MD1612 Volunteering as a Route to Work Programmes

Background and Context:

1.1. The ‘Volunteering as a Route to Work’ initiative has been run by Team London for the last 2 years, supporting groups within Greater London that have higher rates of unemployment. The proposed three year investment will focus the programme on helping unemployed young people and ex-services personnel secure sustained employment, education and training outcomes.

1.2. For the purposes of this paper, the strand of the programme that supports unemployed young people is called 2Work. The strand of the programme that supports ex-services personnel is called Forces for Good. These programme names are subject to change depending on who is appointed as the delivery partner(s).

1.3. Team London’s ‘Volunteering as a Route to Work’ programmes support groups in London who are disproportionately affected by unemployment. The 2Work programme supports unemployed young people who are three times more likely to be unemployed than their adult counterparts. The Forces for Good programme supports veterans who are 10% more likely to be unemployed than their civilian counterparts.

Why is Team London suited to deliver the programme?

1.4. Team London’s ‘Volunteering as a Route to Work’ methodology is proven to deliver greater sustained EET outcomes than many other employment support programmes. With both 2Work and Forces for Good (FFG), Team London is leading the way in regards to volunteering being the key to developing the skills, networks, experience and confidence necessary to secure work. Through taking these models to scale, the GLA has a great opportunity to demonstrate innovation and successful progression rates in employment support.

1.5. In December 2015, London was awarded ‘European Volunteering Capital’. Through supporting new volunteering programmes the GLA is demonstrating its commitment to invest further in the agenda, and the value it brings to challenging unemployment.

1.6. A further rationale for the investment is that Team London occupies a unique space at the intersection of charities (current relationships with over 1,600 London charities), business (current partnerships with over 100 businesses) and volunteers (currently working with over 110,000 volunteers). As a consequence, Team London can create an employment support programme with direct progression into training, work and promotion.

Team London’s Track Record in Delivering Similar Projects

1.7. Team London first developed its Volunteering as a Route to Work methodology in January 2014. Since then it has run two pilot programmes: the first from April 2014 – March 2015 and the second from May 2015 to April 2016. Both pilots worked with young people to help them secure an EET outcome through volunteering.

1.8. The first pilot (co-funded by the GLA and ESF) cost £200,000 and delivered the following outputs/outcomes. The cost of each individual achieving a sustained EET outcome cost was £3,508:

1.9 There was an internal evaluation of the first pilot which highlighted several areas for improvement, which Team London subsequently implemented in the second pilot. These areas for improvement included:

• Setting a fixed number of volunteering hours that needs to be achieved
• Creating a clear system for participants to volunteer at Major Events
• Providing much stronger partner/project management structures to ensure that organisations were delivering.

1.10 The second pilot cost £100,000 and is currently in operation. The cost of each individual achieving an EET outcome cost is on track to be only £1,428 this time. To date, the pilot has delivered and will deliver the following:

1.11 A further Team London programme that demonstrates the power of volunteering in tackling youth unemployment is HeadStart London. Launching in June 2014, the programme has worked with six London businesses to achieve the following outcomes for 16-18 year old Londoners:

• Number of young people started volunteering: 2,318
• Total number YP completed 16 hours: 1,811
• Total number of volunteering hours: 37,961
• Attended Interview: 807
• Considered job ready: 543
• Secured Part Time/Seasonal Work: 262

1.12 The above figures – for the both the pilots and HeadStart – only reference the ‘harder’ employment outcomes. However, these projects have also demonstrated some powerful ‘softer’ outcomes, such as increased confidence, improved public speaking, and greater overall employability.

The Volunteering as a Route to Work Programme:

1.13 Team London will deliver the 2Work and FFG programmes in partnership with leading London charities and businesses. We will go to competitive tender to find the best delivery organisation for the programmes.

1.13.1 The competitive tender process will be guided by the strict guidelines issued by the European Social Fund

1.13.2 Partnership agreements with selected delivery partners will include necessary break clauses, should the financial situation of Team London change and we are no longer able to provide the match funding or if the new Mayor opts to cease the programmes.
1.13.3 Team London has spent the past 12 months ‘market warming’ and we have considerable interest from a large number of charities, social enterprises and businesses to support the programme.

