Highlights
Key highlights
Despite the continued challenges of the Covid pandemic, we have, with the immense support of our staff, had some huge successes in 2021:
Despite the continued challenges of the Covid pandemic, we have, with the immense support of our staff, had some huge successes in 2021:
Continued to reinforce and build upon our reputation as a key strategic and delivery partner within North Lanarkshire's working strategic employability framework
Celebrated placing our 20,000th client into work
Assisted 1,050 clients into employment - this represents an increase of 58% on the previous year and is only marginally down (5%) on the last pre-Covid figure.
Continued to adapt our service delivery model to accommodate remote, hybrid and home working
Successfully implemented a range of interim programmes, funded by both UK &
Scottish Governments, in response to post-Covid economic concerns, including:
Scottish Youth Guarantee
Offering every person aged 16-24 the chance to succeed despite the economic impacts of Covid
425
people
supported
203
entering
employment,
104
achieving
qualifications
15
entering further education,
training or volunteering
70 young people supported
into funded employment opportunities within the third sector and provided with employability wrap-around support to increase the chances of a positive outcome.
Kickstart
49%
of all participants have gone into employment, with a small number remaining on the programme
PACE+
An additional service delivered on behalf of North Lanarkshire Council to provide localised support to the National (Scottish) Partnership Action for Continuing Employment initiative, which supports people facing a redundancy situation
Provided almost 3,300 unemployed residents with "work of value" support - defined as a minimum of three separate interventions beyond initial contact. Despite the various restrictions across the year, there was an increase of 12% on the previous year and 2.4% on the last pre-Covid figure
Further embedded the provision of the Scottish Government's "No One Left Behind" ambitions to better align employability services with those at greatest risk of exclusion.
Maintained our in-work support across our programme portfolio despite the difficulties of working remotely and the labour market conditions. This saw us maintain our 26-week sustainability rates at 75%
Began our journey towards becoming an LGBT Charter member as part of our commitment to designing services to reach the people who would benefit most from our support and communities facing inequalities.
Finances
Money In & Money Out
£3,866,939
Total Income
(Up 40% on last year)
£4,079,215
Total Expenditure
(Up 41% on last year)
Total Expenditure
£292,270
Kickstart
£22,684
Childcare support for clients
£79,181
Client subsistence and support spend
£41,445
Skills & training (including routeway) for clients
£189,385
Training & learning development spend on clients
£28,910
Client life coaching
£25,067
Client travel
Business Plan 2021-24
In 2021, Routes To Work introduced a new three-year strategic business plan for 2021-24 with a focus on growth to further support the people of North Lanarkshire.
The need for this has never been greater due to the pandemic response, cost of living crisis and other circumstances affecting residents.
The key issues in our working environment
considered as a part of the business plan include:
Indeed, certain places within NL are particularly disadvantaged and
require targeted support
Continued commitment to the Plan for North Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire’s Workforce for the Future strategy as well as, at a Scotland-wide level, playing our role in the No One Left Behind strategy
Worklessness continuing to be a significant problem in North Lanarkshire (NL) compared to the rest of Scotland
Our response to the pandemic, particularly our holistic and connected approach to support as we aim to combat the economic harms of Covid. Not only this, we will continue to assess our approach to best working practice for our staff and how we engage with clients/deliver services
The ongoing need for dedicated case worker support and for an approach that recognises the need for targeted skills development alongside other employability support
What the future funding environment holds as it continues to be an evolving one, particularly in funding opportunities
In response to these issues, the new plan sets out a number of challenging growth & development ambitions to be pursued across the coming years.
The new business plan also incorporates a refreshed outline of Routes To Work’s purpose, mission, vision & set of values.
Purpose
Routes To Work exists to help North Lanarkshire’s residents achieve their aims in life by providing sector-leading skills and employability support.
In doing so, we contribute to improving the economy of North Lanarkshire, to reducing poverty and to creating a society where everyone has a good quality of life.
Vision
An organisation that North Lanarkshire can be proud of, valued by local people and businesses, and respected nationally for the scope, quality and effectiveness of its services and for continued innovation in skills and employability support.
Mission
We tailor our support to each individual, helping them recognise and develop their unique capabilities. We support our clients in whatever way they need - skills, information, help to access financial services, health & wellbeing and support networks - to make sure they achieve success in work and life.
Values
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Committed to our clients
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Welcoming to everyone
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Building capacity
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Always learning
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Working together
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Aim to be the best
In order to reach our ambitions, the priorities we considered were as follows:
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A focus on those that most need and can benefit from our support, particularly those at greatest risk of exclusion from economic opportunities
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Prioritisation of activities that help address the wider physical and mental health issues arising from the pandemic
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Increased emphasis on supporting clients to be more digitally included
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Development of tailored initiatives to help ensure North Lanarkshire residents gain maximum benefit from significant infrastructure or similar investments in the area
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Use of our Knowledge Transfer Partnership project to further develop our understanding of how investment in skills and employability creates social value and how the learning from this can encourage best practice nationally
