working_capital_issue_28

WORKING
CAPITALThe magazine of Edinburgh’s Joined Up For Jobs Partnership
Issue 28 April 11
www.joinedupforjobs.org.uk
Get on at Get On
The services helping
people into the workplace
Launch of the Edinburgh
Strategic Skills Pipeline
Building on ten years
of partnership working

02 Contents
06 Strategy: The launch of
the Edinburgh Strategic
Skills Pipeline
Produced for the City of Edinburgh Council by
Bonnington Mill, 72 Newhaven Road, Edinburgh EH6 5QG
Tel 0131 476 2502
Stepping up a gear
P
ublic spending in the UK, as has been widely
reported over the past 12 months, has come under
forensic review and the working budgets within the
City of Edinburgh Council have been no exception.
Part of the solution to cutting back on costs sees the launch of
our new Integrated Employability Service. It builds on over ten
years of partnership working under the Joined Up For Jobs
(JUFJ) network.
The aim of the service is to
work towards better alignment
of Council spend to deliver
the best possible value on
investment. On page 6,
we explain more about the
initiative. The focus of the
programme will be on creating real or virtual delivery hubs
which will report their activity through the Caselink
management information system.
Since its launch in 2009, the web-based system has been very
successful in achieving its aims. Read more about the positive
change Caselink has brought to the JUFJ network on page 12.
Maintaining reputation and quality have always been
important benchmarks for our employability organisations.
In 2009, Jenny Ewing from Capital City Partnership helped set
up the Joined Up For Jobs’ Customer Charter. It was established
as an evaluation framework for organisations to go through as
evidence that they provide excellent levels of customer care.
The Charter has proved a very valuable standard and now it’s
set to become even more valuable with the introduction of a new
Charter Plus level. Find out more on page 10.
All of these issues demonstrate the breadth and depth of the
important work carried out through the Joined Up For Jobs
network. We are delighted to be able to bring you the highlights
in Working Capital.
I hope you enjoy this edition of Working
Capital. Later this year, we’re taking the
opportunity to relaunch the magazine to
make it even more informative for you, so
look out for a new-look publication in the
summer.
“Delivering
the best possible
value on
investment
”
Councillor Tom Buchanan
Convener of the Economic
Development Committee, and
Chair of Capital City Partnership.
News: Updates from
around the JUFJ
network
04
Talking point:
Untangling the welfare
benefits system
14
Employee experiences:
Connected and its vital
work
08
Employer perspectives:
The Joined Up For
Jobs’ Customer Charter
Plus level
10
Charting progress:
We take a look back at
the work of Caselink
12

Welcome 03
Editorial Group
This magazine is edited and published
for the Economic Development Unit,
the City of Edinburgh Council, and is
supported by the following editorial
group, representing the key partners
in Edinburgh’s Jobs Strategy.
Rona Hunter – Co-editor
Shona McAllister – Co-editor
The City of Edinburgh Council
www.edinburgh.gov.uk
Dughall Laing
Real Jobs, The Action group
www.actiongroup.org.uk
Jenny Ewing
Capital City Partnership
www.capitalcitypartnership.org
Alastair Paul
Skills Development Scotland
www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk
Roger Horam
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce
www.edinburghchamber.co.uk
John Scott
Jobcentre Plus
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
Bruce Penman
Lothian Colleges Group
Get in touch
To amend or add to mail lists:
visit Join our Network on
To contribute or respond to
Working Capital magazine content:
tel 0131 529 4256
07825 274 174
We strive to reflect the
diverse views of a
voluntary partnership
and while every effort
is made to ensure
that all information
is accurate, no legal
responsibility is
taken by the City of
Edinburgh Council for any errors,
omissions or misleading information.
BACK ISSUES ARE AVAILABLE AS
PDF DOCUMENTS, DOWNLOADABLE FROM
THE JOINED UP FOR JOBS WEBSITE AT
WWW.JOINEDUPFORJOBS.ORG.UK
COVER STORY, SEE PAGE 8
The most recent Joined Up For
Jobs Forum took place on 11
February at the Business Centre in the
City Chambers.
Dughall Laing chaired the Forum
and Carena Brogan started the
meeting by giving the
Job Strategy Update. She
informed the group that
the Council received a
letter prior to Christmas
letting staff know that a
planned £2.4 million
budget would not be
awarded to the Edinburgh
Partnership.
Jim O’Rorke from the Scottish
Government Employability Team
then gave an update on the Scottish
Government’s Employability Learning
Network which provides a voice
for the third sector. These forums
include the Scottish Employability
Forum, the Health and Employability
Delivery Group and the Third Sector
Employability Forum.
Marion Joass from Jobcentre Plus
later gave a presentation to highlight
the changes to the benefits system
– and in particular, Incapacity Benefits.
Andy Jack (Link Group) was next up
and he gave a presentation on
Community Benefits Clauses and the
potential work in Edinburgh of the
Link Group. Discussion then followed
around potential
contracts and links
to the community.
Later, Dughall Laing
gave an update on his
meeting with Ken Shaw.
Ken had requested that
the Forum be aware that
2011 is a transitional period. The
introduction of the Single Outcome
Agreement and a commitment to a
more contractual approach to services
within the context of significant policy
changes at UK level will drive a
change in focus for the services the
council will invest in.
Finally, Jenny Ewing updated the
Forum on staff development needs,
and gave an update about the
Customer Charter. She added that
Charter Plus has now been drafted
and would be launched after a pilot
group has tested the assessment pack.
MORE See www.joinedupforjobs.co.uk
February Forum
Demonstrate a case for funding >
WORKING CAPITAL
Issue 28 April 11
For the past three years, the
team at Skills Path has been
mailing out the thousands of copies
of Working Capital.
The competitive and flexible
mailing service saves customers
time, resources and valuable space.
The mailing of the magazine is
part of a work-training placement
for people with learning disabilities.
People gain experience of providing
a service to customers and, as a
result, develop the employability
skills of working as part of a team,
communication, following
instructions and other skills.
At the end of an 18-month
placement, staff are supported to
move on to a work-related activity.
Skills Path’s customers are from
the private, public and third sector
across Edinburgh. Skills Path is
looking to develop its customer base
and range of jobs provided. Some of
its other services include mailing
distribution and leaflet storage and
distribution.
MORE Email Skills Path
at skillspath@btconnect.com or
tel 0131 659 5532 for more
information about training
placements or for a low-cost quote.
WORKING
C
W
The magazine of Edinburgh’s Joined Up For Jobs Partnership
Issue 27 January 11
Work is the
way forwardIn support of both employersand employees
Impact of the recessionStatistics from the Monitoring Poverty andSocial Exclusion in Scotland 2010 report
“2011 is a
transitional
period
”
Learn at Skills Path

