Agenda item

            Cabinet is invited to consider the attached report, which seeks approval of the recommendation to vary the existing Contract with Reed in Partnership for the continuation of the WHP until 30 November 2026 and to increase the aggregate value of the Contract to include DWP funding of £3,202,023.36 in respect of WHP and £300,000 for the JETS Programme (the latter programme having been included via previously agreed variations to the Contract).

RESOLVED: To

Approve a variation of the contract between the London Borough of Croydon (as Lead Accountable Body on behalf of the South London Partnership) and Reed in Partnership (“Contract”) in order to:

a) extend the term of the Contract for the continued delivery of the South London Work and Health Programme (WHP) which also incorporates the Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) Programme, until 30th November 2026. This means the referrals for WHP will continue until September 2024 with a tail off period until 30^th November 2026 and referrals for JETS until September 2022 with a tail off period until April 2023.

b) increase the Contract value from £20,015,610 to incorporate DWP funding of £3,202,023.36 in respect of WHP and £300,000 for JETS, for a new aggregate contract value of £23,517,633.36.

Cabinet considered a report which sought the Executive Mayor’s approvalof the recommendation to vary the existing Contract with Reed in Partnership for the continuation of the WHP until 30 November 2026 and to increase the aggregate value of the Contract to include DWP funding of £3,202,023.36 in respect of WHP and £300,000 for the JETS Programme (the latter programme having been included via previously agreed variations to the Contract).

The report detailed the work of the Work and Health Programme to date, including the Job Entry Targeted Support Programme and set out how the additional government funding of £3.2m, made available by the Department for Work and Pensions, would be utilised to extend the Programme.

It was noted that the Programme was intended to support residents from Croydon, Merton, Kingston, Sutton and Richmond into sustainable employment, targeting residents with disabilities and health conditions, the long-term unemployed and specified disadvantaged groups.

The Executive Mayor was pleased to note that under Croydon’s leadership, the Programme had been one of the highest performing of its kind in the Country helping residents who had the most difficulty accessing jobs with job opportunities.  He said that the extension of the Job Entry Programme for the Borough’s residents who found it hard to access job opportunities, was a testament to the excellent work of the Council’s officers, the employment services and the Borough’s local business partners and was a great example of partnership working which he hoped to see elsewhere in the Council.

The Executive Mayor reminded Members that there was also a Part B (exempt) report associated with the report, which set out certain exempt legal advice.  He asked if any Member wished to ask a question regarding the Part B material, to indicate in advance since the meeting would be required to formally move to consider such matters in private.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Councillor Jeet Bains, said that the Programme offered intensive employment support for participants and that in Croydon alone, almost 2,500 residents had joined the Programme between 2018 and 2022 and of those, 839 had started work.  He said that referrals to the Programme remained strong and that this demonstrated an ongoing need to continue with this support, the need for which, was likely to increase.

Councillor Bains said that the extension would be funded by the DWP and at no cost to the Council, with the exception of recharged internal legal costs associated with the extension and these would be shared proportionately between the five boroughs.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, said that Croydon was the biggest beneficiary of this given its size and level of need.

In response to a question from Councillor Chris Clark (Shadow Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration) in respect of whether the Cabinet would work with all Members to lobby Government to secure further funding to continue the important work in seeking employment for Croydon residents, the Executive Mayor said that his Administration would always push the Government for additional funding for the Borough.

Having listened to the contributions and considered the detail in the report, the Executive Mayor, in Cabinet, RESOLVED that a variation of the contract between the London Borough of Croydon (as Lead Accountable Body on behalf of the South London Partnership) and Reed in Partnership (“Contract”) in order to:

a)            extend the term of the Contract for the continued delivery of the South London Work and Health Programme (WHP) which also incorporates the Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) Programme, until 30th November 2026. This means the referrals for WHP will continue until September 2024 with a tail off period until 30^th November 2026 and referrals for JETS until September 2022 with a tail off period until April 2023, and

b)           increase the Contract value from £20,015,610 to incorporate DWP funding of £3,202,023.36 in respect of WHP and £300,000 for JETS, for a new aggregate contract value of £23,517,633.36, be approved.