Get Britain Working Jobcentre Plus support Get Britain Working measures Work experience Sector-based work academies Flexible Support Fund Work Programme Youth Contract Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus support • Greater focus on diagnosing customers’ individual needs • More flexibility and responsibility for Jobcentre advisers • Increased autonomy for local managers • Raised expectations of customer commitment to finding work • Extending range of digital services • Clear focus on getting customers off benefits and into jobs • Option for advisers to mandate suitable customers to Mandatory Work Activity. 2 Jobcentre Plus Get Britain Working measures A menu of flexible support options to encourage: • more sharing of skills and experience through Work Clubs; • volunteering as a way of developing work skills through Work Together; • self-employment as a route off benefits through the New Enterprise Allowance and via Enterprise Clubs offering community based and locally led support for unemployed people. • greater insight into the world of work through Work Experience, and • pre-employment training and work placements through sector-based work academies • Partnership between voluntary sector, colleges, employers and Government. 3 Jobcentre Plus Work Clubs & Enterprise Clubs • These Clubs will provide unemployed people with a place to meet and exchange skills, share experiences, find opportunities, make contacts and get support to help them in their return to work. • Work Clubs help those looking for a job, Enterprise Clubs for those wanting to start their own business. • Jobcentre Plus does not aim to set up or run Clubs – but we will provide practical advice and guidance to those wanting to establish or support a Club. • Clubs can be set up anywhere in the country - but availability and the opportunities offered will vary. • JCP will signpost customers to appropriate Clubs where available. 4 Jobcentre Plus Work Together • Voluntary work can help an individual stay or move closer to the world of work. It can also help them develop valuable work skills whilst they are looking for paid work. • Through Work Together, we will help unemployed people who are interested in volunteering so that they can find suitable opportunities. • Work Together is available to all benefit recipients from the start of their claim. • Jobcentre advisers will encourage and signpost customers to sources of information on volunteering, local voluntary organisations, to online services and to particular opportunities. 5 Jobcentre Plus New Enterprise Allowance • The New Enterprise Allowance will help unemployed people who want to start and grow their own business. It will provide access to business mentoring, and offering financial support of around £2,000. • Launched offer in Merseyside from 31st January. • Now being rolled out and will be available nationwide from August. Customers will get: • access to a business mentor who will provide guidance and support as they develop their business idea and through the early stages of trading • once the customer has demonstrated they have a viable business idea and is ready to register as self-employed they can get: • a weekly allowance based on the basic rate of JSA for 3 months, and then at half that rate for a further 3 months; • Can apply for a loan up to £1,000 to help with start-up costs. 6 Jobcentre Plus Mandatory Work Activity • Mandatory Work Activity is part of the Get Britain Working measures now available • Jobcentre Plus advisers will have the flexibility to use Mandatory Work Activity, where they feel this is appropriate, as part of a wider range of support options. • Contracted providers have been appointed to deliver 19,000 placements per year, which will all be of community benefit 7 Jobcentre Plus Work Experience • 100,000 Work Experience placements for 18-24 year old unemployed people • Offer of 2-8 weeks work experience • Taking a placement is voluntary – sticking with it is mandatory. • Participants continue to receive their benefit whilst participating in Work Experience and, if required, will be provided with contributions towards the costs of travel and childcare. • . 8 Jobcentre Plus sector-based work academies • sector-based work academies to be launched in England from August 2011 • Will offer pre-employment training and work placements for unemployed people • Districts will be are free to deliver flexible sbwa models to meet local needs of employers, claimants and training providers • Academies will combine: – sector-specific pre-employment training, primarily funded and delivered through the skills system leading to the achievement of one or more units on the Qualifications and Credit Framework, – a work experience placement – offer of a guaranteed job interview for participants completing both of the above elements. 9 Jobcentre Plus Flexible Fund Support • The new Flexible Support Fund will give managers and advisers a greater say in how they help customers back into work. • A new fund, of about £147 million, will help Jobcentre Plus Districts support their customers back into work. • The Flexible Support Fund will give Districts more control over how they use their budgets. • The fund is aimed at helping people into work by paying for a variety of activities. These include payments to customers to help with things that make looking for a job harder, such as travel costs, tools or training. • It will also include a grant funding mechanism, enabling District Managers to award funding to local partnerships. 10 Jobcentre Plus Work Programme • Work Programme is now available nation-wide • Local provision designed & delivered by providers. • Radical change to payment by results and performance measures • Will help people with a wide variety of needs • Forms a coherent package complementing Jobcentre Plus support and Get Britain Working measures 11 Jobcentre Plus Youth Contract • Announced on 25 November 2011 • Worth almost £1 billion to help young people to prepare for work and find employment • Over three years from April 2012 the Youth Contract will provide nearly half a million new opportunities for young people 12 Jobcentre Plus What Opportunities Will Be Available • 160,000 wage incentives worth up to £2,275 each for employers who recruit an 18 to 24 year old through the Work Programme; • 250,000 work experience or sector based work academy placements; • A further 20,000 incentive payments to encourage employers to take on young apprentices • Additional support through Jobcentre Plus by way of more Adviser time • An opportunity to be referred for a careers interview with the National Careers Service 13 Jobcentre Plus