04 News
Edinburgh charity Passport
Project was announced as a winner
of the Guardian Christmas Charity
Awards 2010 at the end of November.
The award recognises projects
making a big impact on young people
at risk – identifying that this group
will be hit hard by public spending
cuts. Passport supports the most
vulnerable young people including care
leavers and young offenders leaving
Polmont Young Offenders Institute who
will be living in Glasgow and
Edinburgh. The project receives
funding from Capital City Partnership,
Edinburgh Partnership/ESF and
Robertson Trust/SERCO.
Between the project start in 2007 and
September 2010, Passport worked with
a total of 597 young people (aged 15½-
24-years-old), with 272 gaining SQA
qualifications; 65 securing employment;
93 moving onto college and a further
134 moving on to vocational training
programmes and work placements.
Sian Fiddimore, Chief Executive
Officer of Access to Industry, says she
is delighted the charity was chosen as
a winner.
She adds: “It’s a success for the
project, our partners and the
achievements of our young people.
The sector faces a challenging future
with funding change and public
funding cuts. However, we are
committed to supporting vulnerable
young people helping them make the
transition from care, overcome
offending barriers, addiction and
homelessness and progress onto
positive and fulfilling lives.”
MORE
Visit www.accesstoindustry.co.uk/
passport.html
Below (L-R): Raymond Keith, Sean Hewat, Kenny MacAskill, Jimmy O’Connell
Passport to
Charity Award YES to the YEG project
Arecent event in Craigmillar
celebrated the successes of
a project to help young people
set up in business for
themselves.
Kenny MacAskill
MSP and Councillor
Tom Buchanan were
among those present
to hear the
testimonies of two
young people who
have received support
from the Young Enterprise Guide
(YEG) project.
Sean Hewat became self-
employed as an electrician after
being made redundant and
Raymond Keith is about to launch
his own photography business.
One crucial ingredient to the
success of YEG has been links with
employability service providers
operating within local communities
and neighbourhoods. The project
places particular emphasis on
engaging with young people
(16-24-years-old) who are not in
education, training or employment.
Since it started in
July 2009, the YEG
project has assisted
over 500 young
people and 245 of
them have gone on
to self-employment.
The project is funded
by The City of
Edinburgh Council
and delivered by Edinburgh
Chamber of Commerce. Other key
stakeholders include The Prince’s
Scottish Youth Business Trust and
Business Gateway.
MORE For further information
or to make a referral, please
contact Jimmy O’Connell at
Edinburgh Chamber of
Commerce on 0131 221 7512 or
email jimmy.o’connell@
edinburghchamber.co.uk
“The YEG
project has
assisted over
500 young
people
”
Passport student James Keenan (left)
working at Maclaren Autobody with
Robert Maclaren

