CoNet Local Action Plan Liverpool 1. Lap summary The CoNet Local Action Plan (LAP) has been developed in conjunction with the Local Support Group, which includes the managing authority, Liverpool City Council. Locally the Project has adopted the partnership name of CoNet as it fits with the concept of the project to work cohesively with a network of partner agencies to complement and enhance existing services, making sure they are better able to meet the needs of clients. The local CoNet project is a pilot project intended to identify European good practice to inform the integrated delivery of services at neighbourhood level to empower residents in Liverpool to make informed life choices in relation to removing barriers to their progression in education, training and employment. The LAP will be used to inform and shape the future working relationship between employment services and practices with Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) in Liverpool, developing an RSL integrated neighbourhood model for employment services. 2. Context Liverpool is a historic port city in North West England with a population of 440,000 and is the centre of a city region (metropolitan area) of 1.5 million people. Liverpool and nearby Manchester (circa 50km) are the core cities of the North West of England, a region with a population of almost 7m. Despite recent economic difficulties the city of Liverpool is still recognised around the world – because of the Beatles, Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs, its port and cultural heritage. Liverpool built its wealth and economic foundation on 200 years of trade (in the mid 19 th century Liverpool was one of the three busiest port cities in the world) but in the 1960’s entered a period of decline as dock related and manufacturing employment fell significantly. The population of the city decreased from 745,000 in 1961 to 439,000 in 2001 and during the 1980’s and 1990’s Liverpool earned a reputation for political and industrial unrest. Over the past 10 years the city has seen a rise in its fortunes. The Port of Liverpool is one of the UK’s leading ports, is the principle bridge between the UK and Ireland, and imports / exports to all corners of the world. Following listings as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003 and designation as European Capital of Culture 2008 Liverpool has experienced massive increases in tourism, and Liverpool John Lennon Airport is one of the fasted growing airports in Europe with passenger numbers approaching 6m per annum. The city has three expanding universities with 50,000 students. The most important economic sectors are financial and professional services, automotive, tourism, port / maritime and life sciences / bio-manufacturing. The city has also recently established a Science Park (in conjunction with two main universities) and is developing a knowledge economy strategy to enhance the attractiveness of the city to knowledge based industry investors. The past 10 years has also seen massive regeneration of the city centre and waterfront including development of a €1.4 billion retail centre on 17 hectares in the middle of the city, a new arena and conference centre, a cruise liner facility on the River Mersey and extensive public realm works. Over the same period 55,000 new jobs have been created (10 year growth rate of 32%) and the city centre population has increased by 3,000 to more than 15,000. Despite recent economic growth Liverpool faces real and significant economic and social challenges: • Liverpool is officially ranked by UK government as the most deprived Local Authority area in the country (2007 Index of Multiple Deprivation) and there are 100,000 economically inactive residents in the city. • The city has a predominantly low skill economy with over reliance of public sector employment, and a work force which is also low skilled – 23% of the working age population have no skills or very basic skills. • 78% of the workless have skills below level 2 (which is considered the threshold for employment) and many live in households where there is multi-generational unemployment with a culture of welfare dependency. • 12% of all 16 – 19 year olds are classified as NEET (not in Education, Employment, Training) 3. Neighbourhood Description Name of Neighbourhood - The Pinehurst Estate Location Anfield, North Liverpool, a priority area for major intervention by housing market renewal with the intention of re-structuring the housing market and improving the physical, social and economic conditions for existing and new residents through a programme of demolition, refurbishment and new development. North Liverpool is an area to the north of the city centre, comprising of four wards – Anfield, County, Everton and Kirkdale, with a total population of 63,500. The area is characterised by pre war inner city terraced housing, degraded public infrastructure, high unemployment and generally blighted neighbourhoods. It is recognised as a priority area locally, regionally and nationally. The area also has a long history of residents groups, community groups and established community centres and training facilities. There is also an hereditary reluctance by residents to access services or facilities that are outside of their neighbourhood. Number of households 650 homes in the Pinehurst Estate. Short Description The Pinehurst Estate lies within Liverpool City Council’s East Neighbourhood Management Area and falls within the Anfield Ward. Plus Dane Housing Group is the landlord. The Pinehurst estate is bounded by Vanbrugh Road, Townsend Lane, Pinehurst Road and Utting Avenue. 4. Goals and Objectives The goals of this Local Action Plan are: 1. Identify and deliver good practice for presentation to CoNet partners. 2. Examine good practice from partner cities to develop ideas for delivery in Liverpool and further improve integrated neighbourhood services and strategies. 3. Develop an integrated neighbourhood service delivery model for local education, training and employment agencies. 4. Create opportunities in Liverpool to remove barriers to economic inactivity of residents, low skills levels, worklessness, education, training and employment. 5. To increase the training, education and employment prospects of tenants and residents through a people centred integrated neighbourhood service delivery model. 6. To build confidence of tenants and residents. 7. Develop a neighbourhood worklessness model for RSL’s in Liverpool. The pilot project will be delivered in partnership with Plus Dane Group and will look at the potential to identify tenants who are excluded, providing them with counselling, financial inclusion, etc). CoNet will be delivered from February 2009 to March 2013. 5. Problem to be solved Worklessness is a pertinent issue locally and nationally that housing association tenants face, particularly in the current climate of Government reform and policy changes in relation to welfare reform in Britain and a drive to reduce benefit dependency and increase the number of people into employment. Over the last few years there Over the last few years there has been a range of government initiatives aimed at addressing the issue of worklessness. The government’s approach has been two-pronged, seeking to reform the welfare system and supporting workless individuals into employment. The recent and anticipated increase in unemployment is causing widespread concern both in society and at all levels of government and the unemployment rate is expected to continue to rise over the foreseeable future. There can be no definitive mainstream approach to worklessness as the issue is very complex and different sections of the community have different needs. Workless households tend to be concentrated in urban areas or larger cities such as Liverpool and unemployment and worklessness are often concentrated amongst disadvantaged groups and within local communities, i.e. lone parents, minority ethnic groups, disabled people, carers, older workers, workers in the informal economy, offenders and ex-offenders. Reaching out to these groups and communities in order to engage them and raise aspirations involves linking employment and skills provision with other support services to meet their needs. Unemployment impacts negatively on well-being and lowered well-being or self-esteem can then act as a barrier to re-employment. It may not always seem to make sense for individuals to choose to work in the formal economy for a number of reasons such as lack of opportunity in the labour market, lack of information about the financial rewards from formal employment (e.g. tax credits); higher financial gains from the informal labour market, peer group respect or wanting to stay at home to look after children. In addition, personal attitudes, social pressures and beliefs about personal control all affect the willingness to enter the labour market. There are also theories of a ‘culture of worklessness’ in some communities in the UK. These are characterized by: lowered incentives to work where peers are also unemployed and the informal economy has a ‘strong pull factor’, and a view of joblessness as being unproblematic within a context of lowered aspirations and short- term horizons. (DWP, 2005) Research by ‘Working Links’ (2008) indicated that the major barrier identified by jobseekers was physical health issues with 52% giving this as a reason for not working. Other issues included low pay (34%) and not having the right skills or qualifications (30%). When asked what would help them getting back into work, most jobseekers felt that the possibility of returning to the benefit they were on if the job did not work out was a major incentive (55%). CLES (2009) argues that approaches to tackling worklessness need to recognise the needs of specific clients and localities (for example, those who have been workless for significant periods of time are going to need a much more personalized approach than a new claimant). The need for diversity of approach and a personalized strategy cannot necessarily be provided through mainstream governmental agency led services.