"How will Labour Transform our Employability Services?"

"How will Labour Transform our Employability Services?"

https://www.fenews.co.uk/exclusive/how-will-labour-transform-our-employability-services/



"The Labour Party’s return to power marks a significant opportunity to transform the UK’s approach to employability services and welfare policy. Central to Labour’s vision is creating an inclusive, equitable society where support is available to all who need it. This ambitious agenda should involve ensuring that professional standards and quality improvement are at the forefront of service delivery while adopting a person-centred approach in service design and commissioning. I am keen to explore how the new government plans to realise these ambitions, ensure inclusivity across the UK, maintain high professional standards, and leverage devolution to support its goals.

Labour’s Vision for Employability Services and Welfare Policy

Their vision for government in general and more specifically, employability services and welfare policy, is grounded in the principles of social justice, equity, and inclusivity. There is an aim to create a comprehensive support system that empowers individuals to achieve their potential while ensuring that no one is left behind.

Key aspects of this vision should include:

Universal access to support – An aim to ensure that employability services and welfare support are accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Person-centred approach – The government should intend to design services that are tailored to the needs of individuals, recognising that a one-size-fits-all approach is ineffective.

High professional standards – There needs to be a commitment to maintaining high professional standards in the delivery of services, ensuring that staff are well-trained, and services are of high quality.

Quality improvement – Continuous improvement of services is a priority, with mechanisms in place to regularly assess, accredit, assure and enhance service delivery.

Inclusivity across the UK – Understanding that support needs to be available across the entire UK, addressing regional disparities and ensuring that all communities have access to high-quality services.

Ensuring Inclusivity and Accessibility

To ensure that services are inclusive and available to all, the government will need to address several key challenges and implement effective strategies:

Addressing regional disparities – The government must tackle the significant regional disparities in access to employability services and welfare support. This includes increasing funding for under-served areas and ensuring that resources are distributed equitably across the UK.

Digital inclusion – In an increasingly digital world, ensuring that all citizens have access to online services is crucial. We will need to invest in digital infrastructure and digital literacy programs to ensure that no one is excluded from accessing support due to a lack of internet access or digital skills.

Partnerships with local authorities – Strengthening partnerships with local authorities is critical to ensure that services are tailored to the specific needs of local communities. Local authorities have a deep understanding of their communities and can play a crucial role in delivering targeted support. This is even more appropriate given the devolution agenda, in making sure that as the design and nature of employability services changes, no one falls through the cracks when they need support the most.

Community outreach – Engaging with communities through outreach programs can help identify individuals who may not be aware of or are hesitant to access services. The government should invest in community outreach initiatives to ensure that support reaches all who need it.

Implementing a Person-Centred Approach

A person-centred approach should be fundamental to the government’s vision for employability services and welfare policy. This approach involves designing services that are tailored to the unique needs of individuals.

Key strategies include:

Individualised support plans – should implement individualised support plans for those accessing employability services and welfare support. These plans should be developed in collaboration with the individual, considering their specific needs, goals, and circumstances.

Holistic support services – Recognising that employability and welfare needs are often interconnected, the government should look to co-ordinate public services and provide holistic support that address multiple aspects of an individual’s life, such as health, housing, and education.

User feedback and co-design – Involving service users in the design and delivery of services is crucial for ensuring that services meet their needs. The government should establish mechanisms for regular user feedback and co-design processes, where service users can actively participate in shaping services.

Training for staff – To deliver person-centred services, staff must be well-trained in understanding and responding to the diverse needs of individuals. We should invest in comprehensive training programs for staff to ensure they are equipped to provide high-quality, person-centred support wherever service are delivered.

Maintaining High Professional Standards and Quality Improvement

Ensuring high professional standards and continuous quality improvement is essential for delivering effective employability services and welfare support.

We can achieve this through several key strategies:

Professional development for all staff – Ongoing professional development is crucial for maintaining high standards. We should provide regular training and development opportunities for staff to ensure they stay updated with best practices and new approaches in service delivery.

Quality assurance mechanisms – We should utilise robust quality improvement and assurance mechanisms to regularly assess the effectiveness of services. This includes regular audits, peer reviews, and user feedback to identify areas for improvement.

Evidence-based practices – Services should be grounded in evidence-based practices. We should invest in research and data collection to identify what works and use this evidence to inform service design and delivery.