Edinburgh was the venue for
this year’s European Offender
Employment Forum at the end
of March with the City Chambers
playing host to around 120
delegates from eight European
countries.
Councillor Tom Buchanan
welcomed the delegates saying that
he was delighted that Edinburgh
had been chosen to host the event
and hoped that the work
undertaken during the two-day
event would act as a catalyst for
further initiatives aimed at helping
people to get over a very difficult
barrier to employment.
The conference focused on:
• IT-based solutions for
learning, skills and jobs
• preparing offenders
for future jobs
• matching labour supply
and demand
• addiction (drug and alcohol).
Workshops covering these areas
were delivered by organisations
such as Apex Scotland and the
Scottish Prison Service and there
were also visits for delegates to
HMP Edinburgh, HMP Polmont
and Craigie Farm.
Delegates later attended an
evening reception at Greyfriars
Kirk hosted by the Cabinet
Secretary for Justice, Kenny
MacAskill.
MORE A DVD of the
conference was produced by
students from Access to Industry
and can be viewed by going to
CESI’s website:
www.cesi.org.uk
Britain Works, the Microsoft
initiative helping people develop
digital skills for the workplace,
successfully engaged with over
200 Edinburgh residents from October
to December 2010 to enable them to
access free elearning.
With the City of Edinburgh Council’s
Employability and Skills team acting
as the distributor of the free vouchers,
projects from the Joined Up For Jobs
network were able to offer their clients
four levels of support, ranging from
Microsoft digital literacy training for
individuals new to computing through
to technical training for professionals
in information technology.
MORE Visit www.microsoft.com/
uk/britainworks/britainworks.aspx
News 05WORKING CAPITAL
Issue 28 April 11
Catalyst for further initiatives
European
Offender
Employment
Forum
tackles
barriers
Aceremony held last
December marked
the end of the Get On
After Leaving School
(GOALS) initiative.
Seven youngsters took
part in the overall
programme. The
Employability and Personal
Development course ran over ten weeks
and proved to be an extremely
worthwhile opportunity for those who
took part.
Particular achievements were the five
youngsters who gained their
Community Sports Leadership Award
and the four youngsters who gained
their Head Start First Aid.
Since GOALS, four young people
have started college, one has entered
employment and two are applying for
jobs. In conjunction with the Volunteer
Centre and Edinburgh’s Telford College,
three are also due to start volunteering
in sport and social care.
MORE The programme was run in
partnership between Apex Scotland
and the City of Edinburgh Council.
For further information, please
contact Stuart Macfarlane,
Employability and Skills on 0131 529
7042 or email stuart.macfarlane@
edinburgh.gov.uk
Karen Kane (left) and Chelsea King on the course
Delivering on digital
Seven youngsters took part
in the overall programme
GOALS
achieved

06 Strategy
The new Integrated Employability
Service builds on over ten years of
partnership working under Joined Up
For Jobs, working towards a better
alignment of council spend centred
around the CPP Strategic Skills
Pipeline programme. The new model
is being built around the following
criteria:
• It will be a sustainable employability
model that is responsive to labour
market need, drives continuous
improvement and delivers best
value on investment.
• It will bring improvement in the
clarity, quality and effectiveness
of the service that is provided to
customers.
• It will provide clarification of the
roles and responsibilities of the
partners and stakeholders to reduce
duplication and inefficiencies.
• It will strengthen economic actions
within the city’s community
planning structures as part of a
co-ordinated effort on poverty
reduction.
The focus of the Edinburgh and
Midlothian programme will be on
creating real or virtual delivery hubs.
These will include a range of support
services co-located in single premises
or virtually. Each hub will report their
activity through the Caselink
The main hubs will form the core
infrastructure of the Strategic Skills
Pipeline for Edinburgh and
Midlothian:
Key transitions
The model is built upon key transitions
with a focus on ensuring sustainable
interventions at all stages.
Assessment and service
matching
A further key transition point in the
pipeline allowing for accurate
matching of clients to appropriate
interventions.
Progress centre
This provides a resource to all
participants completing vocational
training in the city. National providers
can also refer participants completing
their programmes to the Progression
Centre using Caselink. In addition, it
will be the single point of contact for
employers as part of Edinburgh’s Offer
to Employers. This will contribute to
providing a pipeline job brokerage
service relating to Stage 4 activity.
It is also intended to initiate and
increase in-work progression, training
and support in line with Stage 5
activity.
Specialist interventions
The Edinburgh and Midlothian
pipeline is further supported by a
range of specialist partner activity
Edinburgh Strategic
Skills Pipeline
An update on the
Here we take a look at the reasons behind this new development.
• Mobile unit: A mobile
information gateway service that
reaches out to all parts of the city
with a particular focus on areas of
disadvantage. The Get On Unit
may also be deployed to areas of
need in Midlothian as part of the
Stage 1 activity. All referrals to
services made via Caselink.
• Contact centre: The contact
centre is currently in
development and will be an
entirely new gateway service that
provides a freephone service to
clients seeking initial advice and
support. The contact centre can
also be used by clients in
Midlothian, connecting them to
their local services. Referrals to
services made via Caselink.
• Info points and IES centres:
Permanent information points
based in local neighbourhoods are
currently being developed to
enable an integrated service and
to complement the Get On mobile
unit. Referrals to services made
via Caselink.
• Website (online self-referral):
Online self referral and assess-
ment option for clients to access
support is also in development.
Get On Gateway – Stage 1 engagement
“The Strategic Skills Pipeline will
bring quality to the service that is
provided to customers
”