1.14 In developing the Volunteering as a Route to Work programme, Team London spent 2015 conducting extensive research, interviews and focus groups to understand the existing provision identify where service gaps exist and learn how we can create a programme that delivers the greatest impact. In total, Team London met with:

• 35 charities
• 7 social enterprises
• 12 businesses

1.15 In addition to the volunteering component of the programme, which will be supported by Team London, the delivery organisation/s will also create ‘bespoke training plans’ (BTP) for the unemployed individuals they support on the programme. Support that will be offered through the BTPs include:

1.15.1 Mentorship – in the FFG programme, Team London will partner veterans with human-resources-specialist mentors to help them translate their military work experience for the civilian job market, whilst also helping them identify ideal careers. Team London will also investigate how employed veterans can also provide mentorship for the programme participants, in order to provide more holistic support.

1.15.2 Training – in both 2Work and FFG, Team London will appoint a delivery partner who can deliver high-quality, accredited training so that the participants are enabled to enter and remain in employment. Notably, Team London will also build business partnerships, especially within the FFG programme, to develop tailored training programmes for veterans returning to work.

1.15.3 Work Experience – through capitalising on Team London’s and the delivery organisation’s business networks, these programmes will also offer work experience opportunities to ease the transition into employment.

2.1

2.2

2.3 In addition to the above, Team London will also track the following outcomes/outputs:

- number of programme starts
- number of people volunteering at a Team London major event
- number of people entering employment, education or training
- number of people entering employment
- number of people sustaining education, employment and training (6 months or more)
- number of people sustaining employment (6 months or more)
- number of people who would volunteer again
- number of people who would recommend volunteering experience to family or friends
- number of first time volunteers

In FFG, we will also be tracking:

- number of successful mentoring relationships established
- number of businesses offering designated programmes to support veterans to work

Owing to the disproportionate number of men to women in the armed forces, the Forces for Good will inadvertently greater support men. Currently, women constitute 10% of the armed forces.

4.1. The Volunteering as Route to Work programmes support the Mayor’s vision for London:

4.1.1. “Through Team London, help and encourage Londoners to volunteer and do something great for their city.”

Between 2Work and FFG, this programme will support 1,620 Londoners to volunteer over three years. The volunteers will collectively log 13,600+ hours to support London’s charitable projects.

4.1.2. “Create the next generation of volunteers by increasing social action among young people – and in doing so, tackle youth unemployment.”

All young people who want to participate in 2Work must complete 10 hours of volunteering to help them develop skills, confidence, experiences and networks, in order to gain paid employment. Through 2Work, Team London will support 648 young people to an EET outcome and 540 of those will sustain for 6 months.

4.1.3. “To give all Londoners the opportunity to take part in London's economic success, access sustainable employment and progress in their careers.”

In addition to the employment outcomes listed above, FFG will support 270 veterans into sustained employment over the three years of the programme. Equally, through providing the veterans mentors, the programme will ensure that the veterans not only sustain but progress in their careers.

4.2 Key Risks and Mitigation

5.1 Approval is requested for expenditure of up to £1.35m to extend the Volunteering as a Route to Work Programme. The GLA is being asked to fund £0.375m over 3 years and underwrite an additional £0.3m of sponsorship income. The remaining £0.675m will be sourced through European Social Fund match funding. The spending profile is expected to be as follows:-

5.2 The GLA element will be funded from the Team London Volunteering to Work budget in 2015/16 and the indicative 2016/17 Volunteering into Work budget of £0.22m, which is subject to approval as part of the 2016/17 GLA Budget Process.

5.3 While it is expected that Team London will raise £0.15m in external funding in 2016/17 and a further £0.15m in 2017/18, this will need to be underwritten by the GLA. In the event that budgeted external funding cannot be raised, the shortfall will need to have first call on the Team London programme budget, and the programme will need to be scaled back to reflect funding levels or the GLA will be required to fund the shortfall from corporate resources.

6.1 The proposals set out in this paper fall within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things as may be considered to promote, or be facilitative of or conducive to the promotion of health, economic development and environmental improvement in Greater London.

6.2 In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers should comply with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of the health of persons and the reduction of health inequalities between persons in Greater London, and contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
c) consult with appropriate bodies.

6.3 Section 1 above indicates that the contribution of funding amounts to the provision of grant funding and not payment for works, supplies or services. Officers must ensure that:

a) the funding is distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities and in manner which affords value for money in accordance with the Contracts and Funding Code; and
b) appropriate funding agreements are put in place between and executed by the GLA and the recipients of the funding before any commitment to fund is made.

6.4 If the proposed funding and programme period extend beyond the current Mayoral term officers must also observe the principle that an incumbent administration should not unreasonably fetter the discretion of any future administration, ensuring that all of the funding and contract documentation contain provisions enabling the GLA to terminate at any point for convenience and milestones and payments should be structured so as to minimise the impact of the exercise of such termination rights.