Future Jobs Fund

Opportunity for Community Alliance members to receive funding to employ 18-24 year olds: Bids are now open for the Future Jobs Fund. This scheme has £1.2billion to fund 150,000 new jobs for young people and is looking for bids from charities, social enterprises and large third sector organisations. In particular, it is looking for partnership bids.

Introduction

Is your organisation part of an established consortium or partnership?

Does your organisation have the capacity for additional jobs?

Do you want to forge stronger links with your local authorities or with other third sector organisations?

Does your organisation have expertise in supporting youth employment and apprenticeship schemes?

The jobs created by the Future Jobs Fund are aimed primarily at young people who have been out of work for a year, as part of the Young Person’s Guarantee. This is a government commitment that from 2010 all young people who have been out of work for a year will be given the opportunity to work or train for six months. The decision to create an additional 150,000 jobs, mainly for young people, has been taken to mitigate against the impact of long term unemployment for young people. Research from the last recession showed that young people who were unemployed for longer than 12 months were more likely to remain long-term unemployed.

The Department of Work and Pensions has £1.2billion to fund this guarantee until the end of March 2011. This short outline provides more details for community anchors who might be interested in applying to participate in this scheme by bidding for the Future Jobs Fund.

Young person’s guarantee of a job includes:

Future Jobs Fund – why should Alliance members get involved?

The fund is open to absolutely anyone but the third sector has been targeted in an attempt to offer young people who live in deprived areas meaningful work in organisations that exist to deliver tangible social, physical and cultural benefits.

The fund is an opportunity for community anchors to have an immediate impact on the economic and wider wellbeing of the young people living in their neighbourhoods by receiving £6,500 for each 6 month term of employment created. Community anchors will also have the opportunity to develop their own organisation by improving their knowledge of the local labour market, strengthen links with local job centres to share local labour market intelligence and develop formal partnerships with other organisations.

Details of the fund and spread of jobs

• 100,000 specifically aimed at 18-24 year olds
• 50,000 in unemployment hotspots[2] (not necessarily among young people)
• 10,000 “green” jobs
• The fund can be used for apprenticeships as longs as the bid meets certain criteria (see below)
• The fund is not eligible to fund self-employment schemes
• £6,500 will be paid in stages, with some upfront capital to cover costs. If an individual leaves mid-way through then remaining funding is suspended until the space is filled.

Application process

• Bids are now open and the first deadline for jobs starting Oct 09 to Mar 10 is June 30^th
• The next deadline is 31^st September 2009 for jobs starting in April 10 to Sept 10
• Government Offices have been instructed to advise on local partnerships that might already exist and provide a brokerage service. This will in the first instance involve a named contact who will help refine bids. Please contact ACEVO or DWP at the addresses provided at the end of this document for more information.
• Decisions on successful bids will be made within 12 weeks of applying so a timetable of when jobs will start needs to be included with the bid
• The Job Centre is the main referral point for vacancies created by the Fund and employers can reject unsuitable candidates. Individuals that are referred through other sources can be offered a placement.

Additional information on consortia bids

This fund might not be suitable for every community anchor but for those who can demonstrate they meet at least the minimum criteria it is worth thinking about the partnerships that may be involved and how they are presented. A consortia bid needs to have a lead bidder who agrees to take on legal accountability and responsibility to deliver the fund. Given the scale of the fund, a local authority lead bidder is very likely, and anchors are encouraged to start investigating consortia bidding with their local authorities as soon as possible. The lead bidder needs to demonstrate it has a good relationship with its partners; at the least they must be able to name them all and all partners should have signed a formal agreement. Non-lead partners do not need to be named in the bid.

Finally, ensure your bid is a serious one – this is not meant to be a bid for cheap labour, applicants must demonstrate a serious intention to develop and support individuals

Contact information

Kieran Drake, Employment Projects Division, DWP

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/futurejobsfund/index.asp

Email: future.jobsfund@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

For detailed bid advice from ACEVO[3]

Nick McAllister, Procurement & Commissioning Executive

T: 0207 280 4937 E: nick.mcallister@acevo.org.uk

Futurebuilders is also offering support and guidance: http://www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk/news-and-events/futurebuilders-news/nedd-help-with-bidding-for-dwp-future-jobs-fund?/

Commissioning Support Service

T: 0207 280 4937

E: commissioning.support@acevo.org.uk

[1] http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2009/business-plan2009-2010.pdf

[2] A hotspot is defined as a place where unemployment is 1.5% above the national average. The place could be a village, town, borough or district and is up to the bidder to justify how this has been calculated.

[3] ACEVO, Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, instigated the Jobs Fund idea with the DWP.