Group Manager – Employability and Skills, Glasgow City Council
Unemployment is at historically low levels in Scotland, but there are still many who struggle to find and keep a job. This can include individuals with criminal convictions and individuals finishing custodial or community sentences. This affects not only those individuals, but their families and the economic development of the city.
In 2022 Glasgow launched its new Economic Strategy (2022-30) – You can CLICK ON THE PICTURE LINK below or SCAN THE QR CODE which will take you to the online Economic Strategy Document which you can read in full or click this link here.
DESCRIPTION – The Glasgow Economic Strategy 2022-2030 addresses the most pressing challenges and opportunities for Glasgow. It sets out the clearly defined actions that will be taken to deliver an inclusive, sustainable and more productive economy for Glasgow.
At the heart of Glasgow’s Economic Strategy is the inclusive growth agenda, which focuses on creating opportunities for all citizens. This means generating new pathways into skills and fair work, a priority that has never been more important. This priority cannot be overstated as we continue to weather the impacts of the pandemic and confront a cost-of living crisis that is weakening the fabric of our city.
The Economic Strategy outlines a roadmap for a holistic, all age employability structure that is based on individual need and aligned with the national No One Left Behind strategy – You can CLICK ON THE PICTURE LINK below, SCAN THE QR CODE or CLICK THIS LINK which will take you to the online publication. The Strategy also demonstrates a commitment to continuously improving the performance and impact of services through the creation of a quality standard for employability in Glasgow.
DESCRIPTION – This publication outlines the next stage of No One Left Behind – the collective approach to delivering an employability system which is flexible, joined up and responsive.
Glasgow’s Local Employability Partnership (LEP) provides the strategic direction for these employability priorities. You can read more about Local Employability Partnerships across the 32 Local Authorities in Scotland by CLICKING THIS LINK https://www.employabilityinscotland.com/partnership/our-partners/local-authorities/. It is through the leadership and governance of the Local Employability Partnership that the city is focused on addressing this challenge, building on past successes, and ensuring that outcomes are improved for all, especially those experiencing multiple barriers to employment. This means collaborating to identify local needs and make informed, evidence-based decisions that meet emerging local labour demands. The LEP’s Delivery Plan provides the framework for taking this forward.
DESCRIPTION – The visual directly above summarises Glasgow’s Local Employability Partnership Delivery Plan 2022-25
The success of employability services is due to the dedication of a rich network of providers and partners in the Local Employability Partnership. This includes partners within the justice system. The Local Employability Partnership visited HMP Barlinnie in October 2022, to review how collaboration across economic and justice partners can enhance local commitments to the No One Left Behind approach. Through the year there continued to be links between the Local Employability Partnership and partners within the justice system, significantly supported through our own ties to the Glasgow Community Justice Partnership and its network of Learning, Skills and Employability partners.
Moving forward, there is a realisation that the current service needs to be re-designed. To support the effective design and delivery of a person centred, needs led service, the Local Employability Partnership have adopted the use of the Scottish Approach to Service Design. This approach aims to empower and support the people of Scotland to actively participate in the definition, design and delivery of their public services.
To support this piece of work the Local Employability Partnership are working in collaboration with the Council’s Centre for Civic Innovation (CCI), who are a citizen centred design team responsible for establishing a design-led approach to the understanding of societal shifts and civic experiences within the city. Working alongside key partners, including justice partners, the Centre for Civic Innovation have been supporting the Local Employability Partnership to re-design and improve how services and different providers join up and collaborate across the employability journey in Glasgow. This is important because it will ensure better experiences and holistic individual care, better accessibility and inclusivity as well as better use of our resources.
Looking forward, the Centre of Civic Innovation are continuing to run interactive workshops and engagements, bringing together a wide range of representatives from different organisations. Planned focus groups with individuals in the justice system, alongside direct engagement with Prison and other justice delivery partners will ensure economic planning in the city reflects the breadth of need of the population. These sessions have been about understanding the existing structures and mechanisms in place to identify any gaps and opportunities for redesign and innovation.
It is possible to track our continued development and impact through the LEP Newsletter: https://invest-glasgow.foleon.com/employability/lep-newsletter-june2023/
Tom Jackson, head of Community Justice Glasgow commented:
“We know that people who come into contact with the Justice System have additional barriers to employment and indeed the employability pathways – including education, training, volunteering etc. There are often many complex issues that surround this, the same issues or drivers that often bring people into contact with the Justice System in the first instance. Economic inactivity is also very damaging in the wider sense of the impact on communities and the wider city economy. ItI makes sense to ensure that those who face additional barriers to the general population are given support to address those underlying issues and to participate in employability pathways and employment.
Our involvement in the Local Employability Partnership ensures that those individuals are considered and given a voice – through our knowledge and understanding and by facilitating direct input from those impacted through focus groups – to shape and the direction and delivery of services across Glasgow that can support them into employability and ultimately into work and make a more positive life for themselves and a more positive contribution to their city as a whole.”
