Report of the Director of Inclusive Economy attached

This report provides an update on the activity of the most recent Working Well programmes (Work & Health, Early Help and JETS) and the impact of the programme overall in Manchester.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Inclusive Economy that provided an update on the activity of the most recent Working Well programmes (Work & Health, Early Help and JETS) and the impact of the programme overall in Manchester.

Working Well is a well-established Greater Manchester Combined Authority commissioned programme which is based on a key worker model bringing together support to tackle barriers that affect people’s ability to enter the labour market and sustain jobs.  It has evolved since 2014 to reflect a focus on different target groups, with the latest being the Work and Health programme. In 2020 it was expanded with the JETS programme as part of the National Plan for Jobs in response to COVID19. 

Key points and themes in the report included:

·                Providing and introduction and background;

·                Describing the content of the report in a Health and policy context;

·                Describing the Manchester Population Health Plan 2018-2027 that set out a priority of ‘Strengthening the positive impact of work on health’;

·                An overview of each Working Well programme and its impact in Manchester;

·                Economic recovery and the Government’s Plans for Jobs; and

·                Conclusions and next steps.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·                Noting the positive progress made in relation the Real Living Wage;

·                An explanation was sought as to the reason the ‘no work requirements group’ continued to rise from c10,000 to c17,000;

·                Comparative figures were sought, where available across the range of metrics reported as this would assist with the scrutiny process;

·                Clarification was sought as to the type of jobs and sectors people were accessing through the initiatives;

·                An analysis of the success of the Kickstart programme should be included on the Committee’s work programme;

·                Was the reported support for 8,000+ Manchester residents over the next 3 years as part of the Restart progamme an ambition or part of the contract with Ingeus;

·                The need to recognise the importance of the quality of jobs people were accessing and this importance this had on people and their outcomes;

·                The need for programmes to be flexible to respond to the changing needs and demands of the labour market;

·                Supporting the adoption of the Real Living Wage;

·                The need to consider what was best for the individual and not focus on targets and welcoming the reported holistic approach taken by advisors;

·                Calling for more regional control on the design and delivery of skills programmes;

·                Requesting the independent evaluation of the Population Health Prevention Programme be shared with Members when this was available;

·                Noting that people were often reluctant to engage with the benefit service due to the perceptions that any reassessment of their benefits would result in them being financially worse off or having to commence the claiming of benefits again;

·                An update on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was sought, noting the importance of the for both Manchester and the wider city region;

·                Welcoming the Working Well programme that had helped drive Disability Support Webinars with Small, Medium enterprises (SMEs) by offering to upskill businesses to deal with a variety of health conditions;

The Executive Member for Health and Care stated that health inequalities were inextricably linked to the wider determinants of health. She stated that the city region needed appropriate funding to support the actions identified to address these inequalities and to counter the significant impact that austerity has had on the residents of the city. She advocated that addressing health inequalities should be the central consideration to all decision making.

The Work and Skills Lead commented that the reported rise from c10,000 to c17,000 in the ‘no work requirements group’ could be attributed to the recording of data by the DWP following conversations with residents, however he advised that he would seek clarification on this point. He advised that Job Centre Plus staff were encouraged to engage in holistic conversation to ensure potential job opportunities were appropriate and sustainable, taking into account a range of considerations that included travel requirements.

The Work and Skills Lead advised that the figures reported for the Restart programme were part of the contract arrangements.

The Work and Skills Lead advised that comparative data where available could be shared with the Committee, and he further advised that the type of work people were accessing through these programmes were predominantly in the Care and Customer Service sectors. He further commented that the roles of the key workers was to review all options that were available, including understanding the changing labour market to ensure the most appropriate and tailored support was provided and identify and address any barriers to accessing employment opportunities. A member noted the need to acknowledge people’s genuine concerns regarding accessing jobs in certain sectors, in particular the care sector if they themselves had a health issue due to the perceived increased risks of contracting COVID-19.

The Director of Inclusive Economy commented that a report on the impact of Kickstart, a programme delivered locally by Jobcentre Plus, offers 6 month jobs for young people aged 16-24 who are currently claiming Universal Credit and who are at risk of long term unemployment could be provided to the Committee at an appropriate time, adding that initial analysis indicated that the outcomes were not as good as had been anticipated, despite the impact of the pandemic and this strengthened the case for more local control over the design and delivery of schemes.

The Director of Inclusive Economy stated that further information in the business that had delivered the Disability Support Webinars would be provided to the Members following the meeting. She stated this importance of this approach was recognised and commented that a report issued by the British Chamber of Commerce had recently published a report that emphasised the need to consider the health and wellbeing of employees.

The Director of Inclusive Economy acknowledged the comments made regarding the barriers presented by perceptions of the benefits system by stating that Universal Credit is more flexible than previous systems and it was designed to be an ‘in work’ benefit, however acknowledged the comment from the Chair on this subject.

The Chair commented that she would discuss with the Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee how the reporting of the independent evaluation of the Population Health Prevention Programme could be appropriately reported to scrutiny.

Decision

The Committee:-

(1)      Recommends that the Director of Inclusive Economy circulate for information the details of organisations who had delivered the Disability Support Webinars;

(2)      Request that a report on the impact and outcomes of the Kickstart programme be added to the Committee’s work programme for consideration at an appropriate time;

(3)      Note that the Chair will discuss with the Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee the options for reporting the findings of the independent evaluation of the Population Health Prevention Programme