London Borough of Newham

Creating Employment Pathways to Tackle

Entrenched Poverty and Worklessness

Background

Newham has one of the lowest employment rates in the UK at 58.4% (APS 2007), and although the annual rate has steadily improved over the last four years since 2004, Newham’s employment rate remains 11 percentage points behind the London average (69.8%).

In Newham, 34.6% of the population are neither working nor claiming unemployment benefit, compared to 25% of the London population. Nearly half of all the women living in Newham are economically inactive (46.6%).

Newham has a unique opportunity to improve on these key child poverty indicators due to the scale of regeneration planned in the borough. Key developments which will create jobs include:

Stratford City - 37,000 jobs between 2007 and 2020
Royal Docks - 16,300 jobs between 2008 and 2016
Canning Town & Custom House - 5,000 jobs between 2007 and 2025
Olympics and Paralympics - 12,000 jobs between now and 2012

Newham’s Response

In response to this opportunity, the local authority has developed Workplace, which provides a 21^st Century employer-focused service to ensure that employers and local people recognise it as the place to access employability services. Workplace brings together a range of providers in a single location to offer user-friendly services to both employers and jobseekers. It connects local people and local businesses with the opportunities available.

Workplace is delivering two pilots to provide extra support to those who are likely to be trapped in a cycle of poverty and face multiple complex barriers to employment

Mayor of Newham’s Employment Pilot

The Mayor’s Employment Pilot (MEP) offers support to those who are worried about being worse off in work. The MEP works intensively with residents who are very long term unemployed and those living in workless households. People who have never worked are a top priority group.

Some factors leading to concerns about being “worse off in work” are:

Individuals may not be aware of the extent of their responsibilities to report a change of circumstances (i.e. change in income), or understand the impact of this, if they have not received expert advice. This can lead to the individual missing out on particular support such as the housing benefit run on, a key transitional benefit that covers an individual’s housing costs for the first four weeks of employment.
The necessary interplay of different agencies responsible for benefit entitlement during transition into employment can break down, and household income can be affected. Short term work increases the likelihood of this occurring.
Advisors’ incomplete knowledge of the complexity of benefit system can lead to delivery of well-meant but inaccurate advice.
‘Better off’ calculations completed by different agencies may provide different figures leading to a lack of confidence in the calculations.
There can be a lack of awareness of eligibility to receive working tax credits or other in-work benefits.

The support offered by the Mayor’s Employment Pilot is designed to counteract these problems, and reassure the individual that they will not be worse off working.

Single Points of Access pilot

The Single Points of Access (SPA) pilot is part of the wider East London City Strategy Pathfinder. It aims to provide intensive support to low income and workless families with childcare barriers by providing a seamless referral and support service to help parents with dependant children access and remain in work.

Barriers to employment are often compounded by the high cost and availability of childcare. Issues faced by workless parents identified in the LDA paper What Works with Tackling Worklessness (2006), include:

§ Available childcare may not operate during the hours that parents need, or it may require a commitment to particular sessions which would not be practical for parents. The lack of flexible childcare can result in part time working, thus reducing the level of income.

§ People with two or more children of different ages face the logistical and financial challenge of finding suitable and affordable arrangements for children with differing needs.

§ Many parents who find work are required to start within a few days, which does not allow time to arrange formal childcare, and often only those who can turn to family members are really in a position to look for and accept jobs.

§ Informal childcare arrangements are often more flexible and readily available but are more likely to break down than formal childcare, and thus impact on job retention.

§ For parents whose children have health problems cost and availability of childcare can be incompatible with working.

The support offered by the SPA pilot aims to help Newham’s parents overcome these obstacles in order to return or progress in work.

Unique employment support offered to Newham residents as a result of the Pilots

Expert Advice

Five experienced Housing Benefit Officers, employed to work exclusively on these pilots and based in-house at Workplace and in community locations across the borough
Intensive employability support from a dedicated Workcoach/Work Access Officer
Teams delivering motivational training work across the borough at locations (such as Children’s Centres, libraries, community centres) that ensure a good geographic spread and reach communities not previously served by local employment services.
A Citizen’s Advice Bureau Advisor is built into the delivery model for the MEP who offers independent advice on in work benefits

Financial Support

Flexible funding which is tailored to the individual (where other funding is not accessible) to cover costs associated with entering work such as travel, childcare and training
“In work” payments to the individual. The MEP offers a reward to encourage participants through the first few weeks of work, which is paid after 13 weeks in employment. The SPA pilot extends the offer of In Work Credit (£60 per week) to parents who are not in receipt of DWP benefit
The MEP offers a guaranteed housing benefit top-up to those who find themselves worse off by returning to work, which is paid for up to one year
The SPA pilot provides funding for out of school childcare for children over the age of five, extending the previous offer which was limited to children under the age of five (via the LDA Childcare Affordability Programme). Childcare is funded for up to six weeks when a parent starts work to bridge the gap between signing off benefits and being having Working Tax Credits awarded
Funding for childcare for up to three months in any calendar year is available for parents participating in voluntary work.

For further information contact Rose.Rolle-Rowan@newham.gov.uk