Making a differenceReducing unemployment and raising skills levels in Kirklees

Kirklees Council accesses funds from a wide range of sources including those from Europe (European Regional Development Funding (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF) and other European funding), Skills Funding Agency, Department for Work & Pensions/Jobcentre Plus, Yorkshire Forward, Big Lottery and Heritage Lottery.

With an emphasis on reducing inequalities and raising the skills levels in Kirklees, the funding and investment that has been made in the District has had a huge impact on thousands of lives over the last five years.

£508,000 for Skills for Jobs to give people •access to basic level 1 courses and skills development

Over £2.9m from the West Yorkshire Investment Plan •to develop the skills of local residents

£4.8m allocated through Future Jobs Fund to work with •local organisations to create employment for 742 people

£1.7m allocated through the Access to Employment programme •to ensure local people from deprived communities can access good quality and sustainable employment

Over the past five years, £17 million of funding has been brought into Kirklees to reduce unemployment and raise skills levels, examples of which are featured below and throughout this leaflet:

Read on to find out more about some of the achievements made and about some of the people who have directly benefited from investment.

To date:

Almost 2,700 people have been •supported to develop new skills

Over 1,600 people have received •employment support

815 new jobs have been created•

Over 300 people have moved •into paid work

Significant investment has been made across Kirklees to broaden access to education and learning; closing the gap between communities and giving everyone a chance to learn. Amongst this work there have been a number of high profile projects that have supported adults back into learning and set them on their way to a brighter future.

Entry LevelDelivered by Kirklees Adult Learning Team in partnership with local community based providers.

Recognising that traditional education venues can be a barrier to non-learners, Entry Level sought to deliver skills, qualifications and mentor support from community settings.

A total of 422 people took part in courses or mentoring as part of the project; some gained qualifications, some learnt basic skills and others gained the confidence to progress onto higher qualifications and studies. As a result of the support, 56 people were successful in getting full or part time jobs and 27 went on to become volunteers.

“ I needed qualifications but lacked confidence. Mentoring has helped me to know that I can go forward; I have achieved some initial qualifications and can go on and study for more. I am now helping other students on the course as a volunteer.”

Making a difference... by increasing access to learning

Skills for LifeDelivered by Kirklees Adult Learning Team in partnership with local community based providers

Skills for Life is the national strategy for improving adult literacy, language and numeracy. To ensure Skills for Life had an impact in Kirklees, it was recognised that its profile needed to be raised, staff needed extra training and the correct infrastructure had to be put in place.

Those learning to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) were given the chance to further develop their skills with a brand new level 3 course that allowed them to progress onto a higher level course and/or generic teacher training qualification. This resulted in several of the learners progressing to become ESOL teachers and others to progress onto teacher training.

In addition, 29 people successfully gained their level 2 certificates in Adult Learner support / Award in Literacy, Numeracy and ICT Awareness.

One of the main strengths of the project was the impact of development work in strengthening local partnerships to deliver the Skills for Life agenda. Awareness raising programmes within the voluntary and community sector resulted in more staff being trained in Skills for Life, ensuring better referral of clients in the future.

Skills for Jobs (current project)Delivered by a wide range of local partners.

Skills for Jobs is helping local unemployed people over the age of 19 take the first steps towards gaining new skills and qualifications up to level 1. Local partners are delivering a programme of training and support within community centres and local venues across Kirklees. Activities include courses in IT, work experience, customer service skills programmes, construction related taster sessions and workshops on budgeting and money management. One to one mentoring is also available.

Diane’s storyDiane has taken a level 1 Business Administration course and placement as part of the Work it Out programme delivered by Disabled People’s Electronic Village Hall.

Diane has had mental health problems since 2007 and has felt that she never belonged to the

community, society and to herself. There have been times on the project when her mind has hindered her learning and she has been unable to comprehend the lesson due to her mind making demands. However the tutors have clarified helped and reframed the theories and administration knowledge into understandable concepts, theories and practice.

The project has had a profound impact on Diane and for Diane. For the first time for many years Diane is now thinking about going back to work. As part of the Business Admin course Diane undertook a placement which not only gave her transferable skills, but also boosted her confidence enabling her to volunteer as an administrator for 2 days a week.

