MD2859 Workforce Integration Network Programme Budget

1.1. This decision form seeks approval for a total expenditure of £799,000 in 2021-22 (pursuant to the delegations made by the Mayor under cover of MD2363, MD2680 and DD2285) and total expenditure of £600,000 in 2022-23 (pursuant to the delegations made by the Mayor under cover of MD2846) on a programme of delivery for the WIN.

1.2. This decision form also seeks approval for the receipt and expenditure of £200,000 (£80,000 in 2021-22 and £120,000 in 2022-23) of grant funding (included in the total expenditure above) from the CEC to deliver a pilot exploring effective transitions from school to further education for young Black men in at least five pupil referral units across London.

1.3. The WIN programme launched in 2018 with the aim of supporting under-represented groups into quality employment by helping employers across London improve their policies and practices. Two major drivers of inequality in London are the disproportionate levels of unemployment, and barriers to access and progression in good work, as experienced by some groups of Londoners. A critical part of rebuilding London’s economy in the aftermath of COVID-19 is tackling these deep-seated inequalities.

1.4. The London Recovery Board’s programme, in response to the impact of COVID-19, aims to restore confidence in the city, minimise the impact on communities, and build back better the city’s economy and society. The Helping Londoners into Good Work Mission includes four main strands of activity to support Londoners into good jobs, with a focus on sectors key to London’s recovery. These strands are:

• supporting Londoners hardest hit by the pandemic (including young people, newly unemployed people, people with caring responsibilities, and people at risk of redundancy) into good work, while ensuring that Londoners with the most complex needs are not left behind

• coordinating skills, careers and employment support so there is a ‘no-wrong-door approach’ for Londoners; and ensuring that employment and enterprise provide a secure route out of poverty

• establishing sector-specific London ‘academies’ to support Londoners to gain relevant skills and move into good work in the digital, health, social care, hospitality, green economy and creative and cultural industries

• close working with employers and job-creation initiatives, such as green recovery, to promote good work.

1.5. To this aim, over this and the next financial year, the WIN will expand to help counter the negative impact of the pandemic on Black, Asian, minority ethnic (BAME) and other under-represented groups. This includes working with employers in new sectors, piloting programmes in schools and providing resources for employers across London.

1.6. As we approach the end of the government’s furlough scheme, a spike in unemployment rates across London is likely, hitting communities already experiencing higher unemployment rates. This challenging context requires increased efforts to ensure that employers are protecting workers where possible and that young Black men are not disproportionately disadvantaged by long-term unemployment.

1.7. Through our direct work with businesses, it is evident that employers need continued support in reaching young Black men, and that many want to take part in employability initiatives to better reach demographics with which they are currently not engaging.

2.1. In 2021-22 and 2022-23 the programme will deliver across four work strands:

• Design Labs – intensive work with employers to test solutions to address some of the key diversity and inclusion challenges faced by the relevant sector

• resources and evaluation – toolkits, data guides and research

• effective transitions – focus on transitions from school to further education for young Black men in pupil referral units

• employability and young people – school engagement, employability-related activities, jobs fairs, events and resources.

Table 1: Breakdown of the WIN programme workstreams

WIN Design Labs – £466,000

2.2. Launched in January 2021, the WIN Design Labs are a space for up to 10 employers to come together with a commissioned partner in order to explore the causes of under-representation in their workforces; and to design and test approaches to tackling them within their own workforce as well as their sectors at large (delivered under the approval of ADD2463).

2.3. Within the budget envelope referenced in 1.1, this decision seeks approval for expenditure of £160,000 for the continuation of two existing cohorts of the WIN Design Labs (20 businesses in the construction and infrastructure sector) and the delivery of an additional Design Lab in the digital technology sector supporting a further 10 businesses.

2.4. We will also establish, and provide ongoing support for, a network for the first two Design Lab cohorts so businesses can continue to support and learn from each other following the 12-month programme.

2.5. In 2022-23, we are seeking approval for £300,000 expenditure to deliver more in-depth support to large and influential employers engaging with the Mayor’s Academies Programme (outlined in MD2846) through the WIN Design Labs workstream across the key sectors identified. The WIN will deliver up to three Design Labs for the Mayor’s Academies Programme, with up to 10 businesses per Lab.

2.6. The WIN will work with the GLA Skills & Employment Unit to determine the sectors that would most benefit from a Design Lab. This will be informed by the progress made in the first year of delivery of the Academy hubs.

2.7. The desired outcomes of the programme are:

• construction, infrastructure and technology sectors recruit more young Black men and other under-represented groups following participation in the Design Lab programme, and call on the rest of their sector to make changes to increase diversity

• WIN resources are used by the wider construction, infrastructure and technology sectors to build diverse and inclusive workforces with a particular focus on young Black men

• Participating companies develop strategies to ensure young Black men and other under-represented groups can benefit from as many employment opportunities as possible, increasing equality within the labour market

• employers make best use of the skills of their current and future workforce to support the sustainability and growth of London’s economy

• more Londoners from under-represented groups are supported into work through the Mayor’s Academies Programme.

Table 2: Proposed budget breakdown and activities for the WIN Design Labs

Research and resources - £510,000

2.8. In 2021-22, the WIN will focus on dissemination of existing resources developed through the WIN programme (such as the Inclusive Employer Toolkit) and support to businesses to use these appropriately to tackle underrepresentation in their workforces. New resources will also be developed and research undertaken based on emerging areas of importance for businesses, such as procurement and supply-chain diversity.

