Homelessness and employability – a Scottish perspective

1. Homelessness and employability –a Scottish perspective

2. Vision • ‘All of Scotland’s people should have access to good quality, warm and affordable housing. Everyone has the right to a home – a space of their own where they can enjoy privacy and family life.’ • Malcolm Chisholm MSP Homes for Scotland’s People 2005

3. Vision • “In 10 years time, we can look forward to a Scotland in which every homeless person has a basic right to somewhere decent to live, and receives all the appropriate support and healthcare they need to sustain their home.” • Margaret Curran Minister for Social Justice, Sept 2002

4. What it means • Change in Culture • Prevention and Sustainability • Person centred approach • Solutions cross professional disciplines

5. HTF Recommendations • Recommendation 50 • Improve gateways for homeless people to mainstream employment services and programmes • Systematic skills auditing of homeless people • Ensuring easy access to employment services for homeless people

6. Recommendation 51 • Jobcentre plus and executive and New Deal Task Force to engage employers in developing employment initiatives aimed at vulnerable and homeless people • Wider employer participation in transitional employment programmes for homeless people • Support for participating employers with emphasis on smaller employers • Enlist business networks to promote initiatives

7. Recommendation 52 • Public Sector employers to examine ways of creating and expanding work opportunities for homeless people

8. Recommendation 53 • Transitional employment programmes should be piloted to test creation of new work incentives for homeless people • Pilots should test flexibility around housing benefit payments to overcome poverty/benefits trap • UK Ministers should consider removing benefits hurdles

9. Recommendation 54 • A clear action plan to be developed to transfer successful service elements from New Futures Fund onto a permanent footing over next three years

10. How we are progressing nationally – according to HMG reports • “Amber” light: “ongoing activity in progress” on all of these • SHEN set up • Employability framework imminent

11. Specific Work – the national view • 50 Progress2Work link up • 50 early access to New Deal for homeless people • 50 flexibility for jobcentre plus staff • 51 Business Action on homelessness – mainly large companies • 51 SME specialist business manager appointed • 52 Closing the opportunity gap: some limited progress e.g. in NHS • 53 Housing Benefit reforms imminent: may remove some barriers • 54 NFF: more short term reprieves

12. Specific work – the view from the grass roots • Benefits hurdles remain as obstacles to employment • Employers’ perceptions of client group • Need one co-ordinating agency • Lack of awareness of skills of homeless people • Other structural barriers

13. Issues • Who will take responsibility for NFF type activities at Scottish Level? • Will longer term work for those far from labour market get permanent funding? • Who should lead on employability in Local Authority homelessness strategies? • Who pays? • Specialist activity versus mainstream – getting the balance right • Will we ever ask homeless applicants : are you in work?

14. Opportunities • Homelessness Monitoring Group • SHEN • DWP 5 year strategy

15. DWP 5 year strategy • Aspirational target of 80% of the working population in work • “we will continue to develop additional support targeted at those with specific or multiple needs …..ex-offenders, people with drug or alcohol problems, the homeless and refugees.”