Within certain growth sectors it was identified that whilst more jobs and opportunities were being created, employers were struggling to find staff who actually had the skills they were looking for. There was a real need to equip people with more practical skills and experiences to make them job-ready and able to hit the ground running once employed.

Creative FuturesDelivered by Creative Industries Development Agency (CIDA).

Creative Futures was an innovative programme, giving people the chance to develop valuable skills related to growth in the creative sector. The project helped participants to gain a level 3 qualification, and included paid work-placements, mentoring with industry professionals and an eight day business course called Raising the Bar for people interested

in setting up their own business. CIDA also ran an Assertiveness course to help people find confidence in their existing skills and abilities.

This programme had a profound effect on a number of the participants; six people set up businesses as a result of Raising the Bar and at least six more found jobs after going on the assertiveness course. In addition, five brand new jobs were created in the district within creative industries.

Making a difference... by enhancing skills in specific sectors

Ruth’s story

Ruth spent seven years studying Fine Art from foundation to postgraduate level, hoping to begin a career as an artist at the end of it.

Instead she found herself unemployed and uncertain about her vocational direction, with no one available to talk to about how to apply her skills practically. She tried applying for part time work but was unsuccessful and began to feel disillusioned.

Ruth signed up for the ‘Raising the Bar’ workshops which gave her the practical information she needed to make her business happen. Armed with the advice she’d been given, Ruth felt encouraged to pursue a more commercial path for her artwork in the short term.

As a result of Raising the Bar, Ruth enrolled as a sole trader and went about setting up in business as a portrait artist. She’s still in the process of finding her way, she continues to receive mentoring on her career direction and recently expanded her commercial focus to include digital illustration and product creation.

b-bestDelivered by ‘build’.

b-best was delivered to increase the skills of local construction workers and train those interested in forging a career in this field.

The project, run by local construction initiative ‘build’, gave people the chance to develop skills in the industry and resulted in a number of people gaining employment after the training. In addition, ten brand new jobs were created locally as a result of the project.

Jonathan’s storyJonathan left school with good GCSE grades, but wasn’t sure what sort of career he wanted. He went to speak to his local Connexions advisor and was referred to b-best for a brickwork course.

The course was made up of a mixture of classroom and workshop activities and Jonathan benefited from the varied styles of learning. His project officer referred him for a further course which helped him to write his CV and gain confidence for interviews.

Jonathan grew more confident in his abilities and began making plans for the future; he decided to progress onto a higher brickwork qualification and began looking for apprenticeship positions.

Jonathan’s project officer helped him in his search, encouraging him to reach the goals he’d set for himself and he soon found a position he was excited about. With the help of the ‘b-best’ team, Jonathan was successful in his entrance examination and interview and is now enjoying his career.

In order to support people back into employment, or into work for the first time, a number of initiatives have been funded which help people to re-gain confidence in themselves and experience a working environment. Working with people traditionally seen as ‘hard to reach’ and who live in areas of high unemployment has been seen as a high priority.

Work Ahead ProjectDelivered by Worklink within Kirklees Council.

Aimed specifically at getting those on Incapacity Benefit, or at risk of going on it, into employment, the Work Ahead Project concentrated on lone parents, people with disabilities and long term illnesses and ethnic minorities.

The project gave people a range of intensive support which raised aspirations, built confidence and self esteem. As well as one-to-one mentoring, people were also invited to group work sessions where they discussed barriers to employment, job aspirations and looked at training needs. In some cases, people were given financial support in order to be able to cover childcare or public transport costs so that they could attend the sessions.

Jane’s storyJane was working in Personnel at managerial level when she had to give up work due to illness.

Once she had learned to cope with her illness, she decided she no longer wanted to be out of work and on Incapacity Benefit so got involved with the Work Ahead Project. Being out of work for so long had given Jane’s confidence a severe knock and she found that the range of support including careers advice, condition management and weekly work sessions helped her to feel positive about her future.

With support from her employment advisor, Jane applied for a job and was delighted to be offered the position. Her new employer understands about her health and she is now looking to support other people by becoming a mentor herself.