Strategy 07
WORKING CAPITAL
Issue 28 April 11
Creating real or virtual delivery hubs
Edinburgh Strategic Skills Pipeline
Contact centre
(telephone/text)
Stage 1
Proactive early
engagement with
potential clients
including marketing,
outreach, initial
guidance and
signposting to
services
Stage 1
CASELINK
Registration
and Referral
(Tracking Starts)
Monitoring of
gateways reach and
responsiveness to key
target groups, the
profile of need and
signposting routes
Client
Stage 2
CASELINK
Full assessment and
profiling of individual
job readiness and
agreed support needs
Monitoring of
retention, quality of
service, service fit
Stage 2
Barrier removal
personal
circumstances/
practical barriers
individual action
plans
Stage 3/4
CASELINK/CRM
Provision of training
and support
identified in IAP
Identification
of available
opportunities sourced
from partner network
Monitoring of
retention, service
quality to individuals
and employers,
service fit and
outcomes achieved
Stage 3
Employability and
vocational training,
skills development
and support
Stage 4
Job matching/
job search skills,
employer
engagement,
community benefit
opportunities from
developments
Stage 5
CASELINK/CRM
Provision of on-going
support to sustain
outcomes and support
future progression
Monitoring of impact
and sustainability
Stage 5
Upskilling/aftercare,
on-going support
services
Performance
Management
Stage and
activity
aimed at specific target groups who
are disadvantaged in the labour
market and find it particularly difficult
to access opportunities without
assistance.
National alignment
Dialogue between the three main
Edinburgh colleges under the SFC bid
has been positive and an agreement
reached that college activity (Stage 2
and 3) will be recorded via the Caselink
The Edinburgh Strategic Skills
Pipeline seeks to ensure duplication
of provision for priority target groups
is kept to a minimum and will work
with Skills Development Scotland to
signpost Training For Work and Get
Ready For Work opportunities as
they arise and will have available
key transition interventions to all
participants on entry and exit from
national programmes.
Project activity kicked off on
1 April 2011, other activities will join
in later in the year. The proposed end
date for physical activity is 30
September 2013, with a financial
conclusion at 31 December 2013.
MORE Contact Brian Martin,
Employability and Skills on
0131 529 3130 or email
brian.martin@edinburgh.gov.uk
Mobile unit
(non-fixed
walk-in)
IES centres and Info Points
(fixed walk-in and outreach)
Website
(online self-referral)
Get On Gateway
Output: Caselink registration and appointment booking
KEY TRANSITION POINT
INTEGRATED EMPLOYABILITY SERVICE (IES)
Employability support
(focus on practical barriers)
Specialist provision
(crisis/chaotic lifestyles)
management
Output: assessment, barrier removal, individual action plan
and case management arrangements
NATIONAL SERVICES
OUTWITH IES
CENTRES
National provider
programme activity
(benefits, etc)
Vocational training
(focus on personal skills)
Specialist provision
(one-off/on-going support)
National provider
programme
• GRfW and TfW
• UK work
programme,
• further/higher
education
• third sector
provision
Progress centre and case management
Dedicated job search support,
match with opportunities secured through “community benefits”
and employer engagement
joint working with employers on recruitment
Output: clients into jobs, education, training
KEY TRANSITION POINT
Output: sustained jobs, upskilling, promotion
Employment
or education
Voluntary
placement
Modern
apprenticeshipositive
destination
Other positive
destination
National Services
• Career planning
• Modern
apprenticeships
• FE/HE upskilling

I
t’s not every day that someone
says: “I genuinely love my job!”.
But Kirsten Marwick says it
without being prompted and listening
to her talk it’s obvious she enjoys every
moment of her working day.
Kirsten works for Connected
Learning and Employability (Connected
for short) which is part of Four Square,
a voluntary sector organisation that
provides accommodation, services and
support to homeless people and other
vulnerable groups in Edinburgh and
the Lothians.
Connected is an employability service
helping unemployed people and
vulnerable individuals to overcome
barriers, develop their confidence and
skills and look for and find work.
Kirsten’s role as an employability links
worker is to identify and help people
who need assistance to progress along
the often difficult path towards
achieving their employment, education
and training goals.
“We have a broad client base,”
Kirsten explains, “We work throughout
Edinburgh, primarily with unemployed
people who have multiple barriers to
employment. This includes people with
low levels of confidence and skills
and/or a background of homelessness,
substance misuse, health issues or
offending.”
Referrals come to Kirsten through
self referral or referral from front line
health, homelessness and social care
services, Jobcentre Plus, Skills
Development Scotland, social work and
criminal justice services and other
employment intermediaries.
“Four Square also runs a range of
accommodation services for homeless
young people and some of my clients
come through the hostels, which I visit
on a weekly basis,” Kirsten explains.
Once a contact has been made,
Kirsten will have an informal meeting
with a client and conduct a basic
assessment of their background, needs
and goals to make sure that Connected
is the appropriate service for them.
If so, an assessment of their employability
and support needs is carried out and an
individual action plan, which may
change as it evolves, is developed in
collaboration with the client.
One way that clients find their way
to Kirsten is through the Get On Info
Point at Leith Community Education
Centre. Connected works closely with
Get On, and Get On Info Points
are located across Edinburgh,
supplementing the work of the Get
On Bus by directing people to the
right source of the specific information
they need.
Kirsten explains further: “Basically,
anyone can drop in if they’re looking for
information on volunteering,
employment, education, health issues,
benefits or whatever. We can direct
them to the specialist agencies that
have the knowledge and skills to help
them. The information point at Leith
Community Education Centre is open
twice a week, on Mondays and
Wednesdays from 1pm to 5pm. I run the
Wednesday sessions and a rota of staff
drawn from the Leith Adult Learning
Network run it on Mondays.
“Say, for example, someone was in
debt and was looking for financial
advice. I would make an appointment
for them, ask them to sign a data
protection statement and then I’d enter
their details into Caselink. It’s a system
that Capital City Partnership manage,
and the programme specifically for Get
On is called Caselink Lite.
“Depending on the circumstances,
I might want to refer the client to an
agency such as Community Help and
Advice Initiative (CHAI) in Wester
Hailes, so I would select CHAI on
Caselink Lite and forward the details,
adding a note of where the contact was
made and what was needed in the way
of help. I would then give the client a
Get On card with the details of their
appointment. That’s generally the end
of my involvement although, since most
of the people coming into the Leith Info
Point are looking for employability help
of some kind, I am likely to see some
individuals again if they have been
referred to Connected.”
MORE Tel 0131 529 3233
email info@geton-edinburgh.org.uk
or visit www.geton-edinburgh.org.uk
Nael (left) and Huda Alkhamis:
“Returning to Iraq is not an
option at present.”
We report on the Get On Information Point
at Leith Community Education Centre – a
hub of information supplementing the
work of the Get On Bus.
“Anyone can drop in if they’re
looking for information on volunteering,
employment, education, health issues
or benefits
”
Get Connected
08 Employee experiences

