Foreword
Welcome to South Liverpool Signpost 2008
This production is the response to requests from practitioners over many months for a comprehensive directory of training, employment and guidance opportunities available in South Liverpool.
It is based upon the Signpost Directory which was launched in 1997 by Speke Garston Partnership with the aim of highlighting the availability of opportunities to support social and economic regeneration at that time.
In the years since the Speke Garston Partnership launched the original Signpost, many achievements have been made in South Liverpool and even the landscape has changed beyond recognition with Estuary Commerce Park, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Marriott Hotel South, New Mersey Shopping Park and the Morrison’s supermarket developments in both Speke and Belle Vale, Parklands High School and housing stock transfers to name but a few.
However, whilst we can all celebrate progress, much still needs to be done in South Liverpool because worklessness remains higher than the Liverpool average particularly in Speke Garston and Belle Vale wards. In fact such are the levels of worklessness that it is clear to most practitioners that a multi agency and partnership approach is needed to make a concerted challenge to the barriers which many local residents face.
In my capacity as the Manager of JET South Liverpool, I have therefore endeavoured during the past few years to bring together partnerships based upon the theme of promoting local residents into employment or training. Initially these were called SET groups (Skills, Employment and Training.)
In 2007 our SET group expanded to become the Economic Development and Enterprise Group (E, D & E Group) with a clear remit to reduce the unacceptable levels of worklessness through a partnership based approach and it is this Group (bringing community, practitioners and business together) which has been at the forefront of identifying the following local needs and priorities for South Liverpool:
- Local intelligence: Consultation quickly identified the first priority as the need for a comprehensive directory of information for practitioners not only to provide the tools to support clients but also as a mechanism for working together more cohesively.
- Local Priorities: Practitioners identified the need to focus support upon Lone Parents, Incapacity Benefit claimants, older jobseekers in South Liverpool. Quality of service provision: This is seen as critically important and the aspiration for quality must also apply to this directory. The primary intention is that this will be regularly updated on the premise that information which is out of date is worse than no information at all.
- Not working in silos: Making a complicated system work for our clients and for you, the Practitioner is essential.
- Partnership working: Effective collaboration will be needed across various agencies and organisations in order to make the sustainable impact our area deserves.
- Introducing the Employment Continuum /Routeway: The individual customer journey / routeway lies at the heart of what we all want to achieve but each step can be fraught with risk for the client. We need your support and your commitment to work in partnership in order to achieve success.
This simplified routeway through which people can move from worklessness to sustainable employment is introduced below. One of the key principles of this employment routeway is to provide a person centred approach to delivery of provision supported by a comprehensive menu of activity. Individuals can commence their journey on the routeway at different stages and can be engaged through numerous organisations and mechanisms. This routeway will have a demand led approach to engage where appropriate with Liverpool employers to deliver training services and effective recruitment activities to meet the needs of South Liverpool clients.
We must not forget that South Liverpool is nonetheless Liverpool.
In addition to our aspirations to reduce South Liverpool worklessness, we must also be mindful that we are one of five Neighbourhood Management Areas in the city all of whom have deprived communities with high levels of worklessness and our local Neighbourhood agreement is being developed in the context of the strategic priorities set out in the City Region Employment Strategy (CES) and the Local Area Agreement (LAA) for the City which has led to the development of an overall Employment Plan for Liverpool, The Liverpool Employment Plan (LEP) has an overall strategic aim of enabling all residents to secure quality, sustainable employment, and develop skills that are appropriate to ensuring the future competitiveness of the Liverpool economy.
The L.E.P. seeks to achieve this aim by providing a framework that fulfils two complementary objectives:
- Tackling worklessness and poverty.
- Supporting further economic growth and the competitiveness of Liverpool businesses.
The above routeway has been adopted to provide the vehicle for the strategic delivery of the LEP. The activities have been grouped together into elements which provide a framework for future delivery and which constitute a “signpost to services” that our local residents will need to assist them into sustainable employment. The routeway provides stepping stones for individuals and will also support partner/practitioners to achieve the ambition of the City of productive, leading edge, innovative businesses, with economically sustainable, skilled, working communities providing a highly skilled and flexible workforce.
And within these strategic ambitions for Liverpool, where do you, the practitioner, fit in?
The simple answer is that without your contribution, the strategy will not be achieved. Effective personal advice is crucial to the delivery of this strategy. Currently, the scope of Personal Advice is generally based on information, advice and guidance with the primary aim of assisting people into employment. In order to develop a coherent Personal Advisor (PA) support package that meets the needs of the identified priority groups there needs to be greater and continuing understanding of what is currently available in terms of existing Personal Advisor support.
To address this, South Liverpool partners have identified that Signpost 2008 should incorporate a database detailing all advisor resources and specialisms which can be regularly updated and shared among all partners. This will also help identify where there are key strengths and weaknesses in the current delivery structure and help to inform provision for the future.
So above all, this is your directory. It is your resource and also your responsibility (particularly in terms of up-dating and ensuring future accuracy and relevance). By working together to make the most effective use of this sharing of our common knowledge and resources, we will continue to offer the people in our South Liverpool communities access to the skills and employment opportunities needed for sustainable regeneration.
Here’s to the future!
Doreen Dunmore
Chair, South Liverpool Economic Development & Enterprise Group
Skills development and Pre-recruitment support