Innovation and pilot programs – Creating a collaborative market-place and encouraging innovation through pilot programs can help identify new and effective approaches to service delivery. The government should support pilot programs and initiatives that test new ideas and approaches, with successful programs scaled up and implemented more widely.

Leveraging Devolution

Devolution offers both opportunities and challenges for realising the government’s ambitions around employability services and welfare policy.

Key considerations include:

Supporting regional autonomy – Devolution allows regions to tailor services to their specific needs, which can enhance the effectiveness of support. The government is supporting regional autonomy that empowers local authorities and combined authorities to design and deliver services that meet the unique needs of their communities.

Ensuring consistency across the UK – While regional autonomy is important, we must also ensure that there is consistency in the quality and availability of services across the UK. This may require establishing national standards and guidelines that all regions must adhere to.

Collaborative approaches – Encouraging collaboration between regions to share best practice and learn from each other is important even when there is more autonomy. This can help ensure that successful approaches are replicated and that all regions benefit from the collective knowledge and experience of others.

Addressing funding disparities – Devolution can sometimes lead to funding disparities between regions. The government must ensure that funding is distributed equitably, and that no region is disadvantaged due to a lack of resources.

The Role of the Institute of Employability Professionals (IEP)

The Institute of Employability Professionals (IEP) can help in many ways with this ambition. The IEP Learning Academy is skilled at bringing the very best out of the employability workforce through its CPD, learning programmes and qualifications. The IEP Quality Improvement Framework (QIF) enables individuals and organisations alike to innovate and build better services through its ‘easy to use’ framework that complements well-established quality assurance methodologies and the Centre for Employability Excellence (CfEE) brings the best insights, data and practice from around the world into one place so it can be used to develop commissioning strategies and employability programme design.

Conclusion

The new government’s vision for employability services and welfare policy could be ambitious and far-reaching. By ensuring inclusivity across the UK, adopting a person-centred approach, maintaining high professional standards, and leveraging devolution effectively, we can create a comprehensive support system that empowers individuals and promotes social justice. Realising this vision will require a concerted effort, collaboration with stakeholders, and a commitment to continuous improvement. With these strategies in place, we can build a fairer, more inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive."

Binning the word "employability" would be a good start. It has far too many negative connotations, like interview skills, work experience, overcoming barriers etc. Employability is a relatively modern concept, deployed to fool the masses into thinking something is being done for the unemployed. Back in the day there was actual training and better working conditions. Now there is this employability thing which shifts responsibility firmly onto the individual.

To put my Oar in here...

I haven't read anything different here in the article from the current course? And isnt this exactly what they are supposed to be delivering.. ‍

If I could send a 'phrase' to the bottom of the sea. It would be 'Tailored Support'... It keeps getting mentioned, yet it a cookie cutter approach...

I also didn't notice, anything about the Financial incentives of these companies. It's like a free for all, 'Gold Rush' with these training company's 'Profit's before Performance'... So no incentive, to actually deliver value for money or actual-training. Maybe shift the payment balance, onto results, rather than enrollments..

"High Professional Standards"? Will this include psychological/intimational/harrasment and other forms of humiliation. Directed towards the client. Or again is it just another helping of 'word salad..:. .

This thread is as good a place as any for this post. Overhead at my jobcentre on a recent visit.

A Random Jobless Man came in to see how the jobcentre could help him look for work (no laughing at the back, please). The WC who spoke to him was Boss. He explained how the jobcentre are only allowed to help people who receive benefits. Nevertheless, he proceeded to inform him of all the various bodies who could help him, and then, dear reader, the cliff hanger... It would appear not all jobcentre schemes are a steaming pile of shit. Located about an hour away in my jobcentre region is a big hub for an industry that relies heavily on skilled labour (think choo choo). They work with the jobcentre to provide a 7 week training course, costing about £3,500 to equip people with the proper qualifications to get jobs in this industry. Presumably it is highly competitive to get a place and people will need an aptitude for an engineering type role, not to mention having to travel to the course each day, so it isn't an option for all. Yet, even this cynic has to admit it is probably more like the kind of training all on this forum would like to see more of. Proper qualifications leading to proper jobs - I tell you, it will never catch on.

"Proper qualifications leading to proper jobs - I tell you, it will never catch on."

