Speech by Sadiq Khan MP speaking at Inclusion's Local Works Convention, ACC Liverpool - 17 November 2008
Draft speaking notes - may differ from the delivered version.
Thank you for inviting me here today. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to so many partners involved in the delivery of the programmes that have a direct and significant impact of the lives of some of our nation's most disadvantaged residents.
Although my Department has a history of involvement with the Centre for Economic Inclusion and Local Works, I am new to this agenda and thankful for the opportunity to be involved in an event so central to the development and delivery of worklessness and skills interventions.
You will all be well aware that worklessness is a challenging agenda; this is particularly true in today's economic climate. As we face the realities posed by this climate it will be increasingly important for public services to deliver for those most in need of support.
The Government wants to ensure that no one is left behind. It is right that additional support should be provided to help newly unemployed get back to work. However we understand that if unemployment rises or particular sectors face downsizing, those groups that already face disadvantage in the labour market will become even less competitive. We therefore want to ensure that those long term workless groups do not become further dislocated from work and even more uncompetitive once the labour market recovers.
Communities and Local Government is committed to putting improved employment outcomes at the heart of our work to improve communities.
This matters for society because the poverty linked to worklessness divides our communities and deprives too many children of a fair chance in life. It matters for the national economy because employment supports economic growth. And it matters for the taxpayer because the cost of welfare diverts funds that could be used elsewhere.
We also know that the quality of people's lives is driven by employment, not just in terms of money and lifestyle but importantly health and the quality of the communities in which they live. This has a direct impact on a range of indicators across crime, education and the standard of the physical environment.
That's why we've put tackling worklessness and building economic opportunities at the heart of our approach to regeneration.
The recently published Regeneration Framework sets out a long term ambition to ensure that all regeneration - from building major infrastructure to building a local community - focuses on creating the economic opportunities that promote social mobility.
More immediately the Government wants to be as prepared as possible to face the challenges posed by current economic circumstances. That is why the Prime Minister has recently set up the National Economic Council (NEC) to co-ordinate economic policies across Government and to help deal with the economic uncertainties we all face.
We also want to ensure that Central Government is able to support communities, local and regional partners to respond quickly and effectively. The newly formed Council of Regional Ministers will be an essential part of this process liaising with the NEC to ensure that local, regional and sub-regional issues are genuinely reflected.
We know that the causes of worklessness differ widely from region to region, area to area and person to person. It follows, therefore, that as the problem becomes increasingly localised, the solution must be too.
A 'one size fits all' approach to public services is ineffective because it fails to help those that don't fit the standard model. It is for this reason that we have increasingly moved towards local flexibility, enabling services to be tailored to local circumstances and personalised to help each individual customer overcome their personal barriers to work.
Given current economic conditions, the case for local partnership working is stronger now than ever before. National, sub-regional, regional and local partners need to work together as effectively as they can to improve outcomes by aligning resources, targets and expert local knowledge.
But we believe that local partnerships could play a stronger role; in coordinating the range of services that local residents and businesses need; bringing together health, training, welfare, childcare, and housing into a comprehensive and seamless service that addresses all the barriers faced in their communities. The Third Sector, too, already play a significant role and have much to offer in delivering interventions for the long term workless.
In fact successful local partnerships are already demonstrating how greater coordination of resources and efforts can deliver improved outcomes for local residents and business.
Manchester for example is taking a 'no wrong door' approach to outreach and delivery. Harnessing flexible and mainstream funding, they are working with partners to think creatively about the ways in which they deliver their core business and how employability might be part of every partner's 'day job'.
Colleagues in the West Midlands City Strategy Pathfinder have mapped out who is responsible for each part of the customer journey, detailing the referral process and providing a single point of access for the City's employers. This 'hiding the wiring' simplifies the system making it as accessible for local residents and employers alongside maintaining a comprehensive range of services and support.
As the focal point of local leadership, the local authority, too, has a role wider than traditional employment focused delivery. We believe that they could drive local demand for labour through broader economic development activity, creating the right conditions to attract and retain employers to the area and to enable business growth.
