Jobcentre Plus

Jobcentre Plus www.jobcentreplusuk.co.uk

Job Centre Plus The Early Years (0-7) / Y blynyddoedd cynnar

Income Poverty

Current Challenges What Can Be Done? Where To Go?

Family Friendly Employers The promotion of family friendly employer working practices remains a priority to help more parents into work.

Visit the website to find out more

http://www.employersforchildcare.org/ Working Families

Vocational Skills The opportunities to work with parents accessing early years provision on improving skills for work are not always maximised.

Review the links between early years provision, vocational training, skills development and access to employment.

Benefit Take-up Most disadvantaged families are not taking up their full benefit and tax credit entitlements. Only 44% of children in severe poverty are in families that report claiming the child tax credit. There is a lack of knowledge among many on low incomes of their entitlements to support.

Review the quality/ accessibility of information and benefits ( particularly in work benefits) available via early years settings. Consider undertaking co-ordinated benefit take up work within early years settings.

Citizens Advice Promoting Tax Credits and help towards childcare costs provides a simple, easy to use online toolkit to help your local authority raise awareness about help for paying for childcare Sure Start

Job Centre Plus Education and Learning Opportunities / Addysg

Income Poverty


Working with others Schools alone are unable to tackle and overcome the effects of child poverty on education. Effective schools working in deprived areas develop creative methods of working with others.

Develop creative methods for the recruitment and retention of staff. Consider recruiting from the local community and ex pupils for all staff positions.

Travelling to learn/work Transport is a significant barrier to accessing learning/ employment and training. Learners from less well-off backgrounds are further disadvantaged if they are not funded to travel to work placements.

Review local policy and guidance and develop travel plan to ensure that learners and workers in disadvantaged areas are able to access learning opportunities in the most efficient way possible. Developing a Transport impact assessment maybe a useful evaluative tool.

Sustrans travel planning WAG Funding Advice

Job Centre Plus A Safe Home and Community / Cartrefi a chymunedau diogel

Income Poverty


Economic inactivity In 2005-6 men and women living in social housing in Wales had a lower rate of economic activity and higher unemployment than those living in other tenures and of economic inactivity.

Explore ways of working in partnership to join up employment and housing solutions. Review housing related procurement processes and investigate the potential for social clauses and employment skills development. Link housing options advice with employment advice

DWP Report on Social Housing and Worklessness

Job Centre Plus Income Maximisation / Employment / Heb fod dan anfantais o achos tlodi

Income Poverty


Operating without a bank account can lead to significant costs leading to poor families having to pay a poverty premium.

Consider developing a multi agency approach (credit unions, voluntary sector, housing, health) to addressing financial inclusion for families and consider innovative approaches using the internet as a means of delivering accessibility to competitive rates/products.

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/toolkit.shtml http://www.nowletstalkmoney.com/gb/en/default.html http://www.basic-skills.co.uk/ouractivities/financialliteracy/ http://www.pfeg.org/ http://www.learnaboutmoney.org/index.php http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/

There is currently no obligation on councils to take responsibility for promoting improved take-up of welfare benefits. Despite this, there is a growing expectation from Central Government that benefit checks and help to claim benefits should be integrated within council key services.

Consider the feasibility of providing holistic benefit checks for vulnerable families within key frontline services in partnership with the voluntary sector and encourage the take up of WTC/CTC and DLA (especially for children) and Attendance Allowance.

The unclaimed millions: dla and cancer pa-tients CPAG: Out of Reach: benefits for disabled children Citizens advice: Tax credit take-up resource pack

Research indicates that benefit take-up is an issue within Wales Official figures show 44% of couples with children are paying out much more than they need to in council tax. HMRC state that in 2005-2006, 60,000 families did not claim their entitlement to Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit which amounted to £80m of unclaimed Tax credits. (central estimates)

Consider the feasibility of undertaking in work benefit-take up take up activities with working families on low incomes. Such activity should be multiagency involving experts from the voluntary sector.

http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/publications/publication-display.do?id=22235 http://www.entitledto.co.uk/default.aspx


Income Poverty


Efficient benefits administration perform-ance can have a significant impact in tack-ling poverty and providing opportunity, whereas poor performance restricts oppor-tunity and leaves people facing financial problems.

Ensure that the performance and efficiency of benefits administration regularly is re-viewed and continually develop staff, work-ing processes, partnerships and a perform-ance culture. Re-evaluate practice in relation to interim payments when claims are delayed to en-sure that claimants Review the Council’s approach to its bene-fits and family related grants with a view to creating a more streamlined, seamless ser-vice that links benefits administration, free school meal applications, school uniform grants etc.

DWP housing benefit advice for local authori-ties

Sustainable Procurement practices adopted by Councils and other public bod-ies can be utilised to support the local econ-omy and worklessness.

