Walsall Works & Pathway Group

Walsall Works is a multi-million funded investment by Walsall Council designed to stimulate sustainable employment growth within the Walsall Borough.

Pathway Group is happy to endorse and support Walsall Works in their endeavours to make a positive

impact to the lives of residents living in Walsall.

Walsall Works aims to raise the aspirations of young people, helping them to achieve their ambitions, identifying those who are NEET

(Not Engaged in Training, Education or Employment) and actively working with them to support them into

one of those areas.

Walsall Works will, through their engagement with SME’s aim to increase the number of job vacancies available

to people who live in Walsall. This will enable the SME to become sustainable within itself

and have the opportunity to develop in new markets...

Within the Walsall Borough there are, 27,520 of residents who are unemployed, 10.265 Job Seeker Allowance

Claimants, 25% of whom have been unemployed for 12 months or more. There are 3,000 young jobseekers and this

number has doubled since the start of the recession.

33% of the adults who are not working, have none or very little qualifications. Therefore to get them job ready, they will need to undertake educational development courses

before they are able to compete for employment.

The Economic Challenge

There has been a fall of 3.7% in active enterprises, within Walsall since 2008 and currently the number stands at 7,500.

Walsall’s Gross Value Added (GVA) is £14,562 compared to England which stands at £21.349.

The challenges faced by businesses include filling the skills gap, the ageing workforce, the lack of skilled people to fill the

gaps as well as having access to finances to implement change.

The Economic Challenge

There has been a 2.2 million investment made by Walsall City Council to stimulate economic growth

and encourage job creation by means of supporting local employers , tackling youth unemployment with a pledge to create 450 new apprenticeships and 290 pre-apprenticeship

places as well as supporting SME’s in their development.

Walsall’s Response

Walsall Works will support employers by helping them to address the financial constraints that many of them experience.

The difficulties are often in managing the complexities and regulations of access to finance.

Working with Employers

Walsall Works will actively complement the Youth Contract and the AGE Grant, offering incentives between £3k - £6k which equates to:

•£3,000 for 16-17 yrs paid at £3.00 @hr•£4,500 for 18-20 yrs paid at £4.98 @hr•£6,000 for those aged 21+ and this is paid at a rate of

£6.19 @hr

Working with Employers

The incentives will be paid as follows:

•First start up payment on 4 weeks placement•A midpoint payment to reward retention•Final payment will be on receipt of sustainable

employment confirmation

Working with Employers

Walsall Works aims to support young people by recruiting for attitude and then training for skills, making available a pre-apprenticeship programme that will focus on ensuring the young person has the support to access:

•Employability Skills •Functional Skills: Maths, English and ICT•Intensive Job Search•Progression onto a positive pathway

Working with Young People

Working with Young People

For those young people who are ready to access an apprenticeship immediately, Walsall Works will endeavour to break the cycle of unemployment. Providing routes to sustainable employment by making available apprenticeships which are at intermediate, advanced and higher levels, as well as providing:

•Accredited qualifications at three different levels•Apprenticeship placements lasting at least 12 months•Vacancy matching •Minimum hourly rates •Supervision, mentoring and development

Walsall Works seek to improve relations between employers and young people, helping employers to recognise the value of employing young people as well as strengthening links with those employers. Walsall Works will also:

Outcomes

•Target and support vulnerable groups and families•Maximise on match funding•Examine and address ROI in turnover, productivity and sales•Offer 290 pre-apprenticeships•Offer 450 new apprenticeships•Maximise on match funding

Walsall Works intends to focus primarily on Walsall’s SME’s within key sectors, particularly those who have not recruited apprentices previously, the emphasis will be to educate them to the benefits of having apprentice within the workforce, to

enable them to grow and to hit new markets.

Walsall Works Criteria

It is expected that the employers who work with Walsall Works with adopt the following principles:

•Apprentices will be offered a contract of no less than 35 hrs @ wk and be employed for at least 12 months•The apprentices will be paid no less than the minimum

hourly rate of pay•There will be opportunities to progress, grow and develop •A full commitment to sustainable employment•That there is a balanced ratio of staff to the number of

apprentices employed

Walsall Works Criteria

There have been over 1000 young people who have registered an interest , of those that have registered 109 of them have

gained an apprentice, 84 of them have started a pre-apprenticeship as well as a 111 of them moving from being

NEET and starting either Education, Employment or Training.

There have been 164 employers that have signed up to Walsall Works and an increase in the number of sectors academics in

all areas.

Our Achievements

•Complete an Employer Interest form•Walsall Works checks eligibility•Employer identifies a training provider•Advert placed on NAS site using pre-format template•Training providers then shift through applications •Employer Interview and Selection•Young person’s information submitted to Walsall Works•TrI-Contract signed by the employer, provider and the council•Claim and payment triggers commence.

How Can You Get Involved

Walsall Works: www.cms.walsall.gov.uk/walsall_worksPathway Group: www.pathwaygroup.co.uk | 0121 707 0550

How Can You Get Involved