This is an exciting time. The devolution agenda presents unprecedented opportunities to transform the delivery of worklessness and skills programmes and make a measurable impact on the lives of workless people.
We have already made great strides. Greater levels of control and resource have been devolved than ever before through Local Area Agreements and the Working Neighbourhoods Fund.
The Fund is real devolution in action; giving local partnerships the flexibility and resource to devise innovative locally tailored solutions to local problems based on a local understanding of the problem and the needs of their residents.
But we want to go further; where partnerships demonstrate the capacity and capability to do more we want to work with them to test how greater local control can deliver more effectively and more efficiently.
Through reform to the welfare system we have set out a clear message; something for something - greater support in return for greater conditionality. More for more. This approach applies equally to devolution of responsibility for delivering employment and skills. We want a new relationship between central and local government, one based on greater partnership approach to delivery.
This is not devolution for devolution sake; this is about making informed decisions as to who is best placed to deliver. It is not sufficient to simply state that more control and resources are needed locally - which is still too often the approach - partnerships need to be clear as to what they are asking us for, and how changes will benefit people and places.
We are ready to cede control where partnerships can demonstrate that they can do better. We are ready to delegate resources where partners show they can be more efficient and effective, but greater control must be balanced with responsibility and accountability.
In return for the devolution of resources and responsibility the Government is looking for greater accountability and evidence that local partners are able to deliver improved outcomes.
The targets that local authorities and their partners have set themselves across employment, skills and enterprise are ambitious. The challenge for local partnerships over the next 2 years will be to demonstrate that they offer additionality; that there is a reason to devolve responsibility and resource and that they are ready to take this on and make a difference. This is what we mean by earned autonomy and the basis for how we will work together to deliver devolution with accountability.
We do not expect local partnerships to deliver this alone. If the partnership between local and national Government is to be effective we need to ensure that partners are in a position to take more responsibility for delivering improved services for worklessness people.
If devolution is to be successful we need to build a shared approach to the delivery of local services that is as effective and efficient as it can be. Devolution is not about national Government washing its hands of its responsibilities. The Government is committed to ensuring that local partners have the capacity and 'tools' they need to deliver.
As part of this process, Minister for Local Government John Healey asked Councillor Stephen Houghton to examine how the Government can better support local partnerships to deliver more effective worklessness interventions.
You will hear more about the Review from Claire Dove and I won't steal her thunder. Stephen and his review team colleagues have taken an active approach; visiting local partnerships around the country to gain an understanding of the different approaches and barriers to tackling worklessness. Indeed they had a productive and interesting day visiting your colleagues here in Liverpool a short while ago. I know that they have found their visits invaluable in helping them to understand the challenges partnerships face.
The role that Stephen and the team are playing is important. Their work will inform the development of this 'shared' approach and identify how the partnership between national and local could be more effective. The more effective the approach, the more ambitious the outcomes for local workless people.
We are committed to working with local partners to overcome barriers preventing them delivering more for workless residents. The Review team will also help us to understand how we can work with partnerships to ensure that they have access to the support they need to deliver.
Stephen Houghton's emerging proposals seek to offer a balance between greater accountability and the Working Neighbourhood Fund's principles of devolved responsibility and local flexibility.
I understand that the Review team will be consulting on their recommendations shortly. I know that they will be most interested to hear what you think and so I encourage you to respond with your views. We look forward to seeing the final report in the New Year.
In conclusion, now more than ever before, local and national partners must work together to improve the lives of our most disadvantaged residents.
I am encouraged that the commitment, enthusiasm and drive to do more to enhance the skills and employment prospects of workless communities are mirrored at national, sub-regional and local levels.
The challenge now is to capitalise on this response to ensure that this translates into genuine change which makes a genuine difference to our most disadvantaged residents.
Copyright © 2025 · All Rights Reserved · Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation
Warning: Undefined array key "User_id" in /home/irrvnet/public_html/forumalert/inc_footer.php on line 4