Future Jobs Fund A legacy for Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester’s FJF —Biggest FJF programme in the country - brought together

efforts from a large number of partners – one common aim—Driven by the 10 local authorities, engaged thousands of line

managers; hundreds of local employers— Less than 18 months, jobs and support for 8,000 young people—Managers and others report very positive experiences—99% felt FJF had raised their long term employability in one

way or another.— In Manchester, 50% progression

Created not just jobs, but a legacy for the future

Legacy 1 - Travel to work

• TfGM – 75% discount travel across the entire GM Passenger Transport network.

• 81% travelled more than 20 mins; 32% around an hour.• Significant cross boundary travel to work• 84% agreed that the Bus Pass scheme increased their usage of

public transport • 90% would now consider applying for jobs further afield.• TfGM now considering similar for all GM’s apprentices

Legacy 2 – recruitment & selection practice

• Method – competency based selection – no application forms, no qualifications/experience required.

• Did it work for employers? 66% of FJF supervisors thought FJF employees of same standard as usual recruits - 15% thought them superior.

• Competency based selection now used by many LAs to recruit their apprentices

• Ambition to extend approach to entry level recruitment & selection across GM

Legacy 3 – engagement in the welfare to work agenda

• Relationships good between partners, but they improved greatly with FJF. Councils, employers, JCP. – paved the way for future joint work e.g. Get Britain Working

• Worklessness always high on agenda – but interest increased through FJF – from Chief Execs of major agencies & authorities, to SMEs and third sector orgs.

• Many employers now want to talk about apprenticeships and asked, ‘what is the work programme?’ – there’s interest in the agenda and a commitment to help others in the community

• Many are keen to support programmes in the future

Legacy 4 – thousands of line managers & engaged employers

• 40% now have ‘much better’ or ‘better’ perception of young unemployed.

• A legacy of line managers – councils recruiting ex-FJF supervisors to volunteer as mentors – now aim to extend network of mentors for YP across GM.

• Get Britain Working - Work experience and volunteering easier to sell and to set up using established methods and e.g. FJF JDs

• Selling WFD and apprenticeships • Employer engagement & work programme – door is ajar

Legacy 5 - in the community

A few examples....• FJF employees – increased take up of sexual health screening

and health checks for YP• Fire & Rescue – Tameside – Station Commander, ‘FJF

community fire team directly led to significant drop in secondary fires

• Increase in footfall at retail and tourism sites as a result in FJF warden employees

• Some key projects now being continued with volunteers....

Legacy 6 – ingredients that work• The ‘Job’ made all the difference – referred to as a job from

day one....now we want to continue ‘jobs’ – big difference to ‘schemes’.

• Retain benefits but reduce cost....– Competency based recruitment & selection – potential to

achieve L2, not prior qualifications– 3 month job in growing private sector employers– Induction at start – set the scene, expectations, support– Supportive supervisor – Mentor - boost retention and support decision making– Skills & development of key competences built in to meet

employer expectations

Legacy 7 – Apprenticeships • Evaluation recommended NEET model is excellent example of

pre-apprenticeship provision, particularly for disadvantaged YP aged 16 & 17

• Local concern – drop out at 17, RPA, competition for apprenticeships

• Pre-apprenticeship provision. Number of councils using FJF based model particularly to support young people further from the jobs market – into jobs with training or apprenticeships

• GM proposals now being developed to roll out new model as pre-apprenticeship approach

Thank you

Questions & comments

Contact:

Alex.howley@neweconomymanchester.com