To receive and consider a presentation by the Project Officer – Workways+ Powys.
Vision 2025. Objective: The Economy – Improve Skills and Support People to get good quality jobs.
Target: Help address barriers to employment to support people into work and better paid opportunities. |
Extracts of the Top 5 Moniting Tracker and Quarter 3 Impact Assessment are attached as background information.
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation by the Project Officer Workways+ Powys.
It was noted that there are two separate projects:
· Workways+ Powys is a joint European and Council funded project. A similar project operated in South West Wales previously. When the South West developed its current project Powys established its own scheme as it is in a different European funding area. Workways+ Powys was first piloted in South Powys for a 30+ age group. The current Workways+ Powys project is for a 54+ age group who are economically inactive i.e. not working and not registered as unemployed. It is delivered by the charity Prime Cymru and is a three year project which ends in February 2020.
· Communities for Work+ (CfW+) is a fully Welsh Government funded scheme operating across all of Wales and delivered through local authorities. This is for people aged 16+ who are in or at risk of poverty which includes people who are not working as well as those who are employed. This scheme commenced in 2018 and though it is funded on a year by year basis is anticipated to continue for some years.
The aims and delivery approach of both projects are the same. Support is on a one to one basis, with clients meeting mentors on an individual basis. Both projects also have some discretionary funding available to support clients with training and other barriers they might have to employment.
Participant numbers and job outcomes are behind targets on both projects (-58% for Workways+ Powys) though to a lesser extent with CfW+ (63 participants out of a target of 100) and for this project it is because the mentors were in place for the equivalent of just half the year. Actions are planned to address this situation for both projects, though care needs to be taken not to increase promotions beyond mentor capacity.
It is accepted that the targets were set too high initially. A backlog of assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meant that there were fewer referrals than expected. The numbers of individuals who are eligible for the scheme has also dropped since the project started by 12.5%. There has also not been sufficient promotion of the scheme at the start.
The Council is currently negotiating with Welsh Government to get targets lowered and eligibility widened as pro rata to the level of funding the targets should be approximately a third of the current level. Some participants have greatly benefited from support through these projects.
Question – With regard to targets, this is about assessing demand at the beginning. Also is the problem more about people being underemployment in Powys rather than not being employed? |
Response – That is a fair point, but the CfW+ scheme can support those who are employed and so can support people who are underemployed through that project, for example by helping them to upskill and so progress within their existing jobs or to try and get alternative better paid jobs. |
Question – Young mothers have a particular difficulty with employment due to childcare which can be expensive and time consuming to access. Is there any differentials between males and females on the scheme? |
Response – Under Workways+ Powys about 55% of participants are female and 45% male. With the age group eligible for that project (54+ year olds), few then tend to have childcare responsibilities, about 14% on the project do have caring responsibilities of some sort. The gender breakdown for participants on CfW+ was not available at the meeting but it was noted that, any individuals whose barriers to employment was childcare would be referred to PaCE, which is a project that particularly helps with that. |
Question – With more people in employment now than there were a few years ago, will it be more difficult to achieve the targets than were set then. As employment continually fluctuates should targets be more flexible i.e. as a percentage of those not working rather than as a fixed number? |
Response – This is a fair comment. The numbers of economically inactive 50-64 year olds in Powys have reduced by 12% over the last 3 years, so there are less people eligible for Workways+ Powys now than there were at the time the project was developed. However, applying for European or other project funding requires a specific number as a target. |
Question – With the figures being quite low, what value for money is the Council getting from these schemes? |
Response – It was noted that additional work is currently being undertaken with the Housing Service to develop CfW+ to particularly support housing tenants, which will bring value to the Council’s Housing Service. Workways+ Powys is winding down and so the structure for CfW+ is being reassessed. CfW+ is fully funded by Welsh Government for this current year. Workways+ Powys is costing less per participant than the European East Wales programme document forecast for participants in these types of projects and costing less per participant into a job than are some other similar ESF supported projects. |
Question – Is there a way of equating cost against benefits? |
Response – We cannot do this accurately but external consultants could evaluate that. |
Question – A number of councillors had no knowledge of these schemes and there has been success. What is happening to the staff and mentors from Workways+ Powys when the scheme ends? |
Response – They are employed by a delivery organisation which will try to reallocate them to other projects in Wales after this project ends. Members were concerned that the expertise should not be lost. The Project Officer agreed to speak to the delivery company about this issue. |
Question – What other projects are being run by the Council where Members have no knowledge of the financial return for such schemes? |
Response – The Corporate Director, Economy and Environment advised that for this scheme there was scrutiny and audit of the scheme through the Wales European Funding Office (WEFO). Workways+ Powys is part funded by the Council whilst CfW+ is fully funded by Welsh Government and the Council should not miss the opportunity of utilising such schemes. |
The Council needs to learn from what targets were initially set and what they should have been. There should also be a closure report on Workways + Powys in relation to what was done and what we have learned. With regard to the link to the Housing Service this should be reviewed in 12 months’ time
RECOMMENDED to the Co-ordinating Committee that a further review of Workways+ Powys and CfW+ be undertaken in March 2020.
Supporting documents: