Third Sector Employability Forum

Meeting 7 December 2010

Employability Development Manager’s Report

Priority Sub-groups

At the last Forum meeting it was decided to reconvene the priority groups to build on the “asks” being developed. The response for attending meetings was not sufficient to convene meetings so I will make arrangements to hold another webinar to allow further discussion on:

1. Resourcing the employability Pipeline for those furthest from the labour market. 2. Opening up local procurement. 3. Tackling the short-term nature of funding.

There is progress on priority 2 which is, “Engagement with Local Employability Partnerships”. SCVO have now taken forward the draft outline specification developed by the original sub-group and have now developed a working project specification, which is attached with the other papers circulated. Ian Lees, Research Officer with SCVO will be presenting to the Forum at the 7 December meeting. Ian will be looking for a small Steering Group comprising of at least three Forum members to work with Ian and me to ensure the project delivers against its stated objectives.

ESF Priority 5

At the time of writing I have been liaising with the ESF Team at Scottish Government about progress in Priority 5. An announcement was due to be made on 25 November but that was cancelled. I will continue to liaise with colleagues in the ESF Team on this. On a more general ESF issue the Managing Authority is in early discussions with the Audit Authority in Scottish Government to see if they can move to a more ‘systems’ based approach to verify claims – this would put more reliance on the systems in place at an organisational level and reduce the actual verification checks to be carried out by ESEP. This is a discussion at a very early stage and would be on a case by case basis.

TSE Forum Conference

The conference was a great success with over 160 delegates and a ministerial keynote speech. A report on the conference is being drawn up and will be available very soon. Information, reports and presentations will be available on the SCVO website and the Employability Learning Network.

DWP Programmes

Work Choice

Shaw Trust and Momentum Scotland will both be presenting to the Forum on 7 December. The New Work Programme

DWP have now completed the selection process and have made their Award Decision for the Employment Related Support Services (ERSS) Framework competition . The names of the organisations that have been selected as Preferred Suppliers in each of the Lots can be found by clicking here: Framework for the Provision of Employment Related Support Services - DWP The organisations successful in Scotland are under “Lot 10” and contact details are given for each organisation.

Third Sector Skills Partnership (TSSP)

The TSSP now has a website which can be accessed by clicking HERE - Third Sector Skills Partnership

I will be attending a joint meeting on 25 January between the TSSP and Skills Development Scotland to discuss skills issues in the Third Sector including:  Skills utilisation / Making skills work for employers  Learning, training and development / Enabling people to fulfil their potential  How to increase awareness of the third sector as a career choice / Catalyst for positive change.

A briefing paper on TSSP has been sent out with the meeting papers.

Third Sector Internships Scotland (TSIS)

Attended the launch of this initiative which is a partnership between Queen Margaret University, Open University Scotland, SCVO and funded by the Scottish Funding Council. The first internships will be advertised to Students from January 2011. For Third Sector organisations it will offer:  Access to a wide range of skills and experience from students.  Support from the TSIS Team to develop the internship.  Funding to support payments to Interns.

For more information click HERE - Third Sector Internships Scotland

Review of post-16 education and vocational training in Scotland

The Review will focus on the area of post 16 education and vocational training which supports people into work and helps sustain them in productive employment or enterprise. If you have not had information already and you are interested in contributing to the review please see the document below.

H:\Review of Post 16 H:\Review of Post 16 H:\Review of Post 16 Education and Training. CALL FOREducation EVIDENCE.doc and Vocational Training -Education Call for Evidence and Vocational - Letter Training- 11 November - Call for 2010.pdf Evidence - Response Form - 11 November 2010.doc Mental Toughness

Attended a workshop on this measurement tool used in the development of young people but has much wider applications including for staff as well as Service Users. Its definition is, “Mental Toughness is... the capacity for an individual to deal effectively with stressors, pressures and challenges and perform to the best of their abilities irrespective of the circumstances in which they find themselves"

The four aspects measured are; control, challenge, commitment and confidence .

More information at, www.aqr.co.uk

Role of Volunteering in Reducing Unemployment.

Attended a meeting organised by the Scottish Government(SG) Third Sector Division involving SCVO, VC Edinburgh, Glasgow CVS, VDS and the Employability Team from SG. Two officials from the DWP were invited to talk on the subject. Main points were:  The New Work Programme is distinct from current and future Jobcentre Plus (JC+) provision.  There will be a role for volunteering for all customers while using JC+ services.  Coalition government is committed to Third Sector involvement.  The Volunteering Opportunities Programme Scotland (VOPS) will end in November 2010. VDS are the prime contractors for VOPS in Scotland and it is delivered by local Volunteer Centres. The programme is one of the offers made to JSA clients 6 months plus unemployed. There will be no funding available from DWP to support volunteering activities under the “Get Britain Working – Work Together” measures.  DWP stress that it is not about mandatory volunteering at this stage. They expect a “light touch” from Jobcentres.  Expectation that JC+ staff will get better at using existing community opportunities.

Scottish Business Diversity Awards 2010

Held at the Caledonian Hilton in Edinburgh 0n November 11. I was pleased to be asked to present the award in the Retention category which was won by ASDA stores in Ayr with Stirling Council highly commended. ASDA Galashiels won the award for best practice in recruitment, Rag, Tag ‘n’ Textile the Social Firm award and Café Zest from St Andrews the overall award. The event was attended by Keith Brown MSP Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning. The awards are organised by the Scottish Union of Supported Employment.

TSE Forum Page on SCVO Website

After meetings with SCVO this page will be developed and available for review by the Forum in January. The initial idea is not to recreate a lot of employability information that exists elsewhere, particularly the Employability Learning Network. The page will include links to some existing information as well as information on the Forum and copies of reports, minutes etc.