Workforce Plusan EmployabilityFramework for Scotland

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w w w . s c o t l a n d . g o v . u k

Moving ForwardTo enable us to create a coherent employability service for Scotland withsignificantly improved performance, we propose to:

support the establishment of focused local Workforce Pluspartnerships, working together in local labour markets to achieveshared objectives and outcomes;support these local partnerships with a National Workforce Plus Partnership to ensure that the national infrastructure supports effective local action and procurement; and establish a Workforce Plus Team to direct policy and practice,monitor and review the overall performance of the framework,identify and help to scale up and roll out practices that work and to support the piloting and evaluation of new and existing services.

What kind of delivery infrastructure do we need to achieve this?

We have identified seven key components of an effective employability service:

Effective assessment systemsIndividualised serviceEffective referral and case managementMeasuring and appreciating progressionTargeting real jobs and developing skills, aptitudes and approaches to meet their demandsSupporting the employer and the employeeEngaging individual clients and employers in the design of services

The development of a successful delivery infrastructure needs to includethese key components in a coherent local framework that will sustainprogression for clients as they tackle their barriers to work.

Employer Engagement

Workforce Plus emphasises that local partnerships must be able todemonstrate a strong understanding of their local labour market.They must also be able to show that employers in key sectors influence howprogrammes are developed. It will be important for the National WorkforcePlus Partnership to understand the employer’s perspective in implementingthe Framework. The Workforce Plus Team will be asked to examine andcoordinate the current methods of employer engagement at a local andScottish level and seek to identify the best mechanisms for ensuringeffective links with employers. We will also identify a suitable individualfrom the Scottish business community who can be appointed to the UKNational Employment Panel, and who will be able to provide leadership foremployer engagement across Scotland.

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Ministerial ForewordFor the vast majority of people in Scotland, work is the surest way ofachieving a better quality of life and avoiding disadvantage. It also makessense for Government to help ensure that everyone can contribute to afairer and more productive society, to the benefit of both individuals andfamilies. Particularly as more people live longer, we need everyone who isable to work to be active and employed.

There have been real achievements since 1999 in helping people move fromwelfare to work. A huge reduction in the child poverty statistics has beenone important result. But there are still too many obstacles for those Scots –estimated at 168,000 – who want to enter or return to the world of work.Employers must be able to play their part in providing employmentopportunities for those who have, for far too long, been part of that“undiscovered workforce”.

Workforce Plus sets out our approach to both the national leadership andthe local action needed to address this challenge. Although we are targetingeffort into Scotland’s cities and communities where the highest numbers ofpeople are out of work, this is a Framework for the whole of Scotland. It hasbeen developed with the UK Government at a time when vital reforms tothe welfare system are being proposed to support more people’s aspirationsand motivation to work.

Workforce Plus reflects not just the Executive’s views, but those of the manypeople we have consulted and who are closely involved in supportingpeople’s “employability”through a range of services.We are grateful to themall for their time and commitment in developing the Framework.They haveemphasised, above all, that success depends on real partnership workingbetween different agencies, particularly at local level.This underpins theFramework in all its aspects.

There’s plenty of money available to fund employability services – an estimated totalof £515,000,000 per annum (excluding welfare and housing benefit payments) basedon 2003/4 and 2004/5 financial years – but while most of this is provided by a smallnumber of major players,activity is disjointed,involving too many organisations andnot enough co-operation.This raises questions as to how we can work together toimprove procurement of effective employability services.

Today,there are 212,000 more people in employment in Scotland than in 1997 and the current level of employment is amongst its highest for a generation.As aresult,we’ve more than halved the number of children in absolute poverty andreduced relative child poverty by 30%.As encouraging as our progress has been westill have a long way to go.

We still face the significant challenge of economic inactivity.There are 509,000 peoplein Scotland,excluding students,who are not working and of these an estimated168,000 state they want to work but need support.

Together withMore Choices:More Chances– the Executive’s strategy to reduce theproportion of young people who are not in education,training or employment (NEET)– Workforce Plussets out actions at the national and local levels to help more peopleget back into work.

We know the challenges faced by this group – they include health and disability,lowor no qualifications,parenting or other caring responsibilities,age and length of timeunemployed,substance abuse problems,ethnicity,offending/re-offending,homelessness and geographical locality.What makes the situation more difficult isthat despite their increased needs,there is very little interaction between this groupand the various employability services available.In part this is because they facemultiple barriers that may require specialist support from a variety of specialistservices who may not understand their role,individually or collectively,in helpingclients make progress into work.

