1. east midlands development agency 1 FREISS Ltd Towards a framework for Local/ Regional Action Plans for Social Inclusion 8 th –10 th February 2006 Prague Peter Ramsden

2. east midlands development agency 2 FREISS Ltd Why do we need Local Action Plans for Inclusion? The local level is the key terrain for action to combat exclusion The first two rounds of national plans have had weaknesses in vertical and horizontal partnerships Not enough people know about the NAPs Inclusion The beneficiaries have not been actively involved

3. east midlands development agency 3 FREISS Ltd Where are we starting from? There have already been two round of National Action Plans Inclusion starting in 2001 Based on Common Objectives agreed at Nice To facilitate participation in employment and access by all to resources, rights, goods and services To help the most vulnerable To mobilise all relevant bodies To prevent the risks of exclusion

4. east midlands development agency 4 FREISS Ltd Five Priorities for European Inclusion Policy 1. Promoting investment in and tailoring of active labour market measures to meet the needs of those who have the greatest difficulties in accessing employment 2. Increasing the access of the most vulnerable and those most at risk of social exclusion to decent housing, quality health and lifelong learning opportunities 3. Implementing a concerted effort to prevent early school leaving and to promote smooth transition from school to work 4. Developing a focus on eliminating social exclusion among children 5. Making a drive to reduce poverty and social exclusion of immigrants and ethnic minorities

5. east midlands development agency 5 FREISS Ltd Other Action Plans at local/Regional level Territorial Employment Pacts – strong employment focus Emda’s economic inclusion framework

6. east midlands development agency 6 FREISS Ltd Territorial Employment Pacts A reaction to the European Employment crisis in the late 1990s. 88 Pacts launched Each with technical assistance of €250,000 for 3 years Charged with putting together a strategy and action plan

7. east midlands development agency 7 FREISS Ltd Positives from the TEP Make the action plan a formal document that Partners sign up to in public Involve the private sector, they bring resources, expertise and most of the economy A multi agency approach that recognises complexity Experiment to test ouit solutions

8. east midlands development agency 8 FREISS Ltd Weaknesses Territorial employment pacts Weakness in conception design and delivery Huge variation in size of areas – from big regions (3 million) to small communes of 15,000 No Piloting - 88 TEPS launched simultaneously National support in principle but not in practice – “not our baby” – weak vertical partnership Timescale of 3 years too short Lack of resources €250,000 only paid for coordination Sometimes led by organisations that were good but did not have enough power (e.g. NGOs in Ireland) Lack of quantification of targets Emphasis on process rather than results Many resorted to piloting projects that were never mainstreamed

9. east midlands development agency 9 FREISS Ltd Emda’s economic Inclusion framework A regional approach (4 million people) Economic inclusion is the use of economic tools (employment, enterprise, development) to combat exclusion Strong focus on different types of disadvantaged areas Inner cities Outer estates Mining communities Coastal towns Poor rural areas Single agency approach Strong board support Detailed strategy

10. east midlands development agency 10 FREISS Ltd Positives from emda’s approach the policy has survived 5 years – it is embedded in emda thinking It is regarded as best practice within the RDA community It is pursued energetically by the unit responsible It has succeeded in creating new institutions and policies e.g. local alchemy and Social Enterprise East Midlands It relates to the new equality and diversity agenda

11. east midlands development agency 11 FREISS Ltd Weaknesses of emda’s approach Single agency approach that did not involve other initiatives in region such as New Deal for Communities – controlled by other departments Led from the ‘unit’ level in emda’s hierarchy and lacked clout Quantified data not reported in annual reports Tended to focus on three catalysts rather than core business Difficulties in mainstreaming, but some successes (e.g. selection criteria for projects)

12. east midlands development agency 12 FREISS Ltd Common Indicator Framework: level 1 Income poverty, employment, health and education 1.Low income rate after transfers with low-income threshold set at 60% of median income 2.Distribution of income (income quintile ratio) 3.Persistence of low income 4.Median low income gap 5.Regional cohesion 6.Long term unemployment rate 7.People living in jobless households 8.Early school leavers not in further education or training 9.Life expectancy at birth 10.Self perceived health status

13. east midlands development agency 13 FREISS Ltd Common Indicator Framework Level 2 Income poverty, employment, health and education 1.Dispersion around the 60% median low income threshold 2.Low income rate anchored at a point in time 3.Low income rate before transfers 4.Distribution of income (Gini coefficient) 5.Persistence of low income (based on 50% of median income) 6.Long term unemployment share 7.Very long term unemployment rate. 8 Persons with low educational attainment

14. east midlands development agency 14 FREISS Ltd Common Indicator Framework Level 3 To be developed in next phase of the LAP RAP in partnership with the participating areas

15. east midlands development agency 15 FREISS Ltd Lead organisati on on LAP Funders and Policy Makers Horizontal partners Other departments of local authority Poor and socially excluded groups Horizontal partners: other agencies 360 degree approach to consultation on LAP Inclusion

16. east midlands development agency 16 FREISS Ltd Principles for building the action plan Research what has worked elsewhere Map what agencies are doing now Identify what is working and what is not working or contributing to the problem Develop (in consultation) a list of actions that hang together – not a shopping list or wish list Organise these in an Action Matrix Be concise – no waffle or blah blah Cost the actions Estimate Outputs and impacts based on resources available.

17. east midlands development agency 17 FREISS Ltd Structuring the Action Plan Key Challenges, Objectives and targets Including data on the baseline situation of groups, who, what and where? Governance and partnership –The preparation of the plan, policy coordination, mobilisation, mainstreaming, and marketing One Key Policy Area -Policy Measures -Resource allocation (from existing and new sources) - Indicators for measures

18. east midlands development agency 18 FREISS Ltd The Framework for actions in measures Lead partner Descrip tion of action Target group Quanti fied Indicators Time scale Resour ces

19. east midlands development agency 19 FREISS Ltd Conclusions Making a difference at local and regional level will require political leadership, imaginative planning, technical detail, strong partnership and commitment to delivery