CASE STUDY: NAEL
AND HUDA ALKHAMIS
Nael and Huda Alkhamis are Iraqi and have been
married for four years. They have two delightful
children, Sadeer, a little boy of two and Yona, who is
only just four months old. Nael, now a British citizen,
came to Edinburgh 15 years ago to Napier University
to study IT and ended up doing a Masters Degree in
Safety and Environmental Management.
Some years ago he returned to Iraq and met Huda
who had just completed an accountancy degree. She
returned with Nael and settled in Edinburgh. The
couple want to stay in Edinburgh as returning to Iraq
is not an option at present. “The situation is still very
difficult there,” says Nael.
Nael needs to find work to support his family and
Huda would like to improve her English and possibly
get a job too. While looking for advice about seeking
work, Nael happened to find the Get On Info Point at
Leith Community Education Centre on a Wednesday
afternoon when Kirsten was on duty.
“Nael and Huda are looking for very different help.
I looked at both their CVs and covering letters and
updated them ensuring they were in correct English
and laid out well. I have been making a lot of enquiries
on Nael’s behalf but his skills are very specialised and
so far I’m finding it difficult to identify any immediate
openings in his field. However, I am looking to see if I
can find him some alternative work or even some
volunteering for the moment.” Nael added that people
offering jobs under the heading of environmental
management tend to be talking about keeping parks
tidy whereas his experience and skills are in the sphere
of waste management, alternatives to landfill or
renewable energy such as solar or wind power.
Huda would like to take English classes to improve
her work prospects but also needs places in a free
crèche for the children, to allow her to do this. “We
cannot afford nursery places or child care at the
moment,” she says. Kirsten is currently investigating
potential solutions and has referred Huda to Working
for Families – an organisation that can support families
with funding for childcare while parents improve upon
their skills.
“Kirsten has been so useful and helpful to us,” says
Nael. “I don’t want to take handouts, I want to find a
good job and I’m very hopeful that finding Kirsten will
have put us on the right track.”
Connected operates jointly with
EFI Superstore re-use furniture
business, as Four Square Social
Enterprise. It provides a broad range
of skills, training opportunities and
practical work and volunteer
placements in a range of roles.
Kirsten explains: “EFI Superstore is
a huge warehouse full of amazing
furniture and we’re in offices just off
it. EFI does free uplifts of furniture
suitable for re-use, sells the goods in
the warehouse store to the general
public and offers EFI Assist 25%
discount cards for people on benefits
or low income.”
She adds: “Connected provides skills
training and support to all of the
people on work and volunteer
placements within the superstore.
We have found Get On to be a valuable
mechanism for linking individuals
with services and linking services
with each other.”
A broad client base
From link
to link
WORKING CAPITAL
Issue 28 April 11 Employee experiences 09
“Kirsten has been so useful
and helpful to us
”
MORE Visit
www.foursquare.org.uk/connected.htm
or tel 0131 557 7913

