Richard speaking at this year's Welfare to Work UK Convention in Manchester
Well, what a few weeks it has been.
Life at CDG is never uneventful but it has been particularly busy over the last three weeks.
We have had the launch of our Work Programme prime contract as well as the MAXIMUS–CDG alliance contracts, our AGM, the Welfare to Work UK Convention in Manchester and numerous speaking engagements across London.
The Work Programme has started well, with more referrals than expected across all the areas we are working in. Having said that, it is still too soon to say if this is an early peak or a trend, and only time will tell.
Our Customer Support Centre is now working through the referrals, completing initial assessments and booking jobseekers into appointments across our supply chain. It is a real credit to all the dedicated staff in CDG and across our partners that such a large and revolutionary welfare to work programme has moved from conception to reality in such a short time.
Our AGM was an opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months of hard work and success, as well as setting out the exciting challenges for the future. Our Annual Review is now available, which really shows how much has been achieved and the changes being made due to the change of government and the introduction of Work Programme.
The CESI Welfare to Work UK Convention in Manchester was another good opportunity to see what was going on in welfare to work, meet up with colleagues from across the sector and reflect on all the changes we have seen in the last 12 months.
We had a new stand this year which we also used as a backdrop for some filming while we were in Manchester. For anyone at the convention who wondered what we were doing, we were filming clips for our e-learning platform, e-kwip.me, on good and bad networking practices. It really showed the budding actors we have in the team.
Speaking opportunities are coming thick and fast at the minute. I suppose being only one of only two charities that are Work Programme prime providers was likely to gain some interest.
Speaking opportunities at the Welfare to Work UK Convention were shared between the team, covering the Expert Volunteer Initiative, challenges for the third sector and creating Work Programme legacies as well as sharing experience from Australia and our alliance with MAXIMUS.
Back in London, last week, seemed to be dominated by speaking engagements. I had the pleasure of addressing an event run by Action Planning showcasing the journey of CDG over the last three years and our strategy that led to the award of the Work Programme contract.
On Thursday I joined Adam Sharples (DWP), Sean Williams (G4S) and Ian Salisbury (InTraining) on a panel at Civil Service Live to discuss the Work Programme, how it is different from previous provisions and what we aim to achieve.
I ended the week speaking at an Association of Learning Providers and Association of Colleges event looking at skills provisions for the unemployed. It was interesting to hear how things are progressing in this area but it is still in the very early stages, with possibly more questions than answers.
One thing is for sure: colleges, training providers, Jobcentre Plus and Work Programme providers will need to work closely together to make the most of the opportunities in front of us. We are truly seeing massive changes, not only in welfare to work but across the skills sector as well.
And for the week ahead things are still looking very exciting. I will be going down to see our delivery in Portsmouth. It will be nice to see how the Work Programme is bedding down and I will also be meeting with partners, working with the CDG team on European Social Fund and Innovation Fund opportunities and well as attending a ministerial meeting. So the pace is not due to slow down, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Richard Clifton, Director of Business Development