When we look at job opportunities,it is estimated that some 500,000 jobopportunities will be available in Scotland by the end of 2008.Only 40,000 of thesewill be completely new jobs with many of the other opportunities arising,for example,from retirements and requiring relatively high skill levels.

We want employers to recruit from a wider labour market pool than they do just now– which includes lone parents,Incapacity Benefit clients and those who are disabled.To achieve that we need to increase our understanding of workless client groups andthe various factors that help or hinder each individual in improving his or heremployment prospects.

Growing the economy is the Scottish Executive’s top priority,which commits us toClosing the Opportunity Gap.Our aim is to prevent individuals and families fromfalling into poverty,provide them with routes out of poverty,and sustain them in a lifestyle free of poverty.

For most people,the surest way out of poverty is work as well as increasingindependence from government,work encourages self reliance and buildsconfidence.Tackling poverty,disadvantage and economic growth,of course,gohand in hand.If worklessness and poverty aren’t properly tackled,they will act as abrake on economic growth and the potential contribution of those who arecurrently inactive will remain untapped.

Together,the Scottish Executive and UK government aim to promote economicgrowth and sustainable development,reduce disadvantage and inequality andend child poverty.While the UK Government is responsible for employment andbenefits,there are many aspects of the Executive’s responsibilities that have acrucial impact on individuals’employability.We aim to make employability a corepart of our policy making,particularly in the areas of health,education,skills and regeneration.

Local employment partnerships in seven key local authority areas have set a targetto help 66,000 people move off working-age benefits by 2010.This represents a26% reduction in benefit claimants in their areas.The seven areas are Glasgow,North and South Lanarkshire,Dundee,Renfrewshire,Inverclyde and WestDunbartonshire.All of these areas have high levels of benefit claimants,so tacklingthem will make a large impact on benefit dependency and increase employmentin Scotland as a whole.

But Workforce Plusis a framework for all of Scotland.While the focus may initiallybe on the seven areas above,the actions set out in the document are intended tosupport all local government areas in Scotland to achieve higher levels ofperformance and create a coherent employability service.

Success will depend on delivering the services effectively to individuals –something the Scottish Executive will lead and co-ordinate but which will bedependent on the co-operation and willingness of all agencies to work together.

Employability is "...the combination of factors and processes whichenable people to progress towards or get into employment,to stay inemployment and to move on in the workplace.”

Why we have developed Workforce PlusWe’ve therefore identified the following key concerns about current interventions:

If we’re to help more of this group into and through employment,there needs tobe greater collaboration between the employment servicesthat work withindividuals and employers to find jobs and the specialist services that provide thesupport and assistance clients need to tackle their specific obstacles toemployment.

In working together to achieve these targets,we’re aware that for each person whomoves into sustained employment,the effect is more widespread than just getting a job – it affects their health,family,friends and neighbourhood.It brings abouteconomic benefits,with less dependency on welfare benefits and it contributes tothe economic growth of Scotland.In short,we have a win–win situation for eachperson achieving that goal.Our target isn’t just,or even mainly,about numbers –it’s about improving the lives of individuals and families.

widespread concern that the relevant agencies and otherorganisations aren’t linking together as effectively as they might;a wide,fragmented range of funding streams and short term funding of projects and initiatives;the landscape of employability services is unnecessarily complex andconfusing;services are inflexible,preventing them from being tailored to a client’sneeds;andthere is no co-ordinated,proactive approach to engagement withemployers.

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Malcolm Chisholm MSP Minister for Communities

Allan Wilson MSP Deputy Minister for Enterprise

and Lifelong Learning

Contact Details

If you would like any further information, please contact

Workforce Plus TeamTransitions to Work DivisionEnterprise,Transport and Lifelong Learning DepartmentScottish ExecutiveEuropa Building450 Argyle StreetGlasgowG2 8LG

E-mail – employability.framework@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Website – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/employabilityframework

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The certainty that if you want to work, you can get support from theorganisations best placed to help you develop the relevant aspects of yourconfidence, ability and skills; move into work when you’re ready; and (if you need it) maintain and develop your job and career.

