RENOVO TO SUPPORT REGIONAL WORK PROGRAMME
York based Renovo Employment Group has been appointed to assist the new Work Programme across Yorkshire following the welfare to work reform and government appointment of ‘prime providers’ last month.
The appointment allows Renovo to deliver a new and more cost efficient distance based support package to thousands of people returning to work, ensuring the sustainability of their employment.
In the April announcement The Department for Work and Pensions split Yorkshire into three contract package areas (CPA’s) - West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and North/East Yorkshire and Humber. Each CPA now has 2/3 prime providers to deliver the work programme. Renovo has become a dedicated In Work Support Partner to G4S, one of the two successful prime contractors in the North and East Yorkshire and Humber area. It will also be supporting two other prime contractors: A4E and Serco to help them deliver the Work Programme in the South Yorkshire CPA.
Renovo will support these ‘primes’ with its Career Advancement Programme (CAP). The new programme provides a powerful yet highly cost effective platform for delivering in-work-support to high volumes of customers to achieve job retention, career advancement and skills development.
Historically, government funded employment programmes have required prime providers to deliver in work support for up to a maximum of 26 weeks. Under the new Work Programme, due to commence this summer, providers could be required to deliver in work support for up to 52 or even 104 weeks.
Paul Raper, Partnership Manager at Renovo comments, “This change brings very real challenges for providers and requires a radical new approach to delivery. The Work Programme clearly outlines that providers are to be paid at a rate set by outcomes rather than input. Realistically this means that payments could be held for up to two years of satisfactory job sustainment.
“We have been successfully appointed because our programme allows providers to outsource the entire process of monitoring candidate progress in their new role. It eases this investment by taking away much of the workload in tracking and supporting customers as well as helping them to progress in their new roles.”
Renovo’s CAP includes a dedicated one to one guidance package where each customer has their own Work Coach available by telephone, email and text for the duration of the programme. Each customer is also provided with access to “Workfriend”, a new interactive online portal containing factsheets, videos and e-learning across a host of topics relating to support at work, skills and progression. Workfriend is also available as a phone app, allowing those without ready access to computers to benefit from the resources. A 24/7 helpline provides access to counselling, financial and legal advice as well as acting as a crisis intervention service.
Support can be provided either at the point of job entry or from the job outcome stage through to the end of the sustainment period which could now be as long as two years. The collaboration brings together knowledge and software intelligence to take the customer on a “journey” from initial skills analysis and job suitability through to support at work, acquiring new skills and progressing in their career. The programme effectively allows the customer to progress from supported through to unsupported, sustainable employment.
Renovo has already achieved outstanding results through its bespoke programme working with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Jobcentre Plus where it has helped over 20,000 jobseekers back on the road to work. Renovo is a DWP Accredited Provider and holds both the Matrix and Investors in People Standard.