Issue - meetings

The Board was advised that the Families into Work (FiW) project aimed to improve the life chances of people living in Northumberland Park by working with families to identify and provide the services they required to assist them back into work.

A key part of the project was the multi agency approach that would be employed. It was proposed that a team of four people was established that would work closely with one hundred families in Northumberland Park over a two year period.  Existing resources would be used rather than using new funding and one of the aims of the project was to better utilise existing resources and improve the coordination Services.

The Board was advised that as part of the project, forty children, at risk of becoming NEET had been identified and thirty of these were being worked with to help prevent this happening. As part of this action the parents of children at risk of becoming NEET were also being targeted and measures to help raise their skill levels would be included.

If successful the project would act as a model that could be replicated and rolled out in other areas.

In response to questions regarding how the families would continue to be supported after the internal three year period, the Board was advised that it was recognised that ongoing support would be required and that provision was being made for this. A mapping exercise had been carried out and the Steering Group was looking at developing measures to address this.

The Board noted that substance abuse was a common factor affecting people in deprived areas and it was suggested that organisations that specialised in working with people to address this should be included within the Programme.  

The Chair concluded discussion and noted that the Board supported the Programme in principal and requested that a more detailed report be submitted to the Board for endorsement once completed.

RESOLVED:

1. That the specification and timescales for the project be noted.

2. That a more detailed report be brought back to the Board for endorsement once the project was further advanced.