Greater Manchester Talent Match

Greater Manchester Talent Match

Talent Coach Commissioning Process

Round Two

(Aug/Sep 2014)

Document B - Background Information

CONTENTS

1 / Vision / 3
2 / Principles / 4
3 / Programme Background / 5
4 / Programme Outcomes / 6
5 / Eligibility / 9
6 / Eligibility and Outcome Definitions / 10
7 / Governance Structure / 12
8 / The Greater Manchester Talent Match Partnership / 14
9 / Delivery Model and Resources / 18
10 / Monitoring / 21
11 / Evaluation / 24

The Greater Manchester Talent Match Vision is that:

§ All young people are valued and supported to realise their potential, gain employment and enjoy fulfilling lives.

§ Connecting young people, employers and organisations will change the way youth employment is approached in Greater Manchester.

Talent Match is a Big Lottery funded scheme aimed at tackling youth unemployment in 21 areas of England. It is a five-year investment for those aged 18-24 who have not been in employment, education or training for twelve months or more and need particular support to help them along their pathway to work. The Greater Manchester Talent Match programme is a unique partnership of voluntary, private and public sectors, lead by Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation.

The Greater Manchester Talent Match partnership includes New Economy, Business in the Community, Greater Manchester Youth Network, private sector employers (The Co-operative Group and Addleshaw Goddard), the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Manchester Skills and Employment Partnership.

Principles

There are five main principles underpinning Greater Manchester’s Talent Match programme:

Centred on young people –The Project Plan was co-designed with young people and our programme has young people at the heart of decision-making throughout. Talent Coaches are providing what young people said was missing from youth employment schemes - a highly personalised, holistic approach that supports them to overcome personal and practical barriers to employment.

A positive approach –The label ‘NEET’ only describes what young people are not, and doesn’t reflect their potential. We are actively challenging negative perceptions of young people and celebrating their achievements through strong and positive communications.

Building on assets – We know that all young people have talents which can be harnessed and developed. Young people have told us that they aspire to increase their employability, but find it difficult to navigate the array of opportunities that are available. We have created the Greater Manchester Opportunities Hub (an online portal bringing together information about existing opportunities available for young people with those we are sourcing exclusively for Talent Match) to enable our Talent Coaches to shape bespoke journeys towards employment for young people.

We are building stronger, practical relationships between employers and organisations working with young people and have dedicated staff leading on this aspect of the programme. In addition, Greater Manchester Talent Match has a dedicated Volunteering Development Officer supporting the inclusion of meaningful volunteering activities in the menu of opportunities available to young people.

Local solutions – Our Talent Coaches are drawn from the front-line organisations that understand the challenges faced by young people in their communities. We are working to understand the region’s economic growth sectors and find out what skills employers are looking for in order to influence young people’s career choices and enable their talents to be matched to local demand.

Learning – We are trying out new approaches and finding what works in supporting the most disadvantaged young people towards employment. Our learning from the programme will be used to influence regional skills and employment strategies, ensuring that the connections we create between young people, employers and organisations remain as a legacy for Greater Manchester after the programme ends.

Programme Background

National Talent Match Programme

In July 2012, the Big Lottery Fund launched an ambitious investment of over £100 million to deliver creative ways to help young people to find work or start their own enterprising business. In particular, they wished to target young people who have been unemployed for twelve months or more. Their aim is to create a significant shift in how the entrenched issues young people face are tackled, building on lessons learned from previous approaches to youth unemployment, and sharing widely the learning from this investment to inform future thinking and/or add value to what is currently being delivered.

In developing this investment the Big Lottery Fund has worked closely with stakeholders, including a team of twenty young people who, in turn, have consulted with thousands of their peers. This research and consultation confirmed that unemployment is the biggest issue faced by young people in England today.

Greater Manchester Talent Match

Greater Manchester is one of 21 areas of England chosen by the Big Lottery Fund to deliver the Talent Match programme. The areas chosen were based on a range of criteria, but particularly linked to levels of youth unemployment.

Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO) was endorsed by a wide range of stakeholders to develop and lead a regional cross-sector partnership, and undertook a collaborative approach to the design of the Vision and detailed project delivery plan. This included two major surveys, two briefing events, and various meetings with stakeholders from different sectors in order to identify key issues, barriers, target groups, and possible solutions which could support young people to move along the pathway to employment. As a result of this process GMCVO now has over 400 registered stakeholders from all sectors (including 225 separate organisations) who have been consulted and are being kept informed about the progress of the project.

Greater Manchester Youth Network (GMYN) also conducted extensive consultation with young people themselves, and with organisations working with young people, and carried out further surveys and focus groups. The Greater Manchester Talent Match Youth Panel was created as part of this process.

New Economy (NE) worked alongside GMCVO to research and identify the potential skills shortage and growth areas in Greater Manchester’s economy, and to identify the level of need in terms of specific target groups and geographical areas.

Business in the Community (BiTC) set up a Greater Manchester Talent Match Employer Champions Group as a vehicle for gaining an employer perspective on the programme design, and this group continues to meet to support the programme.

Programme Outcomes

The Greater Manchester Talent Match programme will achieve four main outcomes for the region:

Talent Coaches will be responsible for supporting the delivery of Outcomes 1 and 2 in the five years of the programme (November 2013 – October 2018), as follows:

Talent Coaches will also have a valuable contribution to make in achieving some aspects of Outcomes 3 and 4 as follows:

Beneficiary Eligibility

The Greater Manchester Talent Match programme has identified a number of key target groups of young people across the region that require additional assistance and support to enable them to move closer to, or into, employment. These target groups have been identified using local data about unemployed young people.

