1. What is the objective?
Defining the intended objective helps to then understand the challenge and identify an effective response. Preferably the objective should be measurable and aligned with key local strategies, and you should consider whether and how to engage with your portfolio holder.
For example, this could be: a general objective to eg halve long-term unemployment; a specific objective to narrow gaps in long-term unemployment between groups or areas; or a targeted objective to find work for people who are long-term unemployed benefit from a local development.
2. Do we understand the challenge?
Understanding the challenge requires a combination of identifying findings from previous research, speaking with those who are long-term unemployed, and engaging with those already providing similar employment support services. This can help to explore the following questions:
Who is long-term unemployed? This could be a demographic group, such as the over fifties, or a particular geography within the council.
What employment opportunities are available? This could include discussing with your economic development team and opportunities in the council, as well as other employers.
What is preventing people who are long-term unemployed from finding work? This could be a skills mismatch, lack of support with jobsearch, insufficient work experience, issues with transport, childcare etc or more.
3. What works?
Evaluations or ‘what works’ review of past and present programmes in the UK and other countries will provide valuable lessons, plus understanding labour market data and speaking with those delivering similar employment support programmes. Applying the following framework may help:
Engagement. Participation in many employment support programmes is voluntary. What has been successful in engaging long-term unemployed people in employment programmes?
Support. A skilled personal advisor agreeing, supporting and monitoring a personalised action plan for finding work is key. What skills do advisors need and what is a manageable caseload?
Provision. What provision will be needed, given the local demographics of long-term unemployed people? This could include training, job search, intermediate labour markets, wage subsidies etc
Employers. It is employers that will ultimately employ people. What vacancies do local employers have, what skills do they need and how can we ensure the target group can access vacancies?
4. What support and services are already available?
Ensuring you know what local support is already in place and that you are plugged into existing local partnerships will help in identifying any gaps or shortfalls in support for the long-term unemployed groups identified, as well as opportunities for new ideas and joining up support.
The employment and skills system is complex and there is a wide range or provision and providers in most parts of the country. DWP is the major deliverer (through Jobcentre Plus) and commissioner of employment support for people who are long-term unemployed, such as Restart. However, a range of support will also be funded through European Social Fund and its successor UK Shared Prosperity Fund, as well as local support commissioned or delivered through housing associations, charitable trusts and foundations, employers and others.
In addition, you should also consider aligned provision: for example, which groups are already engaged with the target group and so could help with engagement; who is providing training support such as training providers, colleges and council-led adult education; who is already working with employers and could help opening up vacancies?
5. What are the options for intervention to improve outcomes?
You should explore the full range of options that will address the challenge identified, and assess their potential costs and benefits and potential unintended consequences. This should involve engagement with those already providing similar services, as identified in step 4. An early conversation with DWP and Jobcentre Plus will be critical given their key role in delivery and programmes like Restart, as well as to identify new or upcoming policy developments.
The options could include: developing a new programme for the target group (this could allow a clear focus on the group, but would it duplicate other provision or add to complexity for employers?); expanding an existing programme or increasing its focus on the target group; introducing or testing a new type of support such as one that has worked elsewhere or for another group (eg individual placement and support is proven for people with some mental health conditions and is now being tested for people with other conditions); or looking at how existing provision could work more effectively together (for example, referrals and data sharing between providers, links between help to find work and in-work training to promote sustainable work etc).
Options for implementation could include: commissioning of new support by the council; influencing what others are commissioning; co-commissioning; influencing national policy; or ensuring structures for more effective coordination of support.
6. How will we know if it's working?
- Defining success. Success will mean a proportion of people finding and sustaining work. But this needs to be value for money, including compared to other possible interventions, and additional to what would have happened without support (given some people would have found work without support). These success measures can be designed with reference to other programmes targeting similar demographic groups or in similar geographies.
- Effective design and evaluation. This is central to assessing impact and effectiveness, as well as building the evidence base by examining which elements of support are key to its success. This can included quantitative evaluation, such as cost-benefit analysis, and qualitative research with staff and customers
- Build in key performance indicators. These could include the number of people engaged, what support they’ve received, job entry and sustained employment. It should also include customer satisfaction and feedback. Taken together, they should provide measures along a clear logic chain that starts from engaging people into support through to sustained work.
- Taking a systems view. A programme may hit its targets, but have unintended consequences or miss the chance to have greater impact through closer working with other programmes and support. This can be assessed including by analysing data on participation in and impact of other programmes, as well as qualitative research with practitioners and customers