The Hammersmith & Fulham Poverty and Worklessness
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Appendix 1 THE HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM POVERTY AND WORKLESSNESS COMMISSION FINAL REPORT V1.0 – 20 JANUARY 2017 Foreword by Cllr Stephen Cowan or Cllr Sue Fennimore Chair of the Commission’s statement The Commission’s report paints a picture of increasing wealth inequality in the borough, and the challenges and opportunities arising from that. I believe that we have the financial, organisational and human resources in the borough to address local poverty and worklessness, if all the many organisations and individuals in this field, inside and outside the Council, are aligned under a set of collaborative projects such as we recommend and if the Council provides a strong lead. This report is arranged in two parts: a summary report that can be read as a self- contained piece setting out the main thread of the argumentation; and a reference report summarising and referencing the evidence base for the recommendations. The topic is extremely broad and it has been a challenge to keep all the strands going forward coherently. That we have managed to embrace the topic as a whole is down to the Commissioners and the Council’s officer team. So I would like to express my thanks to all Commissioners for undertaking this journey with me, and particularly for the well-researched papers which form the body of the report. The Commissioners are busy people who gave up non-existent time because of their commitment to the issues. The Commission would not have reached its destination without the support and hard work of the officials who formed the Secretariat. I would like to add my thanks for all personal assistance they have given me. Finally, my thanks go to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Steve Cowan, for commissioning this report, providing a vision and then trusting us to pursue it, and to Councillor Sue Fennimore, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, for her positivity and unfailing support and appreciation. Christina Smyth, January 2017 1 Members of the Commission The Commission was chaired by Christina Smyth. Its membership was as follows: Daphine Aikens – Chief Executive, Hammersmith & Fulham Foodbank Inspector Yasser Awad – Metropolitan Police Kam Babrah – Partnership Manager, Department for Work and Pensions Paul Doe – Chief Executive, Shepherds Bush Housing Group Rosalind Duhs – Borough resident Alison Inglis-Jones – Trustee, Trussell Trust Shani Lee – Chief Executive, Desta Consortium Tom Pearson – Head of Special Projects, Imperial College Zarar Qayyum – Borough resident Kamini Sanghani – Borough resident Howard Sinclair – Chief Executive, St. Mungo’s Broadway Alex Tambourides – Chief Executive, H&F Mind Alison Taylor – Director of Operations, Turn2us Adam Tinson – New Policy Institute In addition, Joy Arogundade of the DWP and Hannah Aldridge of the New Policy Institute served as Commissioners for part of the Commission’s lifespan. The Commission was supported in its work by a small team of Council officers, led by Tom Conniffe, the Programme Manager: Nivene Powell Helen Rowbottom Rob Rix Duncan Smith Other specialist officers contributed their time and expertise as required: Zahra Beg Amber Burridge Lee Fitzjohn Anna Waterman Valuable contributions to the Commission’s work and report were also made by: Sir William Atkinson Professor Paul Gregg Henry Peterson 2 Commission vision, terms of reference and approach Vision The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (hereafter largely referred to as H&F) is located in a relatively wealthy part of one of the richest cities in the world. It supports a high level of employment and enterprise, is home to several multinational companies and hosts a world-class university. Yet, within the borough, entrenched pockets of poverty and worklessness still exist that, to date and despite multiple interventions over the years, have proved intractable. The Hammersmith & Fulham Poverty and Worklessness Commission (“the Commission”) therefore set out to: Identify the factors underpinning the continuing prevalence of both poverty and worklessness in the borough. In doing so, it drew upon the perspectives of local people living in, or on the edge of poverty and/or worklessness, as well as professionals, leading experts and best practice from elsewhere in the UK and around the world. Formulate recommendations for interventions and/or service redesign, to deliver better outcomes for local people living in, or on the edge of, poverty and/or worklessness, and increase economic, employment and other opportunities for all. Make proposals to national policy makers for freedoms, flexibilities and funding where necessary to implement these longer-term, in so doing helping central government to deliver on its agenda of encouraging self-reliance in society while saving public funds. Terms of reference To deliver the vision, the Commission set out to: Define poverty and worklessness in relation to Hammersmith & Fulham through, inter alia, a thorough review of available data and intelligence. Oversee a review of the available literature on poverty and worklessness, drawing on studies and commissions from elsewhere in the UK and internationally. Steer research with local people and groups identified as living in poverty and/or worklessness, to identify i) the factors that prolong each state and ii) the support and interventions that could increase access to economic, employment and other opportunities, helping them to leave poverty and/or worklessness. Make recommendations to regional and national policy makers to help people leave poverty and/or worklessness and widen access to economic and employment opportunities. 3 Propose interventions and potentially service redesigns for implementation locally, or more widely, to help people to leave poverty and/or worklessness and promote self-reliance. Make the case, where appropriate, to regional and national policy makers to provide freedoms, flexibilities and funding for programme(s) to tackle poverty and worklessness in Hammersmith & Fulham and beyond, to be evaluated in the medium and longer term. The Commission met every two months, supported by stakeholder consultation as required and by working groups as appropriate. Approach and methodology As originally conceived, the Commission’s focus was on worklessness, but it was quickly recognised that this was too narrow a brief and a proper evaluation could only be undertaken by investigating the determinants of poverty that led to and influenced the state of worklessness. The Commission was expected to take between a year and eighteen months from inception to reporting and so a detailed work programme was devised in five phases to allow sufficient time to complete each phase. As Commissioners were drawn from a mixture of partners, third sector organisations and local residents, meetings were scheduled for approximately every two months to allow sufficient time for them to contribute to and deliberate on each element of the work programme. The five phases of the work programme were broken down as follows: Scope – agreeing the vision and terms of reference, appointing Commissioners. Preparation – data analysis, learning from past H&F programmes and other Commissions, literature and evidence review. Investigation – field research and analysis, customer journey mapping, initial recommendations production and refinement. Testing and evaluation – draft recommendations/report tested with local stakeholders, practitioners and policy makers, expert witnesses, research participants. Reporting and deployment – final report launch and implementation. Chaired by a local resident and retired senior civil servant, the Commissioners were drawn from a mix of national and local partners, third sector organisations and local residents with appropriate skills and experience. They have been supported in their work by a small team from the Council’s corporate policy and insight units, with specialist expertise drawn in from elsewhere as required. A schematic diagram of the Commission’s workplan is below. 4 Given its wide range, the Commission’s remit was necessarily strategic and structural, and so the specialist needs of certain groups have instead been addressed as follows through more focused investigations and processes: Children and young people – Hammersmith & Fulham Council is developing a separate but complementary Child Poverty Strategy that will be informed by the work of the Poverty and Worklessness Commission. It will be published in 2017. Disabled people – The Hammersmith & Fulham Disabled People’s Commission launched in September 2016 and will consider a range of issues relating to disabled people in more depth. It will report in mid-2017. Business – the H&F Business Commission, launched in May 2016, will report in spring 2017 and the Council will publish an Economic Growth Strategy to complement it and implement its findings. 5 6 Summary report Increasing levels of wealth inequality across H&F are at the heart of the challenge of poverty and worklessness in H&F. Great opportunities for change lie in: economic regeneration; various excellent current initiatives inside and outside the Council; and the enormous human and organisational resources of the borough. H&F is a relatively wealthy borough in one of the richest cities in the world. It supports a high level of employment and enterprise, is home to several multinational companies and hosts a world-class university. Yet around one third of residents are affected by poverty, often with worklessness, which multiple interventions