Job Linkage Forward Strategy, Sunderland City Council

ERS were commissioned by Sunderland City Council to support the development of a forward strategy for the Job Linkage and Jobshop services in Sunderland. Building on previously established ERS expertise in the worklessness agenda, the study involved a number of key aspects:

• An analysis of the worklessness ‘market’ in Sunderland, for both those actively seeking work and those in receipt of other inactive benefits

• A description and assessment of available mainstream provision and any shortcomings in mainstream provision

• Describing and quantifying the economic & social costs of non-intervention for particular worklessness cohorts (JSA claimants, IB claimants, non-claimants)

• Case study evidence from elsewhere (regionally and nationally), highlighting effective approaches to addressing worklessness

• Value for money indicators based on the cost of interventions in supporting workless clients and the economic & social costs of non-intervention

ERS Contact: jbuttrick@ers.org.uk