2.9. In 2021-22 the WIN team will commission additional research to understand the make-up of the different priority sectors represented in the Mayor’s Academies Programme; the barriers to engagement and employment with these sectors; and sector-specific challenges for under-represented groups in each priority sector. We expect to use this information to determine specific actions that should be taken to address under-representation in each sector. We will build on the findings of this research to produce toolkits for each sector, which will be used by the Academy hubs.

2.10. Objectives for this work include:

• more Londoners from under-represented groups are supported into work through the Mayor’s Academies Programme

• the Mayor’s Academies Programme is effectively focused on addressing under-representation in the workforce and widening the pool of those who can access training, jobs and employment support within industries with the biggest growth potential

• sector-specific insights on support required to help under-represented groups into employment are used by the hubs and others to support Londoners into work

• the scope and reach of the WIN is widened to address structural barriers that prevent under-represented groups from accessing high-quality work opportunities across the priority sectors

• employers are equipped with the necessary tools to address the structural barriers that lead to under-representation

• best practice on increasing diversity within the workforce is showcased and shared throughout industries.

Table 3: Proposed budget breakdown and activities for research and resources

3.1. Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the Public Sector Equality Duty, that is the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

• advance equality of opportunity

• foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2. Equality, integration, inclusion and fostering good relations in the workplace are the drivers behind the WIN programme. With the WIN’s focus on young Black men, it is also specifically designed to tackle disadvantage, discrimination and structural racism as a barrier to accessing and progressing in good work.

3.3. The decision requested builds on the initial work of the WIN to address under-representation in London’s workforce. It will also contribute to the Mayor’s equality objective to work with others so that “as many Londoners as possible can participate in, and benefit from employment opportunities in London” (Objective 19, Inclusive London). This objective is underpinned by evidence that young Black men are under-represented in London’s construction, infrastructure and digital technology workforces.

Key risks and issues

4.1. Risks are managed on a programmatic basis. At the time of writing, the major risks for this project concern: the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, which may affect in-person delivery, training and support; and economic uncertainty within different sectors, which may have an impact on employment opportunities. This can be mitigated through highlighting the risk and requirement to outline plans for virtual delivery as part of procurement process.

Conflicts of interest

4.2. There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

Links to Mayoral strategies

4.3. This work directly links to the Mayor’s strategy for social integration, which aims in part to address labour market inequalities that limit social integration.

4.4. The Design Lab programme and work with businesses support the Mayor’s social integration strategy and his equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, particularly Objective 19 which commits to working with others to ensure as many Londoners can benefit from employment opportunities as possible.

4.5. It links to the Skills for Londoners strategy, in particular Objective 2 which commits to ‘increase targeted support to the most disadvantaged groups, so they are better equipped to access education and work’; and Objective 4 which commits to ‘promote productivity by supporting employers to develop and make the best use of the skills of their current and future workforce’.

4.6. Further, it supports London’s Economic Development Strategy which outlines the Mayor’s plan to create a fairer, more inclusive economy where Londoners are paid and treated fairly by employers.

4.7 The WIN programme in 2021-22 and 2022-23 will support the Mayor’s commitment to help Londoners hardest hit by the pandemic into good work in sectors key to London’s recovery and long-term economic growth. Specifically, the programme will contribute to the Helping Londoners into Good Work mission, within the London Recovery Programme, by countering the negative impact of the pandemic on BAME and other under-represented groups, working with employers in new sectors, piloting programmes in schools and providing resources for employers across London.

5.1. Approval is being sought for expenditure of £1.399m for the WIN programme over two financial years (2021-22 and 2022-23).

5.2. Approval is also being sought for income receipt of £0.200m (£0.080m in 2021-22 and £0.120m in 2022-23) from the Careers & Enterprise Company to deliver the Effective transitions pilot.

5.3. The expenditure is detailed in the below table:

5.4. Of the 2021-22 expenditure of £0.799; £0.286m will be funded from the CSP Team’s WIN programme budget; £0.210m will be funded from the Skills Academies mission budget; £0.223m will be funded from the Mayor’s Construction Academy budget; the remaining £0.080m will be funded via the income receipts from the Careers & Enterprise Company.

5.5. The 2022-23 expenditure of £0.600m, £0.480m will be funded by the Skills Academies mission budget and the remaining £0.120m will be funded via the income receipts from the Careers & Enterprise Company.

5.6. The workstreams being approved within this decision all sit within the Helping Londoners into Good Work mission.

6.1. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation in Greater London, and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

• pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people

• consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom

• consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2. In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty – namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 of this report.

6.3. Should the Mayor be minded to make the decisions sought, officers must ensure that:

6.3.1. no reliance is placed upon, and no commitments are made to, third parties in reliance of the:

• Careers & Enterprise Company funding until and unless they are under a legally binding obligation to provide such funding; or

6.3.2. to the extent that proposed expenditure concerns the:

• award of grant funding, such funding is awarded on a fair and transparent basis in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code, and appropriate funding agreements are entered into and executed by the GLA and counterparties before commencement of the same; and

• purchase of works, services or supplies, those works, services or supplies must be procured by Transport for London procurement in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code, and appropriate contracts are entered into and executed by the GLA and counterparties before commencement of the same.