I'd second this though, Ignatius. Training( no pun intended...) to address the skills shortage. 7x week course, must be pretty intense. As the JCP can train a Roach up to a MD/Doctor's level of expertise in 2x weeks.. And I would bet, it cost similar to sending a claimant on a 'Cat sat on the mat' course... 🤨




https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stephenson

Apparently Network Rail offer these courses in lots of regions because the choo choo industry has a skills shortage. The qualifications on offer equip people for entry level roles and a job isn't guaranteed at the end of the course so I'm sure some would pick holes in it. But C&G qualifications still have credibility and are essential for choo choo work. The WC said it was an intense, competitive scheme, you wouldn't need to take a sock off to count the available places each time they are recruiting. He was clearly very proud of the jobcentre offering this, and to be fair, he's allowed to be enthusiastic about what seems like a rare bit of quality amongst the usual DWP dross.

Like you say, Pintel, a cat sat on the mat course probably costs the same but delivers absolutely nothing in comparison. I wonder if our new government overlords will encourage more industries to follow Network Rail's example.

This is strange, as know some who have worked in this sector, very experienced and qualified and yet.........Many companies etc work with the joke centre supposedly, and very few turn into real paid work. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's the usual rinse and repeat dangle a carrot outsourcing schemes. Hopefully the young will see a benefit from all this as the old dogs will retire. There are very few secors left like this in the UK outside of manufacturing and that's what needs fixing, but I feel not in my lifetime.

Good luck to any prospective Thomas the Tank Engine crew.

As Labour said in 1997, 'the only way is up' and, education, education, education. Decades on, and people are still waiting.

I was talking to an elderly relative recently. They where telling me of the UK used to be a 'World leader' in communications ( The used to work for the "GPO" (bt). So I wonder what happend? 🧐. You could make the same argument, about other industries , etc. Many that where invented here in the UK...

Does the Uk lead the world in "Employment ability Service's". There's a legacy no one would want. ‍

Well said Pintel: ''Does the Uk lead the world in "Employment ability Service's". There's a legacy no one would want. ‍''

imo it most definitely does, the new Groowerthe industry as someone once said.

I can imagine , there some 'Studies' course in Academic. Delivering a 'Employment Ability' degree ... ‍ Again, another sign of decline in the UK, and fall of the British Empire ....

The Future

The Employability Health Centre

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Why not book an appointment with one of our friendly Employabilityologists?

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Ignatius, is that for real ? If so, these people are more deluded than I ever imagined.

For now, jobberpw, it is sick, twisted fantasy. But, I fear, as we all do, DWP Gold Command are probably busy designing a future that looks exactly like the above .

Thanks Ignatius. I see them developing these schemes as an ongoing conveyor belt so to speak.Its worse for the younger generation's who could now be roped into these for many years to come.

Maybe, the UK could turn "Ecca Employmentus nomine ad abilitivwtoe" (Employment abs) in to an Olympic sport . A double whammy, get State subsidy and private advertising/sponsorship. Whilst achieving nothing. ...

Top thinking, Pintel. We have to beat them at their own game. We should reclaim all of their doublespeak phrases, their tailored support and employability nonsense, and find imaginative ways to make a mockery of their favourite buzzwords to banish them evermore.

Surely it's time our masters drew up some new buzzwords. Management-speak doesn't normally stand still, and yet we're still stuck with tailored support and so on.

Yet again 'we are on the same page' here Ignatius...

Your right forget all of these business 'buzz words' ''abbreviations'(wtf,lol,omg)... Lets get back to giving everything some Latin flavour, quid pro quo... Or 'Scissor auxilio' instead of tailored surgical support... A double whammy, it makes the speaker seem more intelligent & think of the hrs wasted on hot air talks. We can take 'Employment Ability', to 'Employment Agility'
 🥳..

By "Employment Agility" = The ability to jump through Hoops, whilst manoeuvring through the obstacles , management puts in your way, to slow you down.

Maybe they'd like to use these ideas below.

Job Jamboree
Career Quest MK10
Paycheck Pursuit
Gig Grab
Work Wrangler
Employment Extravaganza
Income Inquisition
Occupation Odyssey
Task Tussle
Salary Safari
Boss Hunt
Payday Pilgrimage
Breadwinner Bonanza
Hire Hurdle
Career Carnival MK10

Hi Topaz,

that's a name i remember from the old forum. If so, where/HOW, have you been ?

Jobber