Westminster Works

 
 

Westminster Works

About Westminster Works

Westminster Works is the umbrella name for the approach to tackling unemployment in the City of Westminster. It focuses on the estates with the highest concentration of residents claiming out of work benefits and aims to provide more effective gateways to an array of services for local residents and employers. The project is also about ensuring our services continue to improve based on innovation, what we learn from other areas and what service users want.

Key elements of the Westminster Works model are as follows:

  1. Estate based employment managers to co-ordinate a range of local activity on behalf of local job-seekers and services.
  2. Single points of contact for job-seekers on targeted estates that will provide an assessment of job-seekers skills, job goals, aspirations and training needs. The manager will identify appropriate progression routes for each individual.
  3. Employability Hubs will involve drawing together all the partners, organisations and individuals involved into a network of suppliers with a common goal. It will offer a menu of options for each job-seeker.
  4. A monitoring system to track the progression routes of individuals and to provide a client management system. The estate manager will have responsibility for the system. Partners will need to be trained and data sharing protocols agreed.
  5. A package of measures to engage local employers particularly Small Businesses but also major employers and the supply chains of partners.

The approach has been developed by partners over the past 12 months and agreed via the City Council’s Economic Development Strategy. It draws on lessons learnt from the first LAA, the ongoing issues flagged to service providers by those looking for work and the neighbourhood approach to delivering local services underpinning the City Plan and One City programmes.

An agreed Westminster Works Strategy will be finalised in March 2009.

Westminster's Economic Development Strategy can be viewed here:

Westminster Economic Development Strategy

For further information about Westminster Works please contact the Policy and Performance team on:

Telephone: 020 7641 3046 or 020 7641 2244

Fax: 020 7641 2344