Economic Inclusion Panel
The West Midlands Economic Strategy, Connecting to Success’ (December 2007) identified a £10 billion output gap in the region, 20% of which can be ascribed to the level of economic exclusion and Worklessness across the region. The West Midlands Economic Inclusion Panel was established in June 2008, specifically to address the challenge of Worklessness.
Funded by Advantage West Midlands, the Panel brings together leaders from across the Public and Third Sectors to identify and champion the wider and more consistent deployment of good practice in tackling Worklessness and identify and propose the means to fill crucial gaps in current employment and training provision.
Membership
A full membership list can be found in the adjacent list of related Documents
Panel Meetings
Details on all the meetings which have taken place, those scheduled and relevant documentation, is available here.
The Worklessness Challenge
The scale of the Worklessness challenge was set out in the Panel’s Economic Inclusion Baseline Report, March 2009. The Baseline Report showed that the Worklessness rate for the Region was 28%, but was much more severe for a number of groups:
52% for those with a limiting illness or disability;
53% for those with no qualifications; and
57% for those from the Pakistani/Bangladeshi communities.
Since the Baseline Report was published, the impact of the recession has led to further deterioration in the regional position on Worklessness, particularly for young people, where the rate of increase amongst under-25s is twice that amongst the general population. The Worklessness rate rose to 30.1% by September 2009.
The Economic Inclusion Baseline Report can be accessed from the West Midlands Regional observatory website by clicking on the link under Related Links.
Panel Activities to Address the Challenge
The Baseline Report provides the evidence base that underpins the Panel’s 10 Key Worklessness Themes, including priorities to identify new approaches to providing labour market advice and support to Young People and Older Jobseekers, as well as better access to the existing range of employment and training programmes that can help many of the 225,000 people in the region currently receiving Incapacity Benefit.
A brief summary of the Panel’s Key themes is outlined below - clicking on the headings to read further information about these work areas:
Health and Housing Mapping and Gapping - developing Worklessness Protocols for the Housing and Health sectors, linked to the West Midlands Integrated Employment and Skills Programme, led by Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council;
Health and Disability - exploring the means to enhance marketing of current employment and training provision to Incapacity Benefit recipients, linked to the Fit for Work Programme and providing advice and guidance directly to local people in GP’s surgeries;
Older Workers and Older Jobseekers - identifying the needs and channels for delivering advice and guidance to older job seekers and older ‘labour market returners’;
Better Engagement of BME Communities - taking forward outcomes of the DWP-funded regional event in November 2009 to consider ‘Narrowing the Gap’;
Young People - to develop new forms of labour market support for the expanding cohorts of young people leaving full time education during the recession, and who will otherwise form the next cadre of long term unemployed adults (building on the Government’s Backing Young Britain announcement);
Regional Worklessness Network - to champion Best Practice in Tackling Worklessness, led by Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM);
Equality and Diversity Advisory Forum - to ensure that the Panel’s work is informed, supported and appropriately challenged