Index: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 22. Employment Project - Northern Arc Regeneration Project, Bristol This project provides a link between unemployed people with skills and employers with job vacancies. Through existing and customised training it also equips people for the available jobs. Much of the activity centres on outreach work: the project worker holds advice sessions at drop-in centres in each of the three wards covered by the project. These aim to identify clients' employment or training needs, and to match these either with an appropriate job vacancy or with training that will improve employability. Key Findings An important factor in the success of this project is the time spent developing it and making it accessible and relevant to local people. Conversely, the long time required to set up the project hindered its early progress, as the limited resources available continue to do. The project has been responsive to individual clients' needs and aspirations, and is equally flexible in its delivery: for example, it does not require authorisation for approval of specific training programmes. Transition to employment is the key element of the project, and a notable area of good practice. The focus on matching skills and jobs and supporting training all contribute to this process. The project represents the final stage in a continuum of projects linking learning to jobs. This illustrates the highly strategic approach that the Northern Arc Regeneration Scheme takes towards education and employment. Added value is demonstrated in the benefits of the project's networking outside its own work. The sharing of information, expertise and resources, along with greater rationalisation and less duplication in the delivery of services, have also influenced mainstream provision. The project widens participation in learning by providing training opportunities to young people where none had existed before, to help them secure jobs. Background - Problems to be Tackled The Northern Arc projects cover three wards to the north of Bristol city centre: Lawrence Weston, Henbury and Southmead. Since 1981 the area has been in steady decline, a reflection of the loss of industrial and manufacturing capacity in the area. Rising crime, teenage pregnancies and a high rate of infant mortality have compounded worsening social conditions. The incidences of lone parents and young mothers are higher than elsewhere in the city, and the area has higher proportions of very young children and of the elderly. More than half of all households in the area - over twice the city average - are local authority tenants. Characteristics of specific relevance to this project include the following: The local unemployment rate was 11%, compared to 10% for the whole city. This rose to 13% in Southmead, up to five times higher than in adjacent communities. Youth unemployment was also at 13%. Unemployment in the area at the time of the SRB3 bid had risen over the previous year, just as employment in the city as a whole was falling. Unemployment in Lawrence Weston had increased three times as fast as in the rest of Bristol over the previous decade. Female unemployment rates grew four times faster than for the whole city over the same period. Only 5% of residents in the Northern Arc area hold HE qualifications, compared with 15% of the whole population of Bristol. GCSE attainment varies by more than 100% across the four schools on the area. How the Project was Developed The Employment Project was built on and combines the experience of two previous SRB projects concerned with local labour initiatives. It became operational in December 1997, and is approved until March 2004. The project's strategic objectives are tailored to match those of the SRB scheme. The idea of the project was originally proposed by the Southmead Area Housing Office, and was based on the idea of a local labour brokerage service. It was subsequently broadened to include all job opportunities available to residents in the Northern Arc area. WESTEC helped to develop the project, along with Bristol City Council's Housing Department and the Employment Service, and the TEC is now its lead partner. The Project The project has now established a permanent base at the Westbury on Trym job centre, but activity is concentrated in the drop-in centres that have been set up in each of the three wards. The project worker attends regular brokerage sessions at each of these centres, at which clients' employment and training needs can be identified and matched with training or a job vacancy. These sessions are now attracting a steady stream of clients. Another outcome of the project has been the creation of a network of other groups working in the area who have related concerns. These include groups working in education, training, employment, health, housing, and youth and community issues. This enables the project worker to direct clients to appropriate services offered by other providers: for example, there seem to be frequent referrals to New Deal advisors. It is also useful in facilitating the identification of training courses and job vacancies in the area, and in helping to identify skills shortages in the area. In addition, clients are often referred to the project by other agencies such as these. Funding The total funding required by the project over its seven years is £519,000. The SRB provides £190,000 of this, with the £329,000 balance made up from other public funding. Outcomes and achievements The principal achievements of the Employment Project are the establishment of regular drop-in employment and training brokerage sessions, and the creation of a network of local organisations, as described above. These have led to: The development of a forum for projects concerned with local training and employment. Better access for clients to other employment/training related programmes, such as New Deal and New Start. In turn, these outcomes have enabled better use of resources, with more rationalisation and less duplication in delivery of service. This is also now a greater understanding of the area and how to tackle its problems. Moreover, the project is already seen locally as an example of good practice, and the networking activities have contributed to its dissemination. Further Information Eileen Lepine Scheme Co-ordinator Northern Arc Regeneration Scheme Tel: 0117 907 8823 Fax: 0117 914 3315

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