Council is key to tackling job losses

As Rochdale is left reeling from job losses at Woolworths, PGC Renault and Stakehill's A Novo, an independent review has proposed that councils be given greater responsibility for coordinating efforts to tackle rising unemployment in their local areas.

The Tackling Worklessness Review has recommended that upper tier councils like Rochdale be responsible for conducting analyses of the causes of worklessness in their local communities, as part of the Government's proposals for local authorities to undertake economic assessments.

Building on the priority given to worklessness in Local and Multi Area Agreements, councils and partnerships who want to go further on worklessness would be able to agree Work and Skills Plans with Government, outlining how worklessness would be addressed, and gaining additional freedoms and resources in return.

These councils would benefit from a dedicated, long-term Work and Skills Budget, which would be allocated for up to six years to help councils meet targets, agreed with ministers, to improve the local economy.

This could include existing funding allocated to worklessness, such as Working Neighbourhoods Fund and other local resources, as well as additional money from mainstream employment programmes.

The report also proposes that the Government should require public sector employers in deprived areas to do more to support their local communities. This includes offering apprenticeship places, advertising all vacancies with JobCentre Plus offices and encouraging all bidders for contracts and local suppliers to provide job opportunities to local people.

Chairman of the review team, Cllr Stephen Houghton, Leader of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, said: "Since the launch of our review, the global economy has suffered a significant downturn - and the UK economy is not immune to this. It makes our work even more important than ever.

"As leader of a council where worklessness is a significant issue, I know how difficult it can be for local communities. And our council, like others, is well-placed to know what the economic challenges are and how they can be addressed.

"That's why we recommend an increased role for councils, producing assessments of the causes of worklessness in their area, and working with partners, including with other councils, on the solutions.

"We are proposing a new framework that challenges and enables partners to come together locally and to better coordinate their resources and efforts to address the particular problems faced in their area. Worklessness is not an issue that can be solved in isolation and the causes and solutions vary from place to place; it will require all partners to work more closely, to be more flexible, to work better and to work smarter.

"This, combined with a coordinated, focused approach from central Government, will make a real difference, keeping people in jobs where possible, and helping those who have been long-term unemployed.

"At this difficult economic time, this is particularly important."

The review team was commissioned by Local Government Minister John Healey and former Employment Minister Stephen Timms, to examine how £1.5bn Working Neighbourhoods Funding is being used, and to consider what more central Government can do to support councils and their partners to tackle worklessness in their areas.

John Healey said: "As the report makes clear, the Government is already working to give councils greater responsibility for improving the economic performance of their local area, and to encourage greater cooperation between authorities.

"That's why the Sub-National Review will require councils to conduct economic assessments of their local areas, which will be used as the basis for regional plans for issues including economic development, transport, skills, housing and planning.

"And there is already a strong focus on worklessness in Local Area Agreements, where 133 out of 150 areas identify worklessness as a priority, including all areas receiving Working Neighbourhoods Fund.

"In addition, seven Multi-Area Agreements have been signed between more than 50 councils, focusing on the key issues that matter most in those areas. And several more are in the pipeline.

"These measures, combined with the Working Neighbourhoods Fund, which gives local councils the flexibility to tackle worklessness in their areas, stand communities in good stead to weather this economic storm.

"Cllr Houghton's proposals could strengthen these efforts - I encourage councils and other bodies to submit their views to his consultation."

Employment Minister Tony McNulty said: "I welcome the principle endorsed by the review team that local partners can and should do more, particularly for the most disadvantaged people and communities, and agree that this job is now more urgent.

"We need to support the local commitment and ambition to deliver on the employment targets identified in almost all of the 150 Local Area Agreements, and seven Multi Area Agreements that have recently been signed, and ensure that the Working Neighbourhoods Fund is used innovatively and to best effect."