10 Employer perspectives
J
enny Ewing of Capital City
Partnership helped set up the
Joined Up For Jobs’ Customer
Charter in 2009.
She explains: “The Customer Charter
was established as an evaluation
framework that organisations go
through to prove that they provide
good levels of customer care.
“The basic Charter covers the sorts
of services that all members of the
network deliver. However, now we’re
setting up a new Charter Plus, the
purpose of which is to give external
referral organisations, such as the
NHS, confidence that people who face
particular issues in returning to work
will receive the individual support and
care they need from employability
services.
“The new standard is currently in
the final phase of testing and Jenny
is confident that it will be ready for
organisations to undertake soon.”
Another potential new development
is a proposed Charter for Employers.
Jenny adds: “Recent evaluation of the
Joined Up For Jobs partnership’s plans
on employer engagement recommended
that we use the Charter to help drive
up standards around dealing with
employers.”
Although the Charter for Employers
is still some way off, Jenny reported
tangible success for the Customer
Charter in its first two years.
“When we set up the Charter we
wanted something that measures the
quality of the users’
experience.
As well as getting
people into jobs,
it’s important how
employability
organisations deliver
their service
and treat the people
they’re helping.
“Fifteen organisations have been
presented with the Charter and many
have found that it helps build capacity.
The Charter provides a focus that helps
them look at the way they work. A lot
have said they find the process prompts
them to talk to their staff teams about
the service and how it’s delivered.
“What’s more, having the award
helps when they’re looking for funding
and support.”
Dughall Laing, Chair of the Joined Up
For Jobs Partnership Forum highlights
the sense of confidence it fosters among
local groups: “People from the groups
attending forum meetings know that
they can expect the same
professionalism and standards from
their peers.”
Jenny believes that a big part of the
Charter’s success comes from getting
people involved at the start: “That’s
helped create a sense of ownership.”
Joined Up For Jobs’ Customer Charter has provided a great
benchmark for employability organisations since it was launched
two years ago. Now it’s set to become even more valuable, with a
new Charter Plus level and the prospect of further developments.
Charter moves
up a level
“Recent evaluation of
the partnership’s plans
recommended that we use
the Charter to help drive
up standards
”Network members receive their charter award
Working for Families team receiving their award

Employer perspectives 11WORKING CAPITAL
Issue 28 April 11
Demonstrating professionalism and commitment www.joinedupforjobs.org.uk
“In the future, funders will be
looking for a quality standard from
organisations like ours. And the
business we’re in is about working
with customers – any formalised way
of measuring your service and
allowing you to improve has got to be
a good thing,” says Bruce Penman
(pictured here, on the right) of
Stevenson College Edinburgh/
WEACT, the jobs access agency based
at Gate 55 near Stevenson College on
Sighthill Road, which recently
applied for the Customer Charter.
“The process itself was useful,” he
adds. “We spent some time pulling
together information and evidence
but there was a lot of support from
Capital City Partnership.”
WEACT found that it’s
also helpful in terms of staff
development. “It prompted us to
raise questions about our service
and it was interesting to see how
different members of staff had
different perceptions about
how well we were serving
customers,” Bruce says. “And
it raised questions about our
communications strategy and
how we keep people informed.”
Overall he believes going for
the Charter has been a positive
experience and WEACT will be
going for Charter Plus: “We want to
be giving excellent customer service;
the bottom line is if you’re not doing
that you’re not doing your job.”
CASE STUDY 1: STEVENSON COLLEGE EDINBURGH/WEACT
“We want to be giving
excellent customer service”
CASE STUDY 2: THE ACTION GROUP
“Look at enhanced services”
“The Action Group has always
believed in demonstrating a high
standard,” says Dughall Laing,
who is a Senior Support Worker with
the Action Group, as well as Chair of
the JUFJ Forum.
“That’s why, when the Customer
Charter was being developed,
we got involved. And it’s why
we put ourselves forward as one
of the first organisations to go
through it.”
He believes any organisation that
gains the Charter is demonstrating
professionalism, capability and
commitment to its clients.
Fortunately for the Action Group,
previous experience helped them
progress quickly. “Because we’ve
always worked to Charter mark and
other accreditations, the process was
not difficult – all we needed was on
hand. Of course, for a group not used
to this type of accreditation it may
take a little longer.”
According to Dughall, the service
that helped the Action Group gain the
Charter focuses on individuals and
employers. “We have a service user
group that meets once a month to
provide feedback, give advice on new
ideas and control communication
channels like our newsletter.
“And one of the reasons we’ll be
going for Charter Plus is that it will
look at enhanced services for clients
including case management and
aftercare – that’ll be the start
of the process of drafting and
agreeing a framework which is
fundamental to what we do. Secure
bonds with employers help make sure
that clients get the best possible
service, while the employers also get
the people and long-term support
they need.”
They’ve got it
So far, 15 organisations
have been awarded the
JUFJ Customer Charter:
• Access to Industry
• Action Group (Real Jobs)
• Capital Skills
• Community Renewal
• Connected
• Edinburgh Cyrenians
• Forth Sector
• Get On
• Public Sector Academy
• Remploy
• Trust Hanover Bield,
Job Opportunities
Support Project
• West Edinburgh Action
• Women onto Work
• Working Links
• Working for Families
MORE Contact Jenny Ewing tel 0131 270 6045
email jennyewing@capitalcitypartnership.org

