VONNE

Worklessness, or employability – a term that is increasingly gaining currency, is high on the National Government’s agenda and that of the Regional Development Agency’s. The stated aim of the Government’s latest Welfare Reform proposals is to encourage people who are of working age but not in employment to start working again. The actual target set is to reduce the numbers claiming Incapacity Benefit by one million in ten years. Job Centre Plus’ pathways to work program will be rolled out nationally by 2008.

This initiative is being backed by significant investment. The Northern Way Business Plan for instance sets aside £12 million for programmes focused on getting incapacity benefit claimants back into work. Three worklessness initiatives are being piloted in  the North East in Easington, Middlesbrough and Sunderland. In Easington, where over 20% of the working population are in receipt of IB, the first pilot was launched with an emphasis on health. The Middlesbrough pilot, with an emphasis on provision of service by the VCS, commenced in Summer 2006, and is provided by the Shaw Trust in partnership with DISC and Mental Health matters. The Sunderland pilot is provided by Sunderland Council and builds on existing provision.

The North East has one of the lowest levels of employment in the United Kingdom. The population of the North East stands at 2.5 million, of which 1.6 million are of working age. Nearly one in six of the working age population in this region, amounting to 250,000 people who are claiming benefits related to worklessness.

If engagement with socially excluded groups is to be successful the VCS needs to be playing a key role in these initiatives - not just as a deliverer of services but in terms of shaping policies so that they meet client needs.

VONNE facilitates the Regional VCS Employability Reference Group. Any VCS organisation with a base in the North East and an interest in the employability agenda is free to join us. We meet bi-monthly to share information on Employability. We seek to influence policy by acting as a sounding board to the VCS representatives on the multi sector forums on employability. We regularly invite One North East, Job Centre plus and the Learning and Skills Council to our meetings in order to keep abreast of the latest developments and to develop constructive relationships with the public sector organizations that  develop and implement policy. If you wish to get involved contact Jo Curry – VONNE policy Manager 0191 233 2000, jo.curry@vonne.org.uk.