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Joined-up programme helps city buck jobless trend

A pioneering programme is helping one of the country's most deprived areas buck the trend for long-term jobless figures. Alison Knight explains how they're doing it

When someone is unemployed it doesn't just impact on them. It affects their family, neighbourhood and the entire community. This widespread impact is why it's so important to give as much help as we can to enable people to get back to work – or into work for the first time.

In Stoke-on Trent much of the unemployment is due to a decline in some of the traditional industries.Yet our city's jobless figures have fallen at a faster rate than anywhere else in the West Midlands since the height of the recession.

That's because while other cities have programmes to help people back into work, what we've done differently in North Staffordshire is offer a full package that doesn't just aim help at the unemployed person but brings employers in too. That's crucial. Without employer involvement, the training and support packages we offer would be a great deal less effective.

With more than 30,000 people claiming benefits in our area and with over 50% of them out of work for more than two years, a radical approach was needed.

Jet - Jobs, Enterprise and Training

So we developed Jet - Jobs, Enterprise and Training with a clear vision of targeting those furthest from the labour market. This isn't just about offering training or preparation for work. It's much more. We treat all clients as individuals.

Some might need help with childcare, getting off drugs, persuading an employer they're worth taking on despite having convictions. We treat everyone with respect - often giving them the kind of attention they've never had before. And we demand respect back. That's why Jet works.

In the current financial challenges facing the public sector our personally-tailored approach compares well in terms of value for money with other national programmes. It costs around £5,000 per long term unemployed person we help into work through Jet. The government's own figures show it costs well in excess of £11,000 – nearer to £16,000 to keep someone on benefits for a year.

So for every person we place in employment for a year or more, we've saved the taxpayer £11,000. This in turn helps families and communities in deprived neighbourhoods. Our work therefore benefits everyone.

Launched in February 2009, Jet has helped more than 1,000 people find work with 220 placed into volunteering programmes. We have also helped 60 people become self employed.

A joined-up approach

We believe the secret of Jet's success is our joined-up approach, delivering a complete recruitment, training and consultancy service; piecing the jigsaw together in practical ways. There are 400 employers working with Jet and more than 70% are private sector. Employer satisfaction is so high, many of them come back asking us to find them more staff.

So what about the future? We know we aren't a statutory service and with budgetary cuts ahead, we accept that what councils offer will be under review. However what we're doing benefits all parts of the local authority – from Childrens' Services to Adults and Housing Services.

At present we attract a lot of external funding to help our service operate and with the work programme on the horizon we are keen to demonstrate how we can play our part.

We believe we've shown local authorities such as ours can play a key role in the worklessness agenda bringing a wide range of partners together and understanding where we need to target effectively in our communities.

In places like Stoke-on-Trent, this approach is essential. The work we are doing with other agencies and partners from the voluntary and private sectors shows partnerships with joined up thinking works. As someone said to us recently, Jet is "just the job"!

Dr Alison Knight is the director of employment and skills at Stoke-on-Trent city council

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