12 Charting progress
Since its launch in 2009, Caselink has proved very successful in
supporting Edinburgh organisations providing employability
services. Here, we take a look at its progress.
Coming full circle
C
aselink is a web-based management information
system which was designed in 2008/9 by Iconi
Software Ltd for the Capital City Partnership on
behalf of the Joined Up For Jobs partner agencies.
The system, which went live in April 2009, was designed
to address the need for an integrated management
information system for employability services across the
city, which could be used by individual organisations to
manage their own client base while simultaneously
tracking the client journey through multiple organisations.
To date, there are 6,265 individuals who have registered
on Caselink. Between 1 April 2010 and 31 December 2010,
there were 2,574 new client registrations.
Between 1 April 2010 and 31 December 2010, nearly 500
people supported by a Caselink-using organisation had
found work (Figure 1). In addition, 180 went on to
education (both full and part time) and 475 had some other
positive outcome (volunteering, qualifications, etc).
The monitoring system also allows us to examine the
ethnicity of those working with the Caselink using
organisations, what benefits (if any) they are claiming, who
referred them onto a particular service, what age group
Figure 1: Caselink recorded outcomes
1/4/2010 – 31/12/2010
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Fulltimejobs
Parttimejobs
Education
Employabilitytraining
Qualification
Vocationaltraining
Volunteering
Workplacement
Selfemployed
Other
they fall within, etc. In addition useful information is
recorded that reflects the type of barriers people face. It is
helpful as it gives a focus for the type of support that the
organisations then concentrate on.
Figure 2 presents the barriers that can be defined as
skills and it can be seen that overall, poor interviews skills
and CVs are often a barrier to employment and this is
something that many of the organisations themselves can
help with.
It can also be seen that lack of work experience is the
most common barrier recorded in Figure 3 and that care
responsibilities is the next highest. Clearly this
demonstrates that for around 1-in-5 of those being
supported by Caselink using organisations, the existence
of affordable childcare provision is as important as help
developing a CV.
Geographical profile of clients
The system also calculates the particular neighbourhood
partnership that a client is from based on their postcode
and Figure 4 presents this data.
It can be seen that the largest number of clients entered
into the system are from South West Neighbourhood
Partnership and this is likely to be due to the fact that the
employability organisation in this area, WEACT, used
Figure 2: Barriers
(circumstances faced in finding employment)
Additional
learning needs
Low vocational
skills/qualification
Low communication/
interpersonal skills
Lacking IT skills
Poor interview skills;
CV presentation
Parole
Accommodation
issues
0 200 400 600 800 1000

Charting progress 13WORKING CAPITAL
Issue 28 April 11
www.joinedupforjobs.org.ukAn integrated management information system
MORE
If you would like to become a Caselink user, please email
Capital City Partnership on CaselinkAdmin@
capitalcitypartnership.org or tel 0131 270 6030.
Full training is provided by Capital City Partnership
with ongoing support available via a helpdesk provided
by Iconi Software.
Figure 4: Neighbourhood Partnership within which
clients reside (1/4/2010 – 31/12/2010)
0 200 400 500 600 700300100
Other
Western Edinburgh
South West
South Central
Portobello/Craigmillar
Pentlands
Liberton/Gilmerton
Leith
Inverleith
Forth
Craigentinny/
Duddingston
City centre
Almond
Figure 3: Barriers (skills)
0 200 400 600 800700100 300 500
Young people at risk of becoming
NEET on leaving school
Seasonal worker
Prisoner
Part time worker
Non EU migrant workers
Need assistance with
English language
Difficulty with literacy/numeracy
Lack of work experience
Labour market returner
EU migrant workers
Debt problems
Community sentence order
Benefits issues
Care responsibilities
The 14 projects using
Caselink at January 2011
Providers Provisions
Access to Industry Passport; Transition; Course
Development; ESF Prison, Pre
GRFW; Brighter Futures
CEC – Capital Skills GRFW; TFW
CEC – Get On Get On
CEC – Public Sector Academy Public Sector Academy;
Tourism Academy
CEC – Libraries Libraries 4U
CEC – Working for Families Parent Carer Adviser Service
Edinburgh Business Development North Edinburgh Employment
Access; Edinburgh Jobs Fund
Edinburgh Cyrenians Cyrenians Trainee
Progression Model;
Access to Work Craigmillar
FourSquare Connected; Future Jobs Fund;
Employability Pathways
Intowork Getting a Job; Keeping a Job
The Academy at St James Academy at St James
West Edinburgh Action Gate 55; WE ACT Welcome;
WE ACT MCMC; WE ACT All
Age NP; WE ACT Outreach
Core
Women onto Work WOW Programme
Table 1: Organisations using Caselink
Caselink throughout the nine months in question. In Forth
and Portobello/Craigmillar 2009/10 saw a change from one
provider to another, and in one case the previous provider
hadn’t used Caselink. The Neighbourhood Partnership profile
is based on postcodes and if for some reason the postcode isn’t
recognised then the client falls within the ‘other’ category.
Caselink went
live in April 2009

