Agenda item

Nicky Freeling, Business Engagement and Employment Support Manager and Lela Kogbara, Assistant Chief Executive, Strategy and Community Partnerships were present and introduced two witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee. These witnesses were Sheri Lawal of Choices and Ken Kanu from Help on your Doorstep.

During consideration of the evidence the following main points were made –

·         Choices worked with the BEST team and added that they worked with the Job Centre mostly with claimants on ESA who were not work ready. It was added that it would be beneficial if the was more part time work available

·         In response to a question it was stated that Choices tried to give case support to these residents and it was important for them to experience what the job entails

·         The view was expressed that whilst employers often asked for qualifications such as GCSE’s and A levels, experience could be just as valuable

·         It was noted that residents were being placed in different Council departments to enable them to get work experience across different areas

·         Help on Your Doorstep is an outreach and referral service that works across Islington and links in with the voluntary and the public sector. It was a door knocking service that sought to engage residents and offered assistance with housing, financial advice, employment issues, welfare rights etc. and directed them to appropriate services and residents could also call in to one of the 5 community based offices

·         Help on Your Doorstep assists over 1500 residents per year and employment has been the main focus and the BEST team is the highest referral partner however there were no precise figures for those obtaining employment. There were challenges to the process and BEST acted as a brokerage for pre -screening and assessment but generally there is not a great deal of feedback for clients from employers

·         There is a need for good quality feedback to be given to applicants in order to show the areas that they needed to improve and boost their confidence in applying for jobs whether they were successful or not

·         The Chair stated that the work of Help on Your Doorstep is appreciated and concurred that feedback was fundamental to enable people to improve and enquired whether feedback could be included as part of an SLA with employers. It was stated that whilst the Council did give feedback to shortlisted candidates it is difficult to do this for candidates not shortlisted if there are hundreds of candidates for a post and in some cases a more general standardised letter is sent out because of time constraints

·         Nicky Freeling indicated that she had encouraged the BEST team, when it existed, to provide feedback and this is an area that needs improvement

·         In response to a question concerning employers expectations of young people it was stated that work is taking place with young people to stress the importance of what employers are looking for

·         It was noted that applicants did not have to have formal qualifications to be numerate and literate

·         It was noted that work is being carried out to encourage employers to build relationships at an early stage with young people by going into schools, encouraging mentoring and by work experience

·         Choices did sessions for young people in mock interviews and filmed them so that feedback can be given and things they needed to improve on to obtain employment

·         Help on your Doorstep expressed the view that more work is needed with employers however for those that do not yet reach interview stage there is still the need for feedback in order that they can be encouraged and develop their skills to seek work

The Chair thanked Ken Kanu, Sheri Lawal, Nicky Freeling and Lela Kogbara for attending