Review sustainable procurement practices and explore potential to support the social aspect of sustainable procurement e.g. so-cial contracts etc.

https://www.buy4wales.co.uk/UsefulResources/valuewalesp.html


Income Poverty


The nature and degree of partnership working between Job Centre Plus and the local councils varies across Wales. To date only a small percentage of Council’s have signed up to the Job Centre Plus Local Employment Partnerships initiative (which aims to bring together Government and large employers to help 250,000 disadvantaged people into jobs within three years).

Consider the appropriateness of committing the Council to the Job Centre Plus’s Local Employment Initiative (the following public sector bodies have signed up to this Scheme Somerset County Council, Coventry City Council, Glasgow City Council, Middlesbrough City Council, NHS Wales, North Glamorgan NHS Trust, West Lothian Council, Birmingham City Council). Review HR policies to ensure that recruitment practices are inclusive and do not disadvantage vulnerable groups.

Local Employment Partnerships

Unemployment and worklessness in families are major factors in child poverty. Paid work is seen by the government as a route out of poverty, however the ability to achieve higher quality and sustainable jobs is also important.

Develop in partnership a cohesive local approach to reducing worklessness. That co-ordinates local resource, understanding, data and expertise. Consider the use of outreach services and IT solutions to assist in reducing Worklessness.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation : Local initiatives to help workless people find and keep paid work


Service Poverty


Basic Skills Improvement Develop robust approached to improving ba-sic skills.

http://www.basic-skills-wales.org/bsastrategy/en/resources/early_years.cfm http://www.basic-skills-wales.org/bsastrategy/en/resources/early_years/family_programmes good_practicepack.cfm http://www.basic-skills-wales.org/bsastrategy/en/cross_phase/financial_literacy_homepage.cfm


Service Poverty


Smooth Transitions In Wales, the proportion of young people not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET) aged 16-18 is at a relatively high level – at around 10-12% or 12,000 young people for nearly a decade.

Develop a partnership approach to the reduction of NEETs focusing on early intervention.

WAG Consultation paper on NEETs http://www.bild.org.uk/03books_autism.htm http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/children/docs/neet-toolkit.pdf

Working with others Consider bringing in role models to show people from their own background that can be successful.

http://www.infed.org/biblio/role_model_education.htm http://www.teachers.tv/video/244

Curriculum and Teaching Schools that are ‘learning organisations’ and prioritise classroom experiences and learn-ing rather than teaching have been found to be successful in reducing the gaps in educational attainment caused by poverty.

Tailor the curriculum specifically to the needs of the pupils and consider flexible approaches to teaching methods.

14-19 Learning Peacehaven Community School


Service Poverty


Basic Skills Low levels of basic skills in work hamper the ability of employees to progress and per-petuates in work poverty.

Prioritise basic skills within your own organi-sations and encourage all partners to sign up to "Basic skills employer pledge". Com-plete and implement the action plan.

Basic-skills-Wales: employer pledge

Basic Skills Lack of basic skills limit the ability of pupils to partake in educational and skills based activities. This limits employment opportuni-ties

Work with the Basic Skills Cymru to develop a robust approach to developing Basic skills attainment at post 16.

Basic-skills-Wales: post_16 resource

Job Centre Plus A Safe Home and Community / Cartrefi a chymunedau diogel

Service Poverty


Homelessness Ensure that Youth Workers, Careers Wales staff and other officers dealing with unemployed young people are trained in homelessness issues

http://www.homelesspages.org.uk/index.asp


Participation Poverty


Children’s Information Services Poor communication with parents about the range of services available limits participation.

Develop a range of materials to support the promotion of early years provision to parents who are at risk of experiencing poverty.

http://www.surestart.gov.uk/_doc/P0002522.pdf

At risk Groups Lone Parents, the disabled and some ethnic minority families are at risk of child poverty.

Ensure that steps are taken to research the local needs of lone parents and other groups at risk of child poverty.

Listening to lone parents about Childcare daycare trust Listening to parents of disabled children about childcare daycare trust

Fathers Fathers’ involvement in the earliest months of a child’s life may be critical to later outcomes.

Utilise the information provided and review practice.

http://www.surestart.gov.uk/_doc/P0002547.pdf

Lone Parents Lone Parents participation Needs of disabled participation, ethnic minority.

Ensure that steps are taken to research the local needs of lone parents and other groups at risk of child poverty.

Day Care Trust


Participation Poverty


Families and young experiencing poverty often face difficulties accessing financial products and internet deals such as basic bank accounts.

Basic Bank accounts Toolkit E.g. Carmarthen LA and Carmarthen CAB have worked to ensure that Local Housing Allowance claimants have access to bank accounts

Basic Bank Account Toolkit for Housing Benefit claims is designed to guide other Local Authorities through the process of setting up the same kind of service we have with one bank and to address any questions

Jobcentre Plus

Documents

Transcript of Jobcentre Plus