Spring 2023 Bulletin
The Bulletin provides an overview of recent and upcoming business meetings for your information and to note to diaries.
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APPG Inquiry into Housing and Employment report and findings
The Inquiry brought together insights and testimonies from sector experts, housing providers, and residents from across England to examine the barriers working age people in social housing face in securing employment and progressing in work.
Published in the face of the largest unemployment crisis faced in the UK for over 100 years, the report urges funding certainty for key programmes that help tackle unemployment. This includes the Shared Prosperity Fund, and clarity as to how it will replace the European Social Fund (ESF) which is coming to an end now the UK has left the EU. Housing providers rely on the ESF to deliver many of their employment and training services, and support people into work.
The report also warns that a national one size fits all approach fails to deliver for those who need it. The report recommends that employment support in England and Wales is commissioned, designed, and delivered locally – through local government, housing associations and local bodies. Devolving programmes in this way could save money whilst aligning employment support to fit local job markets, create new jobs and provide better opportunities for unemployed people to access sustainable employment.
The report suggests that the tenure security and affordability provided by social housing may give people the stability they need to create a foundation for success, helping them overcome barriers and in turn secure employment.
