By Clive Tritton, Chief Executive Renaisi
A few years ago, I received three requests in a week to speak at conferences about Renaisi’s emerging employment programme, Renaisi Works. The interest emerged because the focus of our work put Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and Housing Associations at the forefront of our outreach and engagement activities and this seemed to be having a major impact.
Our approach wasn’t rocket science. It included the usual flexible end to end delivery that is at the heart of most good employment work. But it was aimed at those outside the main system. Those people who were not on JSA and for whom the idea of turning up to work or to sign on every fortnight was completely alien. In particular, we focused on parents who had been away from work for some time and had no confidence in their ability to get work or that the system had anything to offer them.
Our work acknowledged that individuals had a better relationship with their landlords than they did in the officialdom associated with town halls and job centres.
Pulling the RSLs into the programme was much easier than we envisaged – in fact they were champing at the bit. There were 8 contracted into the programme within three months. They saw the benefits for themselves in improving the welfare of their tenants.
The project was extremely successful and a number of people found employment who hadn’t even been on the JCP radar. This success was rightly attributed to the work of the RSLs.
So where are they now and how do they fit into the Work Programme? Over the last few weeks we have picked up our conversations with many of the RSLs with whom we were working at that time. They aren’t touching the Work Programme!. There are few other resources available to reach those that, if reports are right, will lose out as a result of the Work Programme model and, it seems that most RSLs have been forced to return to their core business. In fact, RSLs are currently far more preoccupied by HCA cuts and changes to housing benefits regimes (and consequent impacts on their ability to borrow) than they are about their tenants’ ability to find work.
The Work Programme may or may not be the answer for many for whom finding a job is important – the jury is still out. However, for those outside the system and in most need of support, we undoubtedly need a different approach. Social landlords know their tenants best. If they can’t make it to the table, we have a real problem.
