Delivering in West Midlands
Serco Group Plc (Serco), the international services company, is pleased to announce that it has been selected by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as the preferred bidder to deliver Flexible New Deal in Coventry, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and The Marches.
Delivery will commence in October 2009, with the contract running for five years. Serco will assist thousands of long-term unemployed people into work in the region each year. The contract will cover Coventry, Warwickshire (including Nuneaton and Bedworth), Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire (including Telford and Wrekin), and Staffordshire (including Stoke-on-Trent).
Serco has designed a unique model for Flexible New Deal that will ensure individual jobseekers receive the effective and appropriate support they require at a local level. Serco will be the prime contractor and ensure effective delivery of the programme through a network of the best welfare-to-work providers, integrating them effectively with local, community-based organisations.
Our provider network in Coventry, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the Marches includes: Stoke-On-Trent College; Herefordshire PCT; West Midlands Community Service Volunteers; Groundwork North Staffordshire; Shropshire Country Council; and Coventry & Warwickshire Co-operative Development Agency. Serco will manage the network of private, public and third sector providers from a regional hub.
Flexible New Deal will provide significant support for the growing number of individuals claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. It will focus on those who have been unemployed for over twelve months, a figure that currently stands at 3,300 in this region. Support will be work-focused, combining career-planning and jobsearch skills with specialist services such as debt advice and top-up training. This includes assisting people who worked in the industries worst-hit by the recession - such as manufacturing and engineering - to utilise their transferable skills.
Richard Johnson, Managing Director for Serco Welfare to Work said:
"Serco is delighted to have secured this contract in Coventry, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and The Marches. We are excited at the prospect of delivering Flexible New Deal in this important area surrounding the UK's second largest City. The region contains a challenging mix of sizeable urban communities located primarily in rural environments, with pockets of high unemployment found in both rural areas and in the urban centres of Coventry and Stoke-on-Trent. We will ensure that the specific needs of the rural communities are prioritised as all too often unemployment is seen principally as an urban issue.
We will work alongside our partners to support those people who have traditionally found access to employment difficult, including those who come from family backgrounds where unemployment has sadly become entrenched over generations.
Central to our work will be employer engagement. We will forge major relationships with the private sector, including in emerging industries in the region of tourism and technology. We will align our approach with existing initiatives, locking into the City Strategy Pathfinder for Birmingham, Black Country and Coventry and Advantage West Midlands' Economic Strategy. By working together, we will ensure that our delivery of this vital welfare-to-work programme enables those people furthest from the labour market to secure a better, independent future benefitting them, their families and the wider community."
- Delivering in West Midlands (pdf, 33Kb) [PDF, 48 KB]