Once you’ve agreed your priorities for moving towards work, you’ll beintroduced to the best person to provide the help you need;

Your progress to work will be measured in a way which helps you see theprogress that you make;

With your permission, the various organisations that can help will shareinformation with the common objective of helping you take a job andstay in good quality work;

You’ll be helped to work out how employment will affect your income inthe short and long term, and to manage your household finances ifrequired;

You will get help to find affordable, accessible childcare if you need it tohelp you enter training or work; and

You will be helped by people who know where the local jobopportunities are, who the local employers are and their specific needs.

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Transforming Performance

So how can we improve the performance of our employability service?

We have identified the following six key themes to help engage, support andsustain people in work through collaborative services, working with employers,and achieving better performance outcomes:

Early interventions.

Those at risk of long-term worklessness – be they in work or out of work – needto be identified sooner.This applies particularly to disadvantaged people who areunlikely to engage with mainstream employment services.

Client-focused interventions.

We need to present clients with a simple, coherent and progressive service that isat all times focused on their individual needs and not the needs of delivery orfunding organisations.

Employer engagement.

We need to offer employers simple, effective and appealing ways of benefitingfrom these potential new recruits, as well as access to the range of supportavailable to help them reach out to unfamiliar sources of labour.

Sustaining & progressing employment.

Complementing the support provided beforehand, there should be a strongerfocus on providing support for people after they’ve started work.

Joined up planning and delivery of services.

Local services should be more cohesive, with joined up funding and procurementapproaches, common assessment processes, clear referral procedures and asharper focus on employment outcomes.There needs to be joint training for allfront line staff, together with investment in local support organisations.

Better outcomes.

There should be a clear focus from an early stage on the outcome of sustainedwork, matched by higher expectations of the organisations providing supportservices and more robustness from funders in responding to poor performance.

The key practical actions associated with these themes include:

There will be local alignment of funding plans and greater flexibility andresponsiveness in its application.

There will be a stronger focus on reaching out and engaging with those distantfrom work, complemented by increased flexibility in approach to the individualneeds of the client. There will also be more emphasis on effective follow throughwith support where needed for those finding work and their employers.

Investing more in the assessment process, making it more thorough andcovering each individual in terms of their current situation, their priority needsand their next steps.This assessment will need to be reviewed from time to time,but it will provide the basis for the help provided by a wide range ofemployment and specialist providers.

Developing an effective "personal account management”service for individualclients, ensuring that they benefit from stability in terms of managing theirprogress through a number of services.

Over time, more and more contracts will pay service providers by results – that is,by the number of people placed in sustainable work or passing real milestonestowards work.This will mean that the best performing services will be encouragedto grow and develop. There will be higher expectations of performance and adrive for all organisations to match the performance of the best.

The provision of support for organisational change and development foremployment and specialist services – and especially for those in the socialeconomy. The focus will be on helping them to improve their skills, systems andmanagement and to make sure that they have the detailed managementinformation they need to refine and improve their service and its impact.

The active management of local service provision. This will ensure thecompleteness of the local “supply chain”of services ensuring that they areavailable for clients to use, and the collection and active use of systematicfeedback from clients to manage and improve the quality and impact of thesupply chain.

By creating an integrated “employability service”at a local and national level withthese features, Workforce Plus will be able to make the following offers toindividuals and employers.

The offer to employers will be:

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A common assessment approach to help match potential employees toyour needs;

“Aftercare” and in-work support for those people who need it;

A trial/pilot of a “brokerage” service that will help you make an informed choice when and if you need help with recruiting or keeping people inwork; and

The reassurance that potential recruits have good basic soft skills.

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Workforce Plus Action PlanThis Plan sets out actions for national and local partnerships. It is only the start of a process which will develop as partnerships share their knowledge and experience of what is needed to achieve an effective and coherent employability service across Scotland.Workforce Plus will support action at national and local levels to increase the numbers of people in sustained employment; in particular reducing the numbers dependent on Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits in seven priority areas by 30,000 by 2007; and 66,000 by 2010.To deliver this objective, Workforce Plus will support the development of effective programmes in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

National Action

In support of this objective, we will establish a National Workforce Plus Partnershipto co-ordinate and priorities actions across policy areas and programmes.Thepartnership will consist of the members set out in Moving forward, and be jointlychaired by the Scottish Executive and Jobcentre Plus in Scotland.The National Partnership’s tasks in its first year will be to:Lead the development of partnership working by NHS Scotland, Jobcentre Plusand others to deliver the health-related aspects of this Framework and UKwelfare reform policy.Maximise value for money and job outcomes by reviewing and aligning trainingand education budgets and responsibilities, where necessary, and also inresponse to employers’needs, particularly in relation to the development of soft skills.Agree and implement action to engage more employers – both private andpublic – in Workforce Plus.This will include an action plan to drive forward therole of the public sector as an employer and procurer of services, building on the Partnership Accord between DWP, the Executive and COSLA.Support the local, joined up delivery of employability services, providingleadership and the facility for service development, and build their capacity ofservices. Examples of this will include the commissioning guidance foremployability services for mental health clients, and starting to develop thecapacity of services for people with learning disabilities.Develop more detailed plans for aligning Workforce Plus with the Executive’spolicies for regeneration, community learning, community justice andvolunteering.

