Background
The Kent Equal Employability Partnership (KEEP) was one of 77 Development
Partnerships in the UK funded under the first round of the EQUAL
programme. This programme is a part of the European Social Fund
and has allocated over £1.75 million to the KEEP partners
over the period 2001- 2005, to fund activities designed to help
those disadvantaged and/or disabled people in Kent to enter training
and sustainable, long-term employment.
The EQUAL programme is being administered by ECOTEC consultancy,
who are working on behalf of the Department
for Work and Pensions. For further information on the EQUAL
programme and the other EQUAL projects in the UK, you can visit
the ECOTEC website.
The Links section of this site
contains lists of other websites with information on the EQUAL programme.
Other useful reference material on KEEP is contained in the documents
and resources section of this site.
Project aim
KEEP's aim was to develop and transfer new methods of supporting
people from several disadvantaged groups to gain and retain employment.
It formed an intermediary network which brings together unemployed
members of disadvantaged groups with employers, on the basis of
the employers needs for skills, and the unemployed people's needs
for support. KEEP did not duplicate existing training provision,
but involved more members of disadvantaged groups into training
and employment support, and provided ongoing support to those who
were placed in work.
Target groups
KEEP worked with the following disadvantaged groups:
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Long-term unemployed people living in Ashford, Dartford,
Dover, Maidstone, Shepway, Swale and Thanet (these districts
are in the 157 most deprived in the UK)
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People across Kent with specific disadvantages including:
-
-
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Learning or physical disability
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Ethnic minorities, including refugees.
These groups were chosen because local and national research
shows these groups experience the most disadvantage in the labour
market. As KEEP developed approaches suitable across a range of
disadvantaged people, its activities could be extended to other
groups as the project progressed.
These people face common barriers to employment, including:
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Lack of self-confidence and motivation to seek work
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Lack of relevant work experience, skills and qualifications,
opportunity in the local labour market and supported work
opportunities
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Discrimination by employers
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Inflexibility in the employment support and benefits system
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-
KEEP's overall aim was to develop and transfer new methods of
supporting people from a variety of disadvantaged groups to gain
and retain employment. It achieved this by forming a network bringing
together members of disadvantaged groups, employers, training
providers and specialist support services into an integrated,
intermediary, partnership service for disadvantaged, unemployed
people in Kent.
This contribute to achieving the aim of Theme A of the EQUAL
programme; "to test and promote new means of combating all
forms of discrimination and inequality in the labour market".
KEEP brought together 15 partners from private public and voluntary
sectors. The partnership focused on the 7 districts in Kent that
appeared in the list of the 157 most deprived in the country,
and worked with specific disadvantaged groups, including long-term
unemployed people, people with learning and physical disabilities,
people with mental health problems, and people recovering from
addiction.
KEEP met EQUAL's priorities in the following ways:
-
Innovation - this was the first time that an intermediary
organisation for the employment of disadvantaged groups has
been developed through a partnership of the relevant agencies
across a large county.
-
Equal opportunities - a focus on the most disadvantaged groups,
and adoption of recognised best practice through the Equal
Opportunities Action Plan.
-
Transnational co-operation - joint development of transferable
services with European partners who have shown success in
integrating disadvantaged groups into work in Italy and in
Greece.
-
Mainstreaming - activities will provide valuable policy lessons
for the New Deal, the National Strategy for Neighbourhood
Renewal, the new programme of employment support to people
recovering from addictions and for organisations working with
disadvantaged groups across the country.
-
Empowerment - the use of innovative methods to involve service
users in the design, delivery, management and evaluation of
the partnership.
KEEP promoted the employability of disadvantaged groups through
three types of services:
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Support through transitions into employment
-
Development of social firms.
Each of these services was developed in partnership, and made
available to all beneficiaries in KEEP. Engagement and achievement
in these services was be supported by an intervention fund to
enable disadvantaged people to participate and progress.
These services assisted people to move along the pathway to employment:
[unemployed, not ready for training] ; [unemployed, no qualification,
ready to train] ;[unemployed, prevocational qualification] ; [unemployed,
NVQ level 1] ; [unemployed, NVQ level 2] ; [work experience] ;
[entry to a paid job] ; [retention of a job for over 6 months].
The specific objectives of KEEP in Action 2 were:
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To engage 772 people from the target disadvantaged groups
in the activities of the partnership by May 2004.
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To help 70% of beneficiaries move at least one step along
the pathway to work, as described above, by May 2004.
-
To help 30% of beneficiaries to move two or more steps
along the pathway by May 2004.
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To support 315 beneficiaries into paid employment by May
2004.
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To help 70% of beneficiaries who achieve employment to
retain their job for at least 6 months.
The success of KEEP in achieving these objectives has demonstrated
the value of developing intermediary organisations through a
partnership of local agencies from various sectors. The lessons
of this partnership will be disseminated for mainstreaming at
regional, national and European levels.
Benefits for project participants
The partnership formed an intermediary organisation which links
members of the various disadvantaged groups to jobs. This organisation
provided a one-stop-shop for both employers and members of disadvantaged
groups who were looking for work in the target areas of Kent.
This intermediary organisation provided clients with:
-
development and transfer of systems for developing and accrediting
"soft skills" (e.g. self-confidence, communication,
problem solving).
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involvement of hard-to-reach groups in informal learning opportunities
in environments in which they already feel comfortable, as an
introduction to accredited learning.
-
Testing the use of innovative, additional features which boost
success rates in training provision for members of disadvantaged
groups, such as in-depth counseling and specialist support based
on psychometric assessment
-
helping members of disadvantaged groups to access jobs in nearby
areas of high job growth through making connections and providing
transport between employers and disadvantaged job-seekers
-
provision of low-cost computers and free IT training in order
to develop IT skills and enable members of disadvantaged groups
to access online training and search for jobs from their own
homes
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in-job, post-placement support in order to help members of
disadvantaged groups to retain employment
-
advice and support to employers and disadvantaged job-seekers
on equal opportunity issues
-
marketing to employers to help them see the benefits to their
company of looking for employees from a wider range of applicants
-
cost-benefit analysis of the outcomes of these new services
These activities were adapted to the needs of each of the individual
target groups, and each had elements that were common to all groups
(e.g. accreditation systems, employer marketing and liaison, IT
support, cost-benefit analysis).
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