Foundations Back to Work initiative (FOI)

Request

This Freedom of Information request relates to a Social Security support scheme titled "Foundations".

The information requested:

A

Number of current individuals working with Foundations through a temporary worker arrangement with a recruitment agency.

B

The margin being charged for the provision of the temporary staffing service.

C

The number of individuals on the scheme the recruitment agency has assisted with or been instrumental in securing permanent work.

D

The success rate of the scheme in placing individuals into permanent work.

E

The average annual cost of temporary service provision to the Foundations team. If no average is available then please provide total cost of temporary services over the last three months.

Response

Foundations is a Back to Work initiative designed to support registered jobseekers who are furthest from employment. It aims to bring clients closer to employment by offering them paid work on projects to act as a stepping stone towards more open employment. Foundations projects involve work on community benefit projects on various sites across Jersey.

All work undertaken benefits the community and is maintenance or other work that would not otherwise have been undertaken. It provides workers with experience of work and improves their general employability in areas such as attendance, positive attitude, teamwork and motivation to work.

A

There are currently 19 individuals working on Foundations through a temporary worker arrangement with a recruitment agency.

B

An exemption has been applied in respect of this question. Therefore this information has not been released as it would be likely to impact the commercial interests of the agency involved. Please see Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 exemptions applied below.

C

The recruitment agency’s remit for Foundations does not include placing individuals in permanent work. During the time an individual is on the Foundations Scheme they are given 1:1 specialist support by an employment advisor (employed by the Social Security Department) who will assist them in securing unsubsidised employment.

D

Between the beginning of Nov 2014 and the end of Dec 2016, 266 clients have been on the Foundations Scheme at some point. 138 permanent contracts were secured following completion of the scheme.

The Back to Work Foundations Scheme runs continuously with clients enrolling on to and leaving the scheme as their personal circumstances change. Some clients may enrol on the scheme more than once.

E

The average annual cost of temporary service provision to the Foundations team is £32,826.58. This figure has been calculated from the annual costings of payroll provision from January 2015 to December 2016 which are the years the Foundations scheme has been fully operational.

Exemptions applied

Article 26 - Information supplied in confidence

Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it was obtained by the scheduled public authority from another person (including another public authority); and

(b) the disclosure of the information to the public by the scheduled public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

The prejudice test and public interest test have been applied.