Cornwall
Integrated Community Coordinator This is jointly funded project between Jobcentre Plus, Cornwall Community Safety Partnership, Government Office For the South West and the European Regional Development Fund. The overall aim of this programme is to promote social inclusion through a joined up approach to community economic development, integrating the work of community partners in respect of developing links between worklessness and community safety issues within Objective One targeted wards.
This project has a responsibility to generate income within designated deprived wards by encouraging access to European and other structural funds, embracing sponsorship and facilitating the sourcing of grant aid for partner agencies. For more information on Objective One log on to www.objectiveone.com
What is Inclusion Cornwall? Inclusion Cornwall is one of the four sub-groups of the Cornwall Strategic Partnership. Two new posts have been created to help groups and organisations understand how by working together, we can have a positive impact on the quality of life for our residents. The posts have been funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, Jobcentre Plus, Health Action Zone and Cornwall County Council. The aims of the group are:-
- To ensure a strong strategic focus and co-ordination of Social Inclusion delivery across statutory agencies, businesses and the community and voluntary sector.
- To ensure effective communication mechanisms between strategy/policy, frontline delivery and socially excluded groups and individuals.
- To deliver key Cornwall Strategic Partnership (CSP) social inclusion targets.
- Support groups and organisation to access Objective One funding.
- To identify ways of “cutting red tape” in particular Area Based Initiatives (ABI’s).
How Does it Work?
The Inclusion sub-group decided from the outset that as many people, groups, organisations, businesses and agencies should be involved in progressing inclusion work. As a result of this a series of half day action planning events have been timetabled to address key Social Inclusion targets of the Cornwall Community Strategy. The first one took place regarding benefit take. An open invitation was extended to anyone who wished to attend and this open and inclusive approach will be continued. Link to CSP web site www.cornwallstrategicpartnership.gov.uk
Prolific Offenders UnitThe unit was established on 1/7/03 and brought together Devon & Cornwall Constabulary, Cornwall NHS Trust, Devon & Cornwall Probation, Penwith, Kerrier & Carrick Community Safety Partnerships and Jobcentre Plus. The unit is sited within the Cornwall Drugs & Alcohol Action Team at Tolvean House in Redruth. The aim is to provide effective monitoring & supervision of identified offenders and remove those factors which may encourage them to re-offend. By providing a holistic approach, and working on a 1-2-1 basis, clients are supported to access a range of help & support including primary healthcare, Surestart, education, training, Progress2Work and Jobcentre Plus services. Clients selected are those known to commit crime in the West of Cornwall, aged 18 or over where police intelligence suggests they may be responsible for a high volume of crime and are active offenders. There are no more than 10 clients on the initiative at any one time. Most of the POU customers have drugs links. CAT has supported the unit by making the Progress2Work Co-ordinator available to them to work with their customers. Their first action is normally to support the customer in getting their benefits sorted out immediately. This takes away the excuse of “no income” as a reason to commit crime. They then work with the customer to look at a ‘back to work’ plan. They may caseload the customer themselves or refer them on to a CAT colleague or New Deal adviser depending on the individual however it is important to note that these customers are not ex offenders but in most cases are active offenders. Many are still in the Criminal Justice System and one of the problems is that just as we start to engage with them, they are sent to prison for previous offences. This multi-agency approach, whilst requiring slow, small steps, is paying off. The unit estimates it has saved the community approx £2million in a 12 month period. In terms of clients, they are having a demonstrable effect on their customers and we have been involved in a couple of ‘good news’ stories through the unit. Migrant WorkersThis issue was originally raised at a meeting of the Cornwall Strategic Partnership (CSP). Jobcentre Plus was asked to take the lead on this issue on behalf of CSP. An initial meeting was held to scope out the issues and a paper was sent to the CSP which outlined some of the questions which needed addressing. (copy attached) The CSP asked the group to meet again to work on a strategy to address these questions. That meeting took place in August and a further meeting is arranged for December Progress to date includes:
- Recognising the positive contribution that migrant workers make to the economy
- Recognising that Employers are a key part of any strategy and need to be engaged in developing solutions to some of the problems which were identified.
- Realising that many agencies are involved in supporting / working with migrant workers and new networks have been established
- Outline agreement to hold an event at the Eden Project on 9th November which will focus on ‘Diversity in Employment’ covering a range of issues, chief of which will be migrant workers.
- Agreement to work closer to join up services and share resources. Examples include possibility of shared interpreter services, a welcome book for migrant workers outlining all the services available and produced in a variety of languages
- Sharing of data on the characteristics of the migrant workers who come to Cornwall
The group has been expanded to include several others, bringing greater expertise together and recognising that the issues affect and require the support of everyone working together if they are to be successfully tackled. Link to CSP web site www.cornwallstrategicpartnership.gov.uk
 European Social Fund Jobcentre Plus in Cornwall is working in partnership with the Objective One Programme, through The European Social Fund to support a number of projects giving jobless people across Cornwall the opportunity to develop and equip themselves with the skills they need to return to work. We are also working with employers to ensure a skilled workforce is available to meet the needs of local businesses. To date over 3.4 million pounds has been awarded to projects, 2334 people have been provided with support, 750 have returned to work and 450 have completed some form of training. South West ESF Information on this site
www.esf.gov.uk
www.gosw.gov.uk
|