Local Action

We will priorities the Closing the Opportunity Gap target areas with additionalfunding of £5.6 million in each year for 2006-07 and 2007-08, to review, plan andimplement the collaborative improvements in Moving forward.The funding willbe managed through Community Planning Partnerships alongside theCommunity Regeneration Fund and the ROA process, and will be available foruse across the CPP area.These partnerships will also be invited to pilot an information and brokerageservice for local employers, to complement the services of, and in partnershipwith, Jobcentre Plus.This will test whether there is demand for employers for sucha service and if it can address some employers’criticisms of an uncoordinatedapproach by local agencies. A key criterion for success of such a service will bemaintaining and improving on the number of people locally moving intosustained employment, which will be monitored by the Workforce Plus Team.

Developing learning and sharing knowledge about employability

We will set up a central Workforce Plus Team to promote and support thedevelopment of employability services across Scotland.The Team’s mainfunctions will be to:

Account for the use of additional funding to deliver the worklessness targets in the Closing the Opportunity Gap areas.Support the development of effective partnership working between agencies across Scotland.Develop and disseminate national models for client assessment, referral protocols and tracking mechanisms.Ensure that employability is reflected as a priority in the Executive’s policies and policy making processes, including the actions set out in The context and purpose of the Framework.Develop provision to support local areas in training and development to improve the skills of frontline staff, and the capacity of organisations and employers, to manage employability services.Develop and disseminate a body of evidence identifying effective and ineffective practice in employability.Monitor and evaluate the success and impact of Workforce Plus, based on

The headline targets for Closing the Opportunity GapDelivery of this Action PlanBringing together consistent data, developing data for particular client groups, and taking an overview of local partnership evaluations.

The team will need elements from within the Executive as well as outsideexpertise and elements of external scrutiny.We will develop a more detailedbusiness plan for the Team, including elements of work to be carried out inhouse and contracted out, by Autumn 2006.

Responsibility and review

The Scottish Executive will be responsible for Workforce Plus, working closelywith the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus.Within theExecutive, the Cabinet Delivery Group on Closing the Opportunity Gap will haveoverall responsibility for the Framework, with the Enterprise and LifelongLearning Ministers in the lead.The lead in each local Workforce Plus Partnershipwill be decided locally, but within the Community Planning framework. CPPs willbe responsible for accounting for the additional resources from the CommunityRegeneration Fund.We will review Workforce Plus as we assess progress towards the first part ofour targets, by the end of 2007. This review will take into account the proposedenquiry into employability by the Scottish Parliament’s Enterprise and Culture Committee.

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The offer to individuals will be:

Effective partnership working

The key to enhanced performance is effective partnership working. Governmentdepartments, their agencies and delivery agents will therefore be more joined upin their approach. As a result, clients will benefit from a more co-ordinated,coherent response to their needs.

We have identified three main areas for joint working:

The development of coherent and complete support services which provide:accurate financial assessments of the benefits and implications of employment;a range of opportunities for work experience and employment from an early stage;a model of assessment which includes distance travelled towards an employment goal as well as the employment outcome itself, which should be shared by agencies; and support whilst in employment for those who need it (and their employers).

The streamlining of funding for these services, complemented by a stronger focuson outcomes and more demanding performance standards, with a view to

fewer funding streams, leading to joined up services for the benefit of clients;contracts designed to encourage innovation from providers; andensuring that funding and targets don’t lead to providers unintentionally keeping clients parked in systems and programmes rather than moving them into work.

Investment in infrastructure and capacity building, to further develop:delivery of services by staff who are trained to understand client’s needs and either deliver the appropriate services or refer them to a more suitable source of help;provision of suitable environments, where supportive relationships between support worker and client can be built and maintained;a holistic service which deals with employability alongside specialist services dealing with personal and social barriers; andbetter links between employers’ needs and the services provided to clients.