Making a difference... by removing barriers to employment

Future Jobs Fund (current project)Delivered by Kirklees Council and a range of local organisations.

Statistics and studies show that unemployment amongst young people in Kirklees is rising at a rate higher than the national average, creating widespread concern. Identifying youth unemployment as a national as well as local concern, the government introduced the Future Jobs Fund in 2009, aimed predominately at reducing unemployment amongst young people aged 18-24 as well as those living in unemployment ‘hot spots’. Recognising that this was an initiative that could make a real difference to Kirklees, funds were secured and the project rolled out.

With an investment of £4.8m in Kirklees for the Future Jobs Fund, a total of 742 jobs are being created in the District, aimed predominately at young people aged between 18 and 24. The initiative was developed in response to the recession and secures 6 month paid employment for people within a range of sectors and positions.

Sally’s story

After finishing her A-Levels, Sally decided to pursue a career in hairdressing and spent three years training with a salon.

After completing her training and working for three months, it came as a blow to her when she was made redundant.

Sally began applying for hairdressing jobs but was disappointed each time to be told she didn’t have enough practical experience. After a while, she began to apply for different types of jobs but got disheartened when she was unsuccessful with these too.

“I’m the type of person that really needs to be doing something so I was applying for all sorts of jobs and rarely hearing back about them. It really started to knock my confidence as I didn’t feel like I had a purpose and it was hard not having any money.”

Through Jobcentre Plus, she found out about the Future Jobs Funds opportunities, applied for several jobs at Kirklees Active Leisure and was delighted to be successful at interview and offered a role in the Sales and Membership team.

“ I’m excited about the future and look forward to seeing what happens next!”

Making a difference... by responding to youth unemployment

With a range of initiatives investing in the development of individuals, there was a need to work with local employers to look at their needs and practices and to consider the longer-term strategy for raising skills levels in Kirklees. Kirklees Council has secured funding to deliver a number of projects, including those detailed in these pages.

A strategy for KirkleesIn order to continue making a difference to the lives of residents in the district, Kirklees Council secured funding to produce a 12-year Labour Market and Skills Strategy. The strategy sets out a long-term vision and plan for the district for all relevant organisations to work towards achieving.

The strategy has become a key document for all agencies involved in developing the skills of Kirklees residents and is providing a focus for all

future work. One of the challenges identified through the strategy was the need to tackle the skills issues in the district; something which is already being achieved through the skills campaign, see opposite page, as well as other projects.

The strategy can be downloaded from the Kirklees Council website - www.kirklees.gov.uk/skills

Making a difference... supporting local employers and training providers

Skills campaignThe skills campaign, launched in February 2009 by Kirklees Council, sought to engage local employers and promote the benefits of investing in the skills of their staff. The campaign included a series of events, the development of skills website www.kirklees-skills.co.uk and articles in the local newspapers.

The main event for businesses was attended by over 100 people and was so successful it was repeated again in 2010. By raising awareness of opportunities, a number of local businesses were able to fund staff to go on courses and invest in training their workforce. In addition, the activity contributed to a substantial increase in the number of firms signing the national Skills Pledge – the highest increase in the region.

As part of this activity, an Employer Survey was commissioned which consulted 1,400 local employers on a range of issues including skills needs.

The survey highlighted a number of key areas of demand from local employers and demonstrated that nearly 60% of firms take into account energy efficiency and the green agenda when considering the skills needs of their business.

The survey has since been used to influence both local and regional skills strategies and local organisations, including Kirklees College, have been using the mine of intelligence collected to plan future delivery.

“ A crucial issue - a well worthwhile event. Glad to be associated with the Skills Pledge - which we signed.”

Contact details

Kirklees Council’s Funding & Investment Unit offer support for voluntary, community and public sector organisations.

We offer advice and support on:Developing project ideas•Assisting with partnerships and networks•Identifying funding opportunities•Supporting funding applications•Managing your project.•

We also work with partners to source funds for physical regeneration, to build new buildings and contribute to major development projects.

Call us: 01484 221102Email: fundinginvestmentteam@kirklees.gov.ukWebsite: www.kirklees.gov.uk/funding