14 Talking point
F
or people who face multiple
barriers to employment,
because of long-term illness or
disability, reliance on welfare benefits
at some point in their lives is likely, if
not inevitable.
For such people, hearing about
proposed or definite changes to their
weekly income or their ‘terms and
conditions’ doesn’t come through a
personalised letter, a chat with their
manager or a Human Resource
Adviser; it is more likely to come
through the radio, television or
newspapers.
Since the UK Coalition Government
formed in May 2010, the Welfare State
and benefits issues have rarely been
out of the press. In the lead up to the
emergency budget of 22 June,
newspapers seemed full to bursting
point with stories of work-shy
individuals and benefit cheats. Even
though the reality was that such
people only made up a tiny percentage
of those claiming benefits, the scene
was set for the Government to
announce cuts to benefits and the
greatest overhaul of the Welfare State
in 60 years.
Since June 2010, the UK Government
has announced a myriad of changes or
potential changes to welfare benefits
and the tax credit system including:
• reduction of housing benefit
• migration of all sickness and
disability claimants onto
Employment and Support
Allowance
• the introduction of the
Universal Credit
• potential changes to Disability
Living Allowance.
… the list could go on and on.
Understanding and keeping up-to-
date with these changes is no mean
feat even for full-time welfare benefits
advisers, but how do these
announcements affect the very people
that benefits are there to serve and
protect?
Below, a Real Jobs service user tells
us his experience of how the reporting
of benefit issues affects him.
1. Do you understand how changes
to the benefits system affect you?
No, I don’t always understand when
changes happen. I get confused, angry
and upset. I would have to ask my
housing support workers to explain
to me and help me understand. I do not
cope well with change and I do not
understand the benefits system very
well as it is very confusing.
2. How do you cope with change?
I definitely would not cope without the
support I receive from Housing
Support, or from Diane, who works in
the Welfare Rights department. They
are always very helpful and explain
things in fine detail to me. I often have
to go back and ask them to explain
things again as I sometimes forget
what has been said to me and
it can be very confusing. I find the
benefits system very confusing at the
best of times and when changes
happen, it confuses me even more.
3. How would you cope without
the support of Real Jobs?
The Action Group departments explain
things to me very clearly in language I
understand and will always repeat or
change the wording of their
explanation if I don’t understand. They
always make sure that I do understand.
What next for
the Welfare State?
Keeping up-to-date with the changes to the welfare benefits system
are challenging enough for welfare advisers, but how are they
affecting the people the benefits are there to serve and protect?
about changes to the welfare
benefits system, please
call the benefit enquiry line
on 0800 88 22 00 or the
CAB advice line 0844 848 9600

Find out more 15WORKING CAPITAL
Issue 28 April 11
Readers’
feedback
Upcoming
eventsConsultationsRecent
Research
Usefulpublications
andweblinks
Planning and delivery of services
Dates for your diary
London’s Employment and Skills
Convention – 5 April 2011
Church House Conference Centre, London.
For more details, including key themes, please visit
www.cesi.org.uk/Events/Current_events/EV485+
Employment+and+Skills+Convention
Welfare to Work UK Convention
30 June – 1July 2011
The 2011 UK Welfare to Work Convention is the
premier annual event for employment, skills and
tackling child poverty. Organiser: Centre for
Economic Social Inclusion. For more information,
visit www.cesi.org.uk/events
Useful publications
and web links
Tackling Child Poverty in Scotland:
A Discussion – Consultation Responses
Web only access to the responses to this consultation
process. For more, visit www.scotland.gov.uk/
Publications/2011/01/28152742/0
Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland
Scotland’s budget for next year, approved by
Parliament, will deliver the highest ever number
of modern apprenticeships in Scotland. Visit
www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/02/
09172343
Recent research
Delivering Affordable
Housing in Troubled Times:
Scotland National Report
An assessment of alternative ways to fund new
affordable housing in Scotland at a time when public
resources for housing are being significantly reduced.
Report can be downloaded from www.jrf.org.uk/
publications/affordable-housing-troubled-times
Monitoring Poverty and Social
Exclusion 2010
The annual report on the state of poverty and social
exclusion in the United Kingdom from the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation and the New Policy Institute.
Visit www.jrf.org.uk/publications/monitoring-
poverty-2010
Get Britain
Working
Jobcentre Plus is working with local
partnerships and communities under
the banner of Get Britain Working to
deliver support to help people develop
and maintain the skills and experience
they need to get back to work.
The five elements of
Get Britain Working are:
Work Clubs: provide unemployed people
with a place to meet and exchange skills,
find opportunities, make contacts, share
experiences and receive support to help
them in their return to work.
Work Together: Jobcentre Plus
encourages people to look at volunteering
as a way of building up their experience
and skills to improve their chances of
getting a job.
Work Experience: aims to match young
unemployed people aged 18-21 with local
employers, giving young people the
chance to get valuable experience in a
business and improve their confidence,
their employability and their prospects.
New Enterprise Allowance: will be
available to Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
customers who have been claiming JSA
for more than six months and who want to
start their own business.
Customers will get access to a business
mentor for guidance and support.
Service Academies: Service Academies,
which aim to offer sector-specific
pre-employment training and work
placements and are currently being
developed by Department for Work and
Pensions.
on Get Britain Working, please contact
Cheryl Kingstree on tel 0131 555 8253.
Placements are currently being developed.

You can get this document on tape, in Braille, large print and various
computer formats if you ask us. Please contact Interpretation and
Translation Service (ITS) on 0131 242 8181 and quote reference
number 11243/1
ITS can also give information on community language translations.
You can get more copies of this document by calling 0131 529 4256.

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