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FCR09 - Financial savings 2020-21 - Employability Programmes

FCR09 - Financial savings 2020-21 - Employability Programmes | South Lanarkshire Council
TitleFCR09 - Financial savings 2020-21 - Employability Programmes
Council ResourceFinance and Corporate
Aims and ObjectivesThe aim of this assessment is to consider, as part of the Council's savings exercise, the impact of reducing the funding available to support clients across employability programmes.

A saving of £0.360m was approved for Employability Programmes in 2019/20. This proposal will see a further reduction of £0.550m in 2020/21. This is based on the strong labour market that has seen youth unemployment figures at national and local levels continuing to fall leading to fewer clients requiring support through the employability programmes for young people.

Support will continue to be delivered to clients requiring assistance in line with the current reduced demands of the service.

The Scottish Governments Fair Start Scotland employment support service continues to support people (particularly around Health), who would otherwise have been placed in a number of Council programmes. This programme continues to allow the Council to redirect clients, who meet the necessary criteria, reducing the numbers requiring multiple supports and the associated expenditure.

Online support materials have been developed to assist individuals. This allows more clients to meet their needs through self-service routes at a reduced cost.

In 2018/2019, the programme engaged with 2,820 individuals. This includes the Up-skilling programme for those in work in poverty. The Up-skilling programme has seen an increase of 225 engagements in 2018/19 compared to 65 engagements in the previous year. In addition 966 employment outcomes for clients further removed from the jobs market were secured. There has also been an increase in investment in Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships - intake of approx.130 each year, which contributes to positive career pathways and sustainable employment for residents.

As a result, the overall Council Employability Programme can continue to be delivered for £0.550m less in 2020/21.
ConclusionThe aim of this assessment is to consider, as part of the Council's savings exercise, the impact of reducing the funding available to support clients across employability programmes.

A saving of £0.360m was approved for Employability Programmes in 2019/20. This proposal will see a further reduction of £0.550m in 2020/21. This is based on the strong labour market that has seen youth unemployment figures at national and local levels continuing to fall leading to fewer clients requiring support through the employability programmes for young people.

On-line resources allows people access to self-service routes whilst still allowing their needs to be met at a reduced cost to the Council. For anyone who is unable to access the online supports, they will be able to access face to face or telephone supports.

No negative impact has been identified during this assessment. The programme delivery will continue to meet the needs of those who need the support to progress into work.

The impact of this proposal will be monitored and reported on a 6 monthly and annual basis to the Employability Review Group and the Executive Committee. Externally monitoring of the programme delivery and effectiveness will be done by the Scottish Government and also Skills Development Scotland.
Completion date19-MAR-2020
Contact Email addressequalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk
AreaCouncil Wide