LB of Hammersmith & Fulham Housing Options Division Housing & Employment Team Joseph Pascual Team Manager

Background Project name: H&F Employment Ladder Team of 4 situated within Housing Options Accommodation Services Funded by the LDA with in-house top-up. Operational delivery vehicle of the Enhanced Housing Options Project and Regeneration’s agenda on tackling worklessness. Enabling access to skills training and job and work experience opportunities by delivering in-house, employment-focused IAG and by working with other employability service providers and employers

Background (cont.) Referrals come from Housing Options colleagues through the web based West London HELP database Target beneficiaries are: Customers in housing need or those on the council’s Housing Register, H&F Homes tenants or living in a housing association property in the borough, and Are claiming Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Job Seekers Allowance

4 H&F Employment Ladder - Delivery Model (Output 3) Gaining Training (ESOL, etc) (Output 2) >1 Hour Contact Time - Accessing Support (Output 5) Gaining Work (Output 1) Referrals to Employability Service Providers (Output 4) Accessing Childcare Support (Output 6) Sustaining Work >6 months (Output 7) Staff Receiving Training and Input Referrals Assessment of Barriers Motivation Individual Action Plan Monitoring and Assisting Customer Progress Quality Time

Initiatives 1. West London Housing & Employment Link Project (HELP) 2.Income Project (Independence, Accommodation and Employment) 15 non-tenant adults 3. Life Coaching Programme 50 lone parents in TA 4. Apprenticeships Scheme 15 places

Initiatives 5. Childcare Support Schemes through LBHF Early Years Childcare Matters Childcare Support Scheme Family Solutions 6. Fulham Court Regeneration Project

7 H&F Employment Ladder – Targets and YTD Stats LDA Defined + Locally Set Targets (YTD) Outputs Description Q1 YTD Q1 Target Self AssessmentTarget Output 1 No. of referrals to employability service providers Output 2 No. accessing support (>1 hour of contact time) Output 3 No. gaining training, ESOL/Basic Skills & other training 7*2080 Output 4 No. accessing childcare support Output 5 No. gaining work Output 6 No. in sustained work (at 6 months) 22 Output 7 No. of front line staff receiving training and input

8 3 Months on… What works and why? High level support - to embed additional ‘offer’ in traditional housing advice (over 150 referrals since April 2009) Enhanced Housing Options – backdrop to culture change West London HELP – web based referral system West London Working – sharing and learning best practice Regeneration initiatives e.g. Apprenticeship Scheme – guaranteed interviews for project beneficiaries. Work placements next. Allocation Policy – rehousing quotas for applicants in full-time employment In-house IAG provision – homelessness and worklessness are linked Partnerships with: –Early Years - childcare places coordination and brokerage –Adult education – training courses –Complementary IAG providers – specialist support for ex-offenders, those with disability, young people Employer engagement – work experience or voluntary work (majority of clients are long term unemployed)

9 3 Months on… Challenges Customers –Lack of belief in their own abilities or unrealistic job-entry expectations –Lack of recent work experience – long gaps in some instances –Childcare requirements between –Better off or worse off scenario High rent in TA and private rented sector High competition for jobs – current economic climate Welfare reforms – still a long way to having a benefit system that really incentivices working Complementary IAG providers – difficult to track down clients’ progress if feedback not offered