The targeted young people will meet ALL of the following criteria:

1. / 18 – 24 years of age
2. / Out of employment, education and training for twelve months or more
3. / Belong to one or more of the following Greater Manchester Talent Match target group/s:
§ Carer
§ Care leaver
§ Ex-offender
§ Lone parent
§ Young person with alcohol or substance misuse issues
§ Young person with health-related issues (incl. mental health issues)
§ AND/OR Young person with other significant barriers to employment
4. / Not mandated to the Work Programme or any other statutory programme
5. / Legally able to obtain work in the UK
6. / Permanently or temporarily resident in one of the ten Greater Manchester local authorities

Eligibility and Outcome Definitions

The following information provides further guidance to the definitions used within the Greater Manchester Talent Match programme. Eligibility will be based upon the young person’s self-declaration. Talent Coaches will be required to confirm that they are satisfied that the young person meets the criteria.

Has been out of employment, education and training for twelve months or more

To prevent the exclusion of suitable young people from support, beneficiaries may have engaged in employment or accredited education/training for a maximum of 28 days (total) in the last twelve months.

Non-accredited training is not counted as being 'in education or training' for Talent Match purposes.

Part-time working of less than 16 hours per week will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

A young person’s unemployment status before they reach their 18th birthday can be counted.

Is either permanently or temporarily resident in one of the ten Greater Manchester local authorities

These area boundaries should be based on those provided by the NOMIS website http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/ward/contents.aspx

Where a young person does not have a settled address (e.g. where they are ‘sofa surfing’) the address and postcode of the host organisation may be used.

Talent Coaches can work with a small percentage of young people resident outside Greater Manchester if they have a significant connection to at least one of the Greater Manchester areas; this will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Progression into employment

We will require written evidence of employment of at least 16 hours per week at National Minimum Wage or above, e.g. wage slip, letter or e-mail from employer. Apprenticeships paid at minimum wage or above are classed as ‘in employment’.

Employment of less than 16 hours per week can be counted where the number of hours worked is the maximum that the individual can work, e.g. because of caring responsibilities or disability, and pays at least minimum wage.

We will also require a declaration of a ‘reasonable expectation’ that the employment will last at least six months.

Progression into self-employment

We will require evidence that the beneficiary has:

Ø developed a business plan and/or

Ø registered with HMRC as self employed and/or

Ø registered for VAT and/or

Ø opened a business bank account

Other evidence may be accepted.

Sustained employment

We will require written evidence that the beneficiary has been in employment for at least six months at National Minimum Wage or above for at least 16 hours per week, e.g. copies of payslips.

Breaks in employment of 28 days or less in total can be discounted.

Sustained self-employment

We will require written evidence that self-employment has lasted at least 52 weeks, during which time the beneficiary’s working hours have increased to at least 16 hours per week or more and their income from trading increases sufficiently to enable them to stop claiming benefits (if applicable) and/or is at the level of minimum wage.

Governance Structure

Partnership Board

As the lead partner in the Greater Manchester Talent Match partnership, GMCVO has overall responsibility for the delivery of the programme. The GMCVO Board has devolved this responsibility to the formal Greater Manchester Talent Match Partnership Board. The Partnership Board consists of senior representatives of each of the partner organisations; GMCVO, GMYN, New Economy, Business in the Community, Greater Manchester Skills and Employment Partnership, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the Co-operative Group and Addleshaw Goddard LLP. The Partnership Board receives a report of Youth Panel, Steering Group, Commissioning Panel and Employer Champions Group meetings and recommendations, and takes strategic and policy decisions about the delivery of the programme.

Youth Panel

The Greater Manchester Talent Match Youth Panel comprises young people, formerly from the target groups, who have already made progress towards employment and young people in close contact with others currently from the target group. The Youth Panel are involved in all aspects of Greater Manchester Talent Match, sit on the Steering Group and Commissioning Panel, and contribute to decision-making. The Youth Panel is supported by the Greater Manchester Talent Match Youth Panel Officer based at GMYN. The Youth Panel is particularly closely involved with communications and ongoing evaluation of the programme.

Steering Group

The Steering Group has an advisory function, contributing expertise towards the design and delivery of the programme. Membership comprises formal partners, voluntary sector representatives (elected by Greater Manchester Talent Match voluntary sector stakeholders), representatives of the Youth Panel and Employer Champions Group, Job Centre Plus, Greater Manchester Learning Provider Network, Housing Providers, Blue Orchid and the Prince’s Trust. The Steering Group makes recommendations to the Programme Manager (making operational decisions) and to the Partnership Board (making strategic decisions).

Employer Champions Group

The Employer Champions Group consists of major local employers and acts as the strategic lead for the employer element of the Greater Manchester Talent Match programme. They comment on programme design and delivery, support the programme and ensure full participation from employers. The Employer Champions Group is led and supported by Greater Manchester Talent Match Employers’ Officers based at Business in the Community.

Commissioning Panel

The Commissioning Panel consists of individuals with experience of taking decisions on the awarding of grants or contracts according to specified criteria, plus representatives from the Youth Panel. The role of the Commissioning Panel is to advise on the commissioning criteria for the Talent Coaches, assess applications, and make commissioning decisions.

The Greater Manchester Talent Match Partnership

Organisation / Roles and Responsibilities
Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO)
/ Lead Partner with responsibility for:
· Programme management and co-ordination
· Sub-contracting with co-delivery organisations - GMYN, NE and BiTC
· Overall monitoring and evaluation in liaison with Youth Panel
· Governance and administration support for Partnership Board, Steering Group and Commissioning Panel