The issue
In 2006 the Personnel Support Unit within the Council was experiencing high turnover of its staff, largely in administrative roles and had a number of vacancies.
It was looking at options for recruiting more widely when Jobcentre Plus approached it to consider a Return to Work project to attract unemployed disabled people into the Council. This fitted in well with its needs and so an arrangement was negotiated whereby Jobcentre Plus and its partners (RBLI and Tomorrow’s People) would supply potential candidates to the Council and get them job ready.
The Council would then provide placements for these individuals, and guarantee interviews to those that completed the Return to Work programme. The Council saw this scheme as a key way to improve the representativeness of its workforce and help it meet its corporate social responsibilities.
Action taken
From an initial selection of 30 participants, 15 were identified through an assessment process to attend the four-week pre-employment training, designed to improve their chances of being successful at interview. All participants were people with a health need or disability, currently receiving incapacity benefit through Jobcentre Plus and eager to re-enter employment.
Candidates were identified by RBLI, who also advised on meeting participants’ specific learning needs. The participants were supported through a four-week training programme run by Tomorrow’s People, a charity that helps the long term unemployed into work.
The training was designed in collaboration with the Council and included some bespoke training on the Council’s software. It aimed to provide a variety of activities to suit different learning styles and needs. The Council identified placement managers, who supported the participants whilst on their one-week placement and provided buddies/mentors for them. The whole programme was coordinated by Jobcentre Plus. As part of the programme design it was essential to ensure that all participants’ specific needs were met and they were accorded equal access and opportunity to the training and environment.
One issue was how to provide an appropriate workplace, due to the hot desking practice at East Sussex County Council. Times and duration of learning sessions were measured to facilitate dietary and/or medical needs, providing the opportunity for full attendance by all participants.
Outcomes
From the initial intake, five participants dropped out for health reasons, one participant decided that it wasn’t appropriate and a further participant left as he obtained employment using the techniques and skills already gained in the first few days. Eight people completed the programme and work experience. Of these, four were subsequently offered jobs with the Council and one attendee obtained a job working for a private company in Lewes.
Feedback from participants on the four-week training programme was very positive with 100 per cent saying they would recommend the programme to others. The participants not only built their workplace skills and gained employment but they also gained confidence, self-esteem and a sense of belonging: the three most commonly cited reasons why people on incapacity benefit say they want to get back into work.
The scheme provided good value for money. Financial aid was provided by Jobcentre Plus and the overall costs amounted to £18,700 (£3,900 per individual). This can be compared to the Council’s usual recruitment cost for administrative posts of £5,000 per individual. Furthermore, it is half the cost and time of other programmes, such as Work-based Learning, which typically costs £35,000 and takes 26 weeks to deliver the same training and employment results.
Total savings on incapacity benefits to those now employed is assessed as £20,000 per annum. The programme has also helped the Council meet its equalities aspiration of having its workforce reflect the population it serves by increasing its number of disabled employees. The programme, which took place from January 2006, has since been rolled out to other areas within the Council for other vulnerable groups.
Learning
The partnership working was successful, and there was some important learning for consideration in future planning, including: providing a clear timetable of the whole programme from assessment centre to work experience; having an RBLI job coach to further support participants; and providing opportunities for work experience across the whole of East Sussex County Council