VONNE

Worklessness, or employability – a term that is increasingly gaining currency, is high on the agenda of the National Government and the Regional Development Agency. The stated aim of the Government’s latest Welfare Reform proposals is to encourage people who are of working age but not in employment to start working again. The actual target set is to reduce the numbers claiming Incapacity Benefit by one million in ten years.This aim is being backed by significant investment. The Northern Way Business Plan for instance sets aside £12 million for programmes focused on getting incapacity benefit claimants back into work.

The North East has one of the lowest levels of employment in the United Kingdom. The population of the North East stands at 2.5 million, of which 1.6 million are of working age. Nearly one in six of the working age population in this region, amounting to 250,000 people are claiming benefits related to worklessness.

The current Regional Economic Strategy sets out the target of increasing the size of the North East workforce by adding an extra 80,000 people by 2016. With this aim in mind One North East (the Regional Development Agency) together with key partners including Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council have developed the Regional Employability Framework - Employability Action North East (REF). The REF aims to:

• Significantly improve the focus and impact of current resources for employability (people and money)
• Produce a more co-ordinated and coherent service for employers and individuals alike.

If engagement with socially excluded groups is to be successful the voluntary and community sector (VCS) needs to be playing a key role in these initiatives - not just as a deliverer of services but in terms of shaping policies, such as the REF, so that they meet client needs.

VONNE facilitates the Regional VCS Employability Reference Group, which has an increasing role to play in shaping and helping to deliver the REF.  Any VCS organisation with a base in the North East and an interest in the employability agenda is free to join us. We meet bi-monthly to share information on employability. We seek to influence policy by acting as a sounding board to the VCS representatives on the multi-sector forums on employability. We regularly invite One North East, Jobcentre plus and the Learning and Skills Council to our meetings in order to keep abreast of the latest developments and to develop constructive relationships with the public sector organisations that  develop and implement policy. If you wish to get involved contact John Main, Policy and Development Officer at VONNE on 0191 233 2000 or john.main@vonne.org.uk

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