The next meeting is on 12 October, register via ersa.eventbrite.com follow ERSA there to be notified when events go live.
Outline agenda
- Welcome and Introductions
Kathryn Jellings, 3SC
- The Restart Scheme
David Elsmere, Partnerships Manager, Serco
- UK Shared Prosperity and the Community Renewal Fund in Wales
ERSA/DWP
- Future dates, agenda items and any other business
ASK SETH Update: ASK SETH for the latest employability contract wins across the UK
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For agenda items and queries please email the team at [email protected]
The Policy Landscape
A quick reminder that the winners of the forthcoming Restart programme were announced towards the end of April, following a DWP-administered open competition over the past several months. The Restart Programme is aimed at individuals who have been out of work for longer periods and may need extra help to move back into employment, and will be live across Wales and England from Monday 28 June onwards.
Congratulations to all of the winners! You can find our own interactive landscape of Restart provision across the UK here, and our additional resources related to the programme here.
The UK Community Renewal Fund also continues to ramp up, with a number of lead organisations across putting out calls for applications across the UK (which can be found in full here). The Fund will provide £220 million additional funding to help places across the UK prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK to pilot programmes and new approaches and will invest in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment.
The UK Government has designated 100 areas as ‘Priority Places’. The list of priority places and lead authorities can be found here. Our own resources related to the Fund can also be found in full here.
ERSA continues to campaign for an extension to the Kickstart programme, which is still scheduled to end in December 2021. There have been real challenges rolling out Kickstart in the expected timeframe since the programme’s announcement, alongside restrictions on businesses that have delayed opportunities getting to young people, and we believe that the slow rollout of the scheme to date means that an extension of the scheme to the end of 2022 would help to maximise the programme’s ambition of supporting young people seeking employment. This is something that many of us in the employment support sector have been publicly campaigning on for many months, and have argued that an extension to December 2022 would ensure that the challenges in the rolling out of this scheme do not create a situation in which it really starts a make a difference to young people just as it ends. You can read about these arguments in more detail here.
Labour market overview for Wales (April 2021 release)
Would you like to be a Co-Chair of Employment Support Wales
Employment Support Wales is an ERSA Forum attended by full ERSA members and by members of ERSA Wales. The Forum meets regularly online, or at a member’s premises in Wales.
Nominations are still open to elect a Co-Chair alongside Kathryn Jellings. The Co-Chair will be given observer status at the ERSA board.
Those interested in standing for this position are asked to complete this Nomination Form in full and return by email to the ERSA Team at [email protected].
ASK SETH
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The Skills, Employment, Training and Help (ASK SETH) directory is now live – and we’re ready and waiting to upload your employability services, for free. Take less than two minutes to see what the platform offers and how to be included with our new video. Don’t miss the opportunity to reach thousands of jobseekers: submit your services to ERSA now.
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