Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

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Achievements of the strategy to date
In July an advice line for employers and other people working with migrants was also launched. This offers
free professional advice on employment and other matters affecting migrants, and the law and procedures
employers need to follow. Both these services will be supported by a website to be launched in the autumn
of 2007.
The Investing in Communities programme
EEDA’s Investing in Communities (IiC) programme is an example of a long-term regeneration programme
which seeks to achieve effective co-ordination of funding and interventions. Its key aim is to encourage a
holistic partnership approach to tackling disadvantage, encouraging the alignment of all available public
sector resources to deliver agreed strategic priorities.
Set up in 2004, IiC has helped to deliver the goals of the Regional Social Strategy at two levels – one
delivering programmes of work across the region, the other providing funding through nine sub-regional
partnerships.
As well as taking a national lead on migrant worker issues, as described above, encouraging new business
and social enterprise is another priority for IiC. In 2005 IiC funded Social Enterprise East of England to
develop a regional strategy for social enterprise, and is now funding it to act as the co-ordinator for social
enterprises across the region. Between 2005 and 2007 IiC has been promoting women’s enterprise,
developing the East of England's first ever women's enterprise strategy, creating the first business support
directory for women in the East of England and investing £1.2 million with co-funding from the European
Social Fund in the region-wide Enterprising Women initiative.
IiC has also funded a range of Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) that offer small-scale
loans to start-up and growing businesses that are viable but pose too great a risk to secure a bank loan.
IiC has recently commissioned research into the most sustainable model of providing such funding and
as a result is preparing to tender for a contract with a single CDFI for a £1 million loan portfolio across
the region.
One of the most recent projects from IiC is the Building Communities Fund, a £3 million-a-year regional
programme that will provide support to communities who want to cultivate assets and take an enterprising
approach to local regeneration.
At the sub-regional level IiC works with nine partnerships to ensure that funding is tailored to local needs.
Each sub-region has its own business plan, and EEDA has committed to investing over £100 million through
the partnerships between 2007 and 2011. A principal focus is to help people into employment, with £25 million
going into projects such as skills training, business coaching and tackling work-limiting illness.
Engaging young people in the governance of the region
Actions stemming from the Regional Social Strategy have led to the successful involvement of more young
people in the development of interventions which support their well-being. Following the positive contribution
made by the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) representative in 2006/7, the UKYP has again been invited to
nominate a representative onto the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) as part of the Community
Stakeholder group for 2007/8. As well as participating in meetings of the full Assembly, the UKYP member
will sit on EERA’s Europe and International Affairs Panel.