCS.
LAAs tend to pigeon-hole the VCS as a contributor to the Stronger Safer Communities element of the Agreement. However, there is often long-standing local experience of cross-sectoral work in other areas of service delivery which needs to be incorporated (e.g. children's and youth services; care and social services, community safety and cohesion).
Local Authorities and the voluntary sector have been hampered by a paucity of adequate performance indicators with which to measure VCS impact and effectiveness. Many of the pilot LAAs have proposed to invest in developing the requisite skills and knowledge of performance measurement so the sector can operate on a level playing field with the private and statutory sectors.
Commissioning services from a broader base of voluntary sector organisations is also likely to require considerable lead-in time. This is needed to equip both funders and providers with the practical tools to ensure that this delivers the benefits of increased choice, quality and efficiency. Isolated examples of good practice do exist, but LAAs would clearly benefit from their wider dissemination, possibly via the regional Centres of Excellence. This could support the development and transfer of skills in commissioning from voluntary and community sector organisations.
Please contact John Griffiths or Andrew Carter for further information.