Date: 29 May 2009
Working Links, specialist providers of skills and
employment services for disadvantaged people and communities, has
been announced preferred bidder to be the prime contractor for four
contracts under the government's flexible New Deal (fND)
initiative.
The contracts, worth up to £560 million over five years, will
begin in October 2009 in the following areas: Devon and Cornwall;
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire; North and
East Yorkshire, Humber and Tees Valley and South Wales Valleys and
South West Wales.
Through fND, Working Links will engage with
partner organisations, which will include the private and voluntary
sectors, to offer a comprehensive service to help people improve
their skills and overcome their individual barriers to work.
According to DWP projections, it is estimated that more than
300,000 people will be supported on their journey from welfare back
into work over the course of the contract period.
Working Links’ Managing Director Breege Burke
said, “We are delighted that the Department for Work and Pensions
has announced us as preferred bidder for these contracts. Over the
past nine years, Working Links has placed over 110,000 people into
sustainable employment, and has been at the forefront of supporting
disadvantaged people in their journey from welfare to work. We
have extensive experience and expertise in how best to support
people seeking employment - crucially the need to work with clients
on a personalised basis to address their individual barriers.
Flexible New Deal is a bold new step by the government, which will
help us take more people on that journey from social exclusion to
social inclusion.”
Flexible New Deal will replace the
current mandatory New Deal. This includes Private Sector Led New
Deal, Employment Zone, New Deal 50plus and New Deal for
Musicians contracts in October 2009.
The new programme will be divided into four
parts with Jobcentre Plus delivering the first three. Working Links
will then deliver the final stage in the four areas. The clients
eligible for flexible New Deal will have been claiming
Jobseeker’s Allowance for at least 12 months.