Personal Advisors: The emerging role in employment and skills West London Working Personal Advisors: The emerging role in employment and skills 23 June 2009 Graeme Caul

Overview Who and what is West London Working? Summary of WLW work programme How West London Working is supporting Personal Advisers to make appropriate referrals and improve their understanding of support available

Who is West London Working? Partners responsible for employment & skills in West London West London Alliance Local Authorities Jobcentre Plus Learning and Skills Council London Development Agency Employer led Board incl. BAA, Compass, Arora Hotels 946,000 people of working age 63,000 employers 685,000 jobs Strong economic growth between 1998 and 2004 with 3.2% increase in employment rate 69.8% employment rate, a down turn from 2004 115,000 people on work related benefits 282,000 estimated workless population Estimated 85,000 children living in poverty Concentrations of workless residents near major areas of employment growth £190m total investment in employment and skills £40m investment in employment specific services £150m investment by LSC

Vision To transform the coherence and effectiveness of the existing structure of skills and employment services in West London to deliver a sustainable increase in the number of residents in employment and a reduction in child poverty. 946,000 people of working age 63,000 employers 685,000 jobs Strong economic growth between 1998 and 2004 with 3.2% increase in employment rate 69.8% employment rate, a down turn from 2004 115,000 people on work related benefits 282,000 estimated workless population Estimated 85,000 children living in poverty Concentrations of workless residents near major areas of employment growth £190m total investment in employment and skills £40m investment in employment specific services £150m investment by LSC

What is West London Working Doing? A flavour of our work so far: West London Directory - & investigating/piloting tracking Investment and Target Group - commissioning Performance Rating Personal Advice & Outreach Building Employability Pathways Work Focused English as a Second Language

What is West London Working Doing? And further work to come: Business Partner programme Further work to develop and publicise a coherent employer offer Further work on commissioning

Supporting Personal Advice How is West London Working supporting Personal Advisers to make appropriate referrals and improve their understanding of support available?

Supporting Personal Advice Developing a performance rating that will: Benchmark providers and help them identify areas for improvement Give a transparent rating of Provider’s track record Assess customer satisfaction Client Satisfaction Questionnaire to be used by suppliers of services that help people into work Employer Satisfaction Questionnaire Will help personal advisors advise residents by giving a transparent service rating, and helps identify which providers to refer to

Supporting Personal Advice The West London Directory of Employment Services: Available at www.westlondonworking.org.uk Designed to make sense of the 200+ different organisations in West London delivering multiple contracts of provision that target different geographies and different client groups Help personal advisors access the right support to help people into work Help service delivers understand who they can link with to customise their services to residents

Supporting Personal Advice Developing a Confederation of Providers that will: Open new channels of communications channels across West London between delivery organisations and strategy makers Allow policy makers to learn what’s happening from the ground up – what works when tackling worklessness? Develop trust between providers to develop partnerships and open up referral channels Promote capacity building support Your unique offer Delivering for a prime contractor

Supporting Personal Advice To pilot innovative methods of personal support to increase the number of people that successfully achieve their goal through accessing skills and employment services. To create an innovative approach to outreach that links frontline staff delivering other public and third sector services with employment and skills provision.

Supporting Personal Advice What are we testing? What is the most effective way to reach individuals to help them access skills and employment support? e.g. through other NDC services, through Adult Education, through RSLs? How do we create a personalised journey for individuals, that makes best use of ‘skills and employment’ and ‘non skills’ provision? Does referring an individual between a number of services work? What are the challenges? What is the best method of providing personal support? e.g. What is ideal case load number, when does a personal advisor need to intervene, what frequency, what interventions work?

Questions?