Newham Council agrees on the distribution model for new employment funding secured for vulnerable residents

Work

• Agreed proposed distribution will see £1,926,811 total grant shared with Hackney, Tower Hamlet and Waltham Forest Councils

At the Cabinet meeting on Thursday 20 July, it was agreed that Newham Council will deliver the £1,926,811 Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care Grant Fund secured from Department for Works and Pensions(DWP) through a cluster model with neighbouring local authorities.

Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) is a Government initiative between DWP and Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to provide 6 local authorities with grants to support vulnerable adults who have a physical or mental health disability moving into competitive employment and any additional help they need to maintain that employment.

Rokhsana Fiaz OBE Mayor of Newham, said: “In this ongoing difficult economic crisis, it is important that we continue to seek additional funding streams to support all Newham residents in securing and maintaining employment that will support their daily lives.

“This funding distribution model marks another important step in our collaborative partnership model which allows us to deliver great benefits for Newham residents but also local East London residents from neighbouring Councils.

I welcome today’s Cabinet agreement which will help deliver support to not only Newham’s vulnerable residents but 1,000 needy local adults across East London in a fair and prompt way.’’

The distribution model will see Newham playing the role of the Leading Authority and entering back-to-back agreements with Tower Hamlet, Waltham Forest and Hackney Council, the £1,734,130 funds will be divided equally between the 4 boroughs and Newham will also receive 10% (£192,681) of the total funding for Management and Administration costs.

Newham’s flagship employment service, Our Newham Work is experienced in delivering IPS programmes and has been delivering the Public Health Funded IPS GROW programme since 2022. IPS GROW supports residents in Newham who experience substance and alcohol misuse. The programme is delivered collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams and service delivery is co-located within Change Grow Live (CGL) hubs in the borough.

 Our Newham Work will continue to work with community networks, voluntary groups, and stakeholder channels and through local sources such as housing associations, hostels, libraries, community and children’s centres to reach out to the most disadvantaged communities.

The IPSPC fund will support 1000 participants, 250 in each borough) across the lifetime of the programme - starting in September 2023 and ending in March 2024 - with a focus on supporting participants in key growth sectors within the cluster (construction, digital & creative industries, retail & hospitality, health & social care and finance & professional services). Beneficiaries will be targeted via a range of outreach activities with extensive Borough coverage to ensure that underrepresented or disadvantaged groups have the same opportunities to access the provision.

To learn more about Our Newham Money and the services on offer, visit the website.

Published: 25 Jul 2023