The New Deal Joint Venture Partnership is a group which manages the delivery of New Deal provision for 18-24 year olds in the Southern Derbyshire area. The partnership comprises Derbyshire County Council, Derby City Council, Southern Derbyshire Chamber, Derbyshire Career Services, District Employment Service and the Derbyshire Council for Voluntary Services CVS.

  The group considered the issue of recruiting the unemployed at our meeting of 1 March. The following comments were made:

—  There are a number of Employer Coalitions that have been established across the Country as part of the New Deal initiative. The Employer Coalition in Derby has been working closely with employers to break down some of the barriers that exist to recruiting unemployed people and aims to bridge the expectation gap between what employers expect unemployed people to be able to do and the actual skills levels of the unemployed. The Coalition has recently run an Employers' event to raise the awareness of the unemployed in Derby as to the job opportunities that exist in the area and the skills needed to obtain employment in particular industries. Employer Coalitions already have routes in to employers and strong links with New Deal and would be a valuable source of information for your inquiry.

—  The recruitment techniques of even the most people friendly employer can often intimidate the long term unemployed. Careful thought needs to be given to effective recruitment of unemployed people. Gimmicks and slogans, however innovative they may seem to the employer, may do little to encourage and attract unemployed people. Consulting the unemployed in relation to appropriate recruitment techniques may be useful.

—  The group welcomed the use of specialist intermediaries to link unemployed people to appropriate vacancies, provided their intermediaries worked in partnership with existing agencies and networks.

—  The expansion of private sector agencies and intermediaries in finding work for the unemployed should, however, be approached with caution. Experience in delivering New Deal over the last two years has alerted the group to the potential failings in the quality of training and advice provision that the unemployed receive where there is too heavy an emphasis on profit.

  I hope that these comments are useful.

Southern Derbyshire New Deal Joint Venture Partnership

March 2000