Events
Ethnic Minority Employment Challenge in North West England: 24 March 2010
On Wednesday, 24 March 2010 at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, almost 100 people from local authorities, local partnerships and other stakeholders came together to help develop strategies to improve sustained job outcomes for workless people in black and ethnic minority communities and to promote equal opportunities.
Organised by the Government Office for the North West (GONW), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Job Centre Plus (JCP), North West Employers (NWE) and North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NWIEP), the conference explored issues and considered ways of improving job outcomes and shared good practice.
The aims of the conference were to:
- Improve access to work for people in black and ethnic minority communities.
- Promote the benefits of a diverse workplace.
Speakers included DWP policy makers and practitioners:
Greg Burke, Deputy Regional Director, GONW
Ilyas Munshi, Chief Executive, Enterprise4All
Bruce Byrne, Ethnic Minority Analysis Team Leader, Department of Work and Pensions
Katrina Hann, Research Manager – Economic Policy Experian.
During the table discussions delegates shared their experiences to harness joined up solutions to improve employment rates for people from ethnic minority communities, build on ideas and look for synergies and ways of working together in the future.
Table discussion questions:
- It is now 2015 and the BME challenge has been met. The employment rate for BME groups is now the same as for other groups. Now step back and describe how we did it!
- What happened in between to make our vision reality?
The event was a huge success with lots of useful ideas for partner organisations to consider. The outcomes from the event will be used to inform policy evaluation and will help us continue to work together and share good practice across the North West.
Presentations
Table Discussions
Summary of Evaluations
Conference Photographs
Tackling Worklessness Conference: 20 March 2009
Many policy areas and sustainable community strategies have a key aim of improvement for the most disadvantaged communities, which often experience high levels of worklessness. Providing routeways and support into work has a crucial contribution to make towards narrowing the difference in their quality of life compared to other groups locally and nationally. Providing employment opportunities, reducing benefit dependence and improving earning potential within disadvantaged communities will be particularly difficult during a recession.
The conference was designed specifically for Elected Members with relevant portfolios and roles at their authorities. It considered the impact of the recession on local communities and how a local authority may use its position as a major local employer and a community leader to positive effect.
The conference:
- Updated the regional economic position and identified the latest trends.
- Discussed the learning from the national review on worklessness. The Chair of the review, Councillor Stephen Houghton, reviewed how authorities can have a key role in local employment partnerships, tailoring the latest regional and national policy and programme developments for local delivery.
The presentations from all of the speakers are available
here.
Delegates found the conference to be a valuable opportunity to hear and discuss the latest thinking and the different challenges faced in communities across the North West. A delegate evaluation summary is available
here.
CAA ConferenceOn 28 January 2009, the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, in association with CfLG, and their partners held a Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) event. The
agenda included a summary of the results for the CAA pilot carried out by Stockport MBC, an explanation of the final guidance for the Comprehensive Area Assessment and the lessons learned from the Nottinghamshire two-tier pilots.
Below are copies of the presentation slide packs that were used during the day.
3.
CAA in a two-tier trial in Nottinghamshire - Peter Elderton, Head of Policy, Partnerships and Performance, Nottinghamshire County Council, and Stephen Bray, Head of Strategy and Performance, Gelding Borough Council
Finally, in preparation for the event, the NWIEP team compiled a briefing paper -
CAA in the North West: a new approach, a new opportunity. The paper provides an initial look at what different public sector bodies in the region are doing to prepare for CAA, and some key messages that are emerging.
Full details can also be obtained from the NWIEP website by clicking
here.