Agenda item

Rafiq Chohan, Assistant Director, Economic Development and Inclusion, outlined a report to provide an update on the Council’s response to the Economic Downturn.  The Committee was advised that the main focus of the report related to the employment support provided for the unemployed. 

The Committee was reminded that the Council had set up an economic task force, chaired by the Chief Executive at the start of the recession.  Key data assessed  included unemployment, housing, and benefits demand.  The Council had worked in partnership with Job Centre Plus who had the primary statutory responsibility for the unemployed and in addition funding was secured from the LSP’s performance reward grant and from GOSE for a project focused on supporting 18-24 year olds and BME communities. Further funding was secured from the Department of Work and Pensions, future job fund for 18-24 year olds and 10 young people between the ages 18-24 years of age were recruited for a six months period.  It was noted that the project had been discontinued by the new government.  The Officer discussed other support schemes for lone parents and others which continued to provide accredited information, advice and guidance for the unemployed and low skilled.  The Committee was advised that the Employment and Enterprise Group was reaching the target client groups and engaging them in services by investing a wide range of Outreach activities and taking services to clients.  Clients reported consistently high satisfaction levels and stated that they had moved on substantially as a result of the IAG services they had received.  The Officer advised that relationships with partners were a key strength of the group and the Employment and Enterprise Manager had established the local IAG Officers group where best practice was shared. 

The Committee noted that Slough’s unemployment figure in January was 3,553 and this had reduced to 3295.  Of these 2,170 had been unemployed for six months or less which represented 65.5% of all those claiming benefit.  This compared favourably with the South-East and the UK as a whole where the figure was 62% and 60.6% respectively.  The Officer advised that even though unemployment in Slough was marginally higher, long-term employment was lower and there were only 440 people who had been unemployed for over 12 months.  This represented 13.3% of the total unemployed in Slough which was lower than the South-East (16.8%) and the UK (17.5%).  This suggested that early intervention could contribute to minimising the risk of longer term and more damaging structural unemployment.  The Committee advised that the Chalvey Ward had the highest level of JSA benefit claimants at 395 and the Langley St Mary’s Ward had the lowest at 135.  The Officer advised that the increased unemployment levels of 18-24 year olds was a particular concern and Slough had continued to see a reduction within this particular group in recent months.  There was a concern however that many newly qualified Slough Graduates were unemployed or doing jobs that did not reflect their ability.  In May 2010, 765 18-24 year olds were claiming JSA benefits and this was the lowest since February, 2009.  A Graduate network would be established to support new graduates into employment.  The Committee advised that job centre vacancies had increased from 289 in January to 512.  It was clear however that 6.5 people were now chasing every job.  Of particular was the impact of the loss of public sector jobs on the local economy and the Wexham and Heatherwood Trust had already announced significant job losses. 

The Officer concluded that  proposed new cuts in the public sector would mean that a double dip recession was almost inevitable, bringing with it housing repossessions, an increase in the number of benefit claimants and a huge impact on the prosperity of the most disadvantaged communities within Slough.  It would be important to prevent relative short-term unemployment from becoming long-term employment with all of the negative impacts on society that would have.  It was also clear that community cohesion in Slough had been good for many years and this could be at risk if impacted by high levels of employment.  In the ensuing debate Members raised a number of questions/comments as follows. 

• A Member noted the increase in the number of graduates and asked whether they had the right skills for the jobs available.  The Officer responded that if an individual had better qualifications they would be able to move into a variety of work.  It had been shown that as low skilled people in Slough had increased their skills they had increased their employment chances

• A Member commented that the most underperforming group was the White working class and he asked the Officer what had been done to improve this situation. The Officer advised that support had been provided across the Board but he accepted that progress in the Britwell area had not been as good as would have been liked.  There was a trend for White working class people to prefer on the job training whereas more people from ethnic minorities moved into further education.  The Member responded that companies for example  those on the Trading Estate should provide guidance for children in schools on the skills that they needed.  The Officer advised that the Council worked alongside companies in providing this kind of information to schools but it was clear that companies were more inclined to do this when the labour market was tight as supposed to a situation where there weren’t many jobs available at all.  It was also noted that Connexions worked within schools to provide advise on what qualifications were needed for particular mobs. 
• A Member asked how many people were able to benefit from work experience at SBC and the Officer advised that he was unable to provide the exact figure but he confirmed that the Council was the biggest provider of work experience in Slough.  It was agreed that the actual figures would be forwarded to Members by the Officer.
• A Member asked whether the Council gave preference to Slough residents for Council vacancies and was advised that the Council could not do this because this would not meet the requirements of equal opportunities.
• A Member advised that 2 years ago a scheme had commenced whereby all Secondary schools in Slough were twinned with a organisation/company in Slough and this scheme would be extended in the near future to primary schools.

Resolved –  That the report be noted and that an update report be submitted  to the Committee in November 2010.