Create fair employment and good work for all - Print version

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This priority focuses on

  1. Addressing barriers to reducing long-term unemployment across the social gradient.
  2. Supporting people who are disadvantaged in the labour market to attain the skills and training they need to secure and maintain good quality employment.
  3. Supporting healthy workplaces that promote employee’s health and wellbeing.

Background

The Marmot Review summarised the importance of addressing inequalities in work and employment ‘Being in good employment is protective of health. Conversely, unemployment contributes to poor health. Getting people into work is therefore of critical importance for reducing health inequalities.’

Coventry is a diverse city both in terms of its resident population and its business base. Coventry has the second-highest resident average pay in the West Midlands region and the lowest levels of youth unemployment. Like any major city, Coventry still faces challenges. We want Coventry residents to have skills that match the needs of local employers, not only for now, but also for the vacancies of the future. We want to ensure learning and skills provision meets the needs of all of Coventry’s communities, is fully inclusive and plays a key role in reducing poverty. We want to build aspiration throughout all educational levels, with Coventry’s young people inspired to learn, with clear pathways to the jobs they strive towards. Coventry Skills Strategy provides a ‘framework for action’ across all educational stages working collaboratively to get the best skills outcomes for our residents, from early education through to lifelong adult learning, and plays a key role in tackling the causes and consequences of climate change by ensuring residents gain the right skills to support green jobs growth.

What we know

There are a number of programmes of work and interventions that support the create fair employment and good work for all recommendations. These include:

  1. Support those in employment.
  2. Support Coventry residents to access volunteering, training and employment across the city, working with partners in public, private and community and voluntary sectors across the social gradient.
  3. Tackle inequalities by making sure skills provision is equally accessed by all Coventry’s communities, with our residents gaining the skills they need to secure good employment and progress within it.
  4. Work with businesses to improve the quality of jobs, creating health promoting workplaces that support the health and wellbeing of employees.

Legislation and government guidance that support the create fair employment and good work for all recommendation:

Links to service developments and strategies to support this recommendation:

Indicators

The indicators below will tell us how we are progressing:

  • Unemployment rate as a comparator with UK, West Midlands and statistical neighbours
  • Proportion of employed in non-permanent employment
  • Proportion of people unemployed or inactive among cohorts of people facing disadvantage in the labour market

Our services and activities:

Delivery partners

  • Anchor Alliance
  • Businesses
  • Coventry City Council Business Investment and Culture
  • Coventry City Council Skills, Employment and Adult Education
  • Coventry City Council Migration Team
  • Coventry City Council Planning Team
  • Coventry City Council Through Care Team
  • Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
  • Job Shop
  • UK Shared Prosperity Fund programme delivery partners
  • Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise Sector
  • West Midlands Combined Authority

How we will measure progress

  • Proportion of children in workless households
  • Adult Education Budget ethnicity enrolment data and destination data
  • Percentage of employees earning below real living wage
  • Gender pay gap
  • Unemployment rate comparative to statistical neighbours, the region and the UK.
  • 50+ claimant count and inactivity rates by IMD
  • Economically inactive women by IMD
  • Workplace Wellbeing Award  data

Case Study 1 - The Job Shop

The Job Shop is a universal service, open to everyone living in Coventry. Job Shop staff identify those who have low, moderate, or higher levels of need and vulnerability, and offer services according to that level of need. Those who are assessed as being furthest from the job market are then able to access a wide range of services suited to their needs, taking a proportionate universalism approach. It also uses the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to inform its outreach strategy, targeting interventions where they are needed most so vulnerable residents are not left behind.

The Job Shop supports the delivery of the Coventry Skills Strategy aspiration to improve all educational levels closer to national averages by producing clear pathways to the jobs young people and adults strive towards and to have the skills that meet the needs of local employers now and in the future; being fully inclusive and supporting those most in need.

The Job Shop operates a Hub and Spoke model, with services reaching into community locations such as family hubs, libraries, and medical centres to reach even the most deprived areas of Coventry, engaging residents where they live. This makes services more accessible, reducing some of the structural barriers that often prevent disadvantaged populations from accessing employment support.

The Job Shop plays a crucial role in focusing on the intersection of employment, education, and community well-being, through helping individuals develop new skills, navigate digital job applications, or overcome barriers like low confidence. The Job Shop delivers personalised support that goes beyond just finding jobs, equipping individuals with tools to sustain long-term employment and improve their quality of life through stable employment. The Job Shop has focused its efforts on those who face multiple barriers to employment, including migrants, older job seekers, and those with caring responsibilities.

What our organisation did

One example is the support provided to a recent migrant, a mother who had to balance childcare with the challenge of entering a new job market. Despite having significant experience in banking and human resources, her lack of UK-specific work experience and inability to travel far due to childcare made job searching particularly difficult. The Job Shop created a tailored support plan, which included attending CV and job application workshops and participating in volunteering sessions to build local experience. These sessions not only enhanced her skills but also helped her become more comfortable navigating the UK job market. After significant support, the Job Shop's Employer Engagement Team was able to negotiate flexible working hours, including some homeworking, which met her childcare needs. Within a month, her attitude towards employment had completely shifted from anxiety to excitement as she secured a role in her desired sector.

Successes:

The Job Shop to date has:

  • Over 60,000 people registered
  • Supported over 15,000 residents into local employment
  • Had over 250,000 + visits
  • Worked with over 200 businesses per year to support their recruitment

Visit the Job Shop website [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/employment-support] for more information.

View a print version  [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/marmot-monitoring-tool/ten-years-marmot-city/print]

Case Study 2 - WorkWell Project Pilot based at Willenhall Primary Care Centre

As a Marmot city, Coventry has several programmes that focus on supporting our residents in education, training, and work; support fair and good employment, and support healthy workplaces.

Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board were successfully awarded grant funding to design and deliver a WorkWell service. The ICB funded a small-scale pilot project to inform the delivery model of the WorkWell service.

The pilot project is a targeted intervention for 10 people with low level mental ill heath to start, stay and succeed in work.

What our organisation did

The pilot project aims to support those with mental health conditions who are either unemployed or off work with a fit note to return to employment in a local area.

Referrals are directly received from the GP at Willenhall Primary Care Centre to the Employment Coach. The client is offered information, advice and support on well-being, employability, and, educational and skills courses available.

Successes

The pilot programme will be fully evaluated when completed; the findings will inform the delivery model for the new WorkWell service.

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