Future Jobs Fund - creating job opportunities for young, long term unemployed people in Swindon
Working in partnership with organisations from the community and voluntary sectors the Council has submitted two bids to the Government's new £1.1 billion Future Jobs Fund. This is a new approach to create jobs and provide hope for young people and long term jobseekers and we want to use this to assist the Swindon Strategic Partnership to deliver against its aims and objectives.
Second bid
Swindon Borough Council submitted a second bid to the Government's Future Jobs Fund at the end of September 2009. This bid draws together 17 projects and proposes to create 139 jobs for long term unemployed young people. Projects are across a range of local organisations, and across the Community Strategy, and include roles to:
- support the new Youth Centre.
- assistance to both Colleges and all the Borough's Secondary schools.
- It also includes projects with Nationwide Building Society and RWE nPower to assist them with the provision of support to projects in the Swindon community. The project is a key element of the SSEP's commitment to working with young people in order meet business needs.
The first bid, submitted in July, which has now been approved, proposed the creation of 92 jobs for young people. If our second bid is successful a total of 231 jobs will be created over the 18 months of the programme.
For more details please speak to David Evans, Head of Economic Development.
First bid
The first bid identified 92 jobs within 13 projects in Swindon between October 2009 and April 2011. The projects cover a range of service areas, including:
- Recycling of ICT equipment
- Engaging communities and hard to reach groups
- Inspiring young people
- Supporting Homeless People
- Managing the Borough's green heritage
- Improving the town centre
- Developing Swindon's economy
- Cooking for people in disadvantaged parts of Swindon
- Working with people with disabilities
- Engaging young people in the arts and culture
- Conserving our natural environment
- Community Radio - Swindon 105.5 fm
- Mapping Swindon's road network
Long-term youth unemployment has risen considerably in Swindon since the Recession kicked in. Government statistics show that in April 2008 there were 80 Job Seeker Allowance claimants aged 18-24 who had been claiming in excess of 6 months. In April 2009, this figure had risen over 300% to 245.
The July 2009 submission, totalling £598,000, was the first of a series of bids, and it is anticipated that further bids will be submitted over the next few months. The proposed jobs are fully funded for 6 months at a time and there is no obligation on the project to continue the employment beyond that period. The project Manager is, however, required to give 'on the job' training and supervision in order to enhance the future career prospects of the beneficiaries. The job must be a new position, for a minimum of 25 hours per week and must not be funded currently.
If you know of a project or service that is in line with the Swindon Community Strategy, and which could benefit from employing a young person, contact David Evans in the Economic Development team at Swindon Borough Council on 01793 466421 (daevans@swindon.gov.uk).