Local and national partnerships
The key partners we currently work with include:
- other government departments
- Local Authorities (LAs)
- skills and employability partners.
We also work in partnership with the business community throughout Great Britain.
The partners and partnerships mentioned below are predominantly relevant to England. There will, however, be equivalent partners and partnerships in both Wales and Scotland who will be entitled to expect and to receive from Jobcentre Plus an equally appropriate level of commitment.
Other government departments
Jobcentre Plus has established positive working relationships with a range of partners who have a role in the delivery of our non-employment (benefits) agenda.
Our partners include:
- Local Authorities
- Child Support Agency
- Disability and Carers Service
- HM Revenue and Customs
- The Pension Service
- The Tribunals Service.
Jobcentre Plus continues to develop its relationship with these key governmental business partners in order to improve benefits administration and tackle fraud and abuse.
Local Authorities
We share a number of important objectives with local authorities, and have a particular interest in supporting local economic regeneration through tackling worklessness.
Local Strategic Partnerships and new Local Area Agreements
We are committed to working in partnership with local authorities, Government Offices and Local Strategic Partnerships across England on the development of useful Sustainable Community Strategies and effective, realistic three-year Local Area Agreements (LAA).
These new LAAs replace the multiple national performance frameworks local authorities and others previously worked to set the priorities for their areas. Jobcentre Plus is one of the agencies given a statutory “duty to cooperate” with the development of the new Local Area Agreements, as well as a “duty to have regard” to the relevant Local Improvement Targets.
Scotland and Wales are not introducing the new LAAs.
City Strategy
City Strategy is a new approach for DWP and Jobcentre Plus, moving from a universal, nationally designed and contracted service provision towards one where national provision is supplemented by flexible and innovative locally designed services focused on the particular needs of local areas.
Local partners – including local authorities, private businesses, and third sector organisations, Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Councils – have formed consortia in 15 cities or city regions. These consortia are aligning funding streams, rationalising and joining up services, and commissioning services tailored to meet local needs.
In Scotland, the skills agenda is delivered by Skills Development Scotland, not Learning and Skills Councils.
The City Strategy is not principally about new money. It is about making better use of the existing investment in employment and skills at the local level.
The Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion has been commissioned to run a Learning Network for the City Strategy pathfinders. The Network will support the sharing of ideas and good practice between pathfinders, provide a challenge role to national and local partners and help to stimulate the development of innovative new thinking.
Working Neighbourhoods Fund
The Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF), which was launched as part of the local government settlement in late 2007, provides resources to local authorities for new approaches to tackling worklessness and low levels of skills and enterprise in their most deprived areas.
WNF has replaced Communities and Local Government's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, and also incorporates the Department for Work and Pension's Deprived Areas Fund.
The combination of these two funding streams into one has created a larger fund dedicated to tackling worklessness throughout England, as well as making local delivery of services much simpler.
Projects funded by WNF will be administered through Local Area Agreements (LAAs). Jobcentre Plus is working in partnership with Local Strategic Partnerships to develop, agree and support LAAs.
The new WNF, like the NRF, will cover England only. Existing funding for deprived areas in Wales and Scotland will continue.
For the 2008-09 financial year City Strategy Pathfinders will continue to receive their promised DAF contributions separately from WNF.
Skills and employability partners
Integrating employment and skills services
Jobcentre Plus works with a variety of partners to provide individuals with the tailored skills and employment support they need in a dynamic economy. This means transforming the way in which we deliver that support so that we maximise the expertise of all sectors, both nationally and locally. Locally, Jobcentre Plus, the LSC, local authorities and providers will increasingly need to show how they will bring existing services together to ensure that a seamless service of advice, support and training is offered, tailored to local labour market needs, in conjunction with local employers, and to the needs of individuals seeking work.
In Scotland, Skills Development Scotland, not Learning and Skills Councils, delivers the skills agenda. Jobcentre Plus in Scotland are working closely with SDS to develop an integrated employment and skills service.
Partnership is crucial to achieving this. Jobcentre Plus will build on the existing collaboration with the LSC, (SDS in Scotland) and the Sector Skills Councils to integrate our services and products for employment and skills, underpinned by a shared objective to move people into sustainable employment and progression.
Jobcentre Plus also want to draw upon the skills and expertise of partners across the public, private and voluntary sectors to deliver high quality, innovative services that are sensitive to local needs and are demand-led. Our partnership effort is flexible to support strategic economic development work with local authorities, RDAs, City Regions and new sub-regional partnerships including Employment and Skills Boards and the devolved administration in Scotland as appropriate.
Jobcentre Plus offers extensive labour market information and intelligence from its employer contacts, customer base and partnership with employment agencies. We also aim to ensure that the integration of employment and skills services is supported by alignment of the commissioning processes for both Departments and the Learning and Skills Councils.
