Looking at employment - Nacro

Many of the measures that are likelyto be included in local crime anddisorder strategies will require thecreation of additional jobs.unlikely to be enough to meet the full range ofneeds. There is considerable potential howeverfor pooling other funding resources locally anddeveloping ILMs which will meet a number ofcomplementary objectives:Create jobs in the local economy with thepotential to be sustainable in the longer term.Provide temporary jobs with training forlocal unemployed people, including exoffenders,which will provide a bridge to thefull labour market.Deliver products that will help meet some ofthe objectives of local crime and disorderstrategies.Finding work forunemployed ex-offendersMeasures to improve the employment prospectsof long-term unemployed people, particularlythose who have also been offenders, tend tofocus on skills development and tackling thebarriers to unemployment that they face. Theproblem is worse for unemployed ex-offenderswho are doubly disadvantaged because of thestigma attached to their offending behaviour. Inaddition, considerable effort is needed to engagewith and change the attitudes of employers tounemployed people in general and ex-offendersin particular.However, high-crime areas also tend to be areaswhere there are significantly higher levels oflong-term unemployment. In these areas, there isoften an insufficient supply of suitable jobs forlong-term unemployed people in the localeconomy. The jobs that are available are morelikely to be part-time, temporary or low paid,presenting a range of problems associated withbenefits or low income traps. Improving anindividual’s employability and engaging withlocal employers is not enough in thesecircumstances to enable unemployed people tofind and maintain work. In areas of highunemployment an intermediate approach isneeded which provides real work, a wage andgenuinely improves the prospect of a full-timejob.Harnessing the potentialNo-one would claim that ILMs in isolation are asolution to unemployment, but in areas of highunemployment they can and do form part of thesolution. Similarly ILM projects will not, inisolation, reduce crime in high-crime areas butthey could form a key element of local crimeand disorder strategies.There is an opportunity now for local partners tothink imaginatively and creatively aboutcombining the twin government policyobjectives of getting long-term unemployedpeople back to work with ways of reducingcrime and promoting community safety. As thisarticle has tried to illustrate, the development oflocal ILMs is one way of doing this andaddressing a range of complementary policyobjectives. They also provide an opportunity toturn joined-up national thinking into joined-uplocal practice by both creating jobs for localunemployed people and delivering products andservices that will help reduce crime in the samelocal communities. ReferencesCentre for Local Economic Strategies (1996),‘Regeneration Through Work’Glasgow Works (1998), ‘The Wise Group AnnualReport 1997’Home Office (1997), ‘Reducing Offending: AnAssessment of Research Evidence on Ways ofDealing with Offending Behaviour’, Research StudyNo.187NACRO (1995), ‘Crime and Social Policy: A Report ofthe Crime and Social Policy Committee’Social Exclusion Unit (1998), ‘Bringing BritainTogether: A National Strategy for NeighbourhoodRenewal’A considerablebody of experienceand expertise nowexists to helpdevelop ILMs andthere is a NationalILM Network, witharound 30members,administered bythe Centre forSocial Inclusion. Ifyou would likefurther informationabout ILMs or wishto be put in touchwith a local ILMorganisation,please contactMike Stewart at theCentre for SocialInclusion, VigilantHouse, 120 WiltonRoad, LondonSW1V 1JZ or bytelephone on 0171-808 7010.MIKE STEWARTIS A DIRECTOROF THE CENREFOR SOCIALINCLUSION19 FEBRUARY 1999 SAFER SOCIETY MAGAZINE NACRO