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Common Ground - Breaking New Ground

www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/international/european-unit/equal.shtml 

Partnership information

Description

Up and Working team

Background 

During the Round One work the partnership implemented a wide range of approaches to tackle inequality and discrimination in the Kirklees (West Yorkshire) labour market. Nearly 900 individuals and over 100 businesses benefited from the wide range of support available through the DP and over 60 people gained employment, while 85 jobs were safeguarded. Breaking New Ground has been building on the work funded under Round One but has been focusing on working with small and medium sized businesses to develop ways to help employers understand the social and economic arguments for equality and diversity and create better understanding and co-operation between disadvantaged people seeking work and local employers.

Aim

All the strands have an overarching aim to establish a new understanding and co-operation between disadvantaged people seeking work and local employers, with Common Ground acting as Intermediary to enable this process, targeting its attention to gaps in current provision.  

Objectives

  • Primary research into business motives leading to the creation of interactive tools to support diversity in the workplace
  • Development of a GRADES measurement and benchmarking tool for employers on a number of diversity issues which are Gender, Religion and Belief, Age, Disability, Ethnicity and Sexual orientation/Social inclusion
  • New ways of re-packaging and re-designing work
  • Creation of a Community Employment Agency to encourage local employment by linking up with local services, going beyond standard models creating an integrated and overarching framework for the delivery of support services such as health, education, transport and childcare to supplement the employment need
 Target Groups
  • Unemployed
  • SMEs
  • Disadvantaged groups     

Round

2

Round 1 to Round 2

The Round One DP (Common Ground) had the aim of establishing “Common Ground” with employers, promoting the principle that diversity pays and that by identifying and building on the latent skills of the population, it is possible to move towards a more productive local economy and a more inclusive society.

Common Ground was a vast laboratory in which a host of different approaches to labour market integration were tried and tested. The work was hindered by a lack of employer involvement and/or their inability to embrace a diverse workforce. For Round Two the partnership has been concentrating on SMEs /MicroSMEs and helping them to understand the social and economic benefits of equality and diversity.

Lead partner

Kirklees Metropolitan Council
www.kirklees.gov.uk

Core partners

ACAS, Business Link West Yorkshire, Careers Partnership, Huddersfield Pride, Jobcentre Plus, Kirklees Racial Equality Council, Learning & Skills Council, Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce & Industry Ltd, Voluntary Action Kirklees, Worklink

Transnational partnerships

Information for Transnational partnerships

Contact

Alison Bruton, Kirklees Metropolitan Council - Economic Development Services (Civic Centre ), , Heather Waddington, Kirklees Metropolitan Council - Economic Development Services (Civic Centre ),

End-dates

Action 2: 31 March 2008
Action 3: 31 March 2008

Equal theme

Facilitating access

Origins

The original Common Ground Development Partnership was formed in October 2001 and brought together key organisations in Kirklees from the public sector, education and training organisations, employers and the voluntary and community sector. The partnership was created after a process of widespread consultation that resulted in 21 organisations signing up to become members. They included voluntary organisations, community groups, the public employment service, the Learning and Skills Council and the local Chamber of Commerce.

Beneficiaries

Employed in SMEs, People from disadvantaged areas (top 10% most deprived wards), Unemployed
Total beneficiaries: 680

Intended impact/ sustainability

By linking deprived communities to job opportunities and nearby growth, this project also aims to provide a long-term need to target beneficiaries in terms of addressing poverty, community cohesion, and changing long-term attitudinal and organisational cultures.

Scatter plot

Process X X
Practice X
Product X
Policy
City Local Regional National European

Process/Local

Approach taken by Positive Role Models project assisting men into childcare to be rolled out with other disadvantaged groups

Process/European

Links with Sweden how Positive Role Models approach is influenced by National Policy

Practice/Local

Community Employment Agency established to put local jobseekers in touch with local employers

Product/Local

Establishment of Community Employment Agency will be maintained.

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Connections

Connections

Activities and products

Activity
Community Employment Agency - Up and WorkingUp and Working is a new Community Employment Agency based in Huddersfield. It goes beyond standard models to create an integrated and holistic approach...Expand/collapse Products (3)
Activity
Fair Ground A Transnational Partnership has been developed with established partners in Sweden, the Czech Republic and Austria as they essentially share the view... Fair Ground is a transnational partnershipExpand/collapse Products (7)
Activity
GRADES (gender, race, age, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation Benchmarking tool for employers with consultant support to improve systems and procedures ...Expand/collapse Products (6)
Activity
Public Procurement Working with public procurement policies to develop ways in which to instill contractual obligations for local suppliers to employ people from the main...Expand/collapse Products (4)
Activity
Redesign and Rackaging Work New ways to re-package and redesign work so that those who find it difficult to enter or re-enter the workforce are integrated into work and stay in...Expand/collapse Products (3)
Activity
Research Theme Primary research into business motives conjunction with Baseline Employer Survey ...Expand/collapse Products (3)
Meeting/congress
network set up for underrepresented groupsNew network...
Activity
2 marketing and publicity materials produced, including web page development2 marketing and publicity materials produced, including web page development to promote childcare to under represented groups...
Activity
2 primary research studies undertaken and reports producedResearch into under represented groups in the childcare sector...
Print
Recruitment and Induction procedure for SME’s producedPack to promote childcare in under represented groupgs for individuals looking at or entering the childcare sector...
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