The Cabinet Member for Regeneration presented a report on the availability of funding of approximately £950,000 over the three years 2011/12 - 2013/14 via the Olympic Host Borough Employment and Skills Programme to support further initiatives aimed at tackling worklessness in the Borough.
The Cabinet Member advised that the funding would primarily be aimed at the Borough’s Job Shops but due to the sum involved and the restrictive eligibility criteria, discussions had already commenced regarding the possibility of work-related activities being undertaken in the Borough’s Children’s Centres. Further initiatives involving Jobcentre Plus, the Adult College of Barking and Dagenham and other potential partners were also being explored in order to maximise the opportunity to improve the job prospects and aspirations of the local community.
Cabinet agreed that a Deed of Variation be entered into with the London Borough of Hackney, as the accountable body for the Host Borough Employment and Skills Programme, to allow for additional grant funding in the sum of £955,892.71 to be provided to the Council.