Lancashire County Council - Social Inclusion Vision and Objectives

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1 Lancashire County Council - Social Inclusion Vision and Objectives Appendix 2 Our Vision Lancashire County Council leading the way in providing opportunities and involving people in decisions that improve the quality of their lives Social Inclusion Themes To deliver our vision for social inclusion we will take action around the following 4 themes 1 Leadership 2 Engagement with stakeholders 3 Quality job opportunities 4 Accessible services Social Inclusion Objectives Each of these 4 themes is shaped into an objective by a statement of intent. Each objective will be delivered by a number of key actions. The objectives and actions will be embedded into all the County Council s planning and activities. Our 4 Objectives: We will Strengthen leadership across the County Council so that we raise the profile of social inclusion, increase commitment and ensure services are monitored and reviewed. Strengthen the way we engage with people so that everyone can contribute. Improve opportunities so that people can achieve economic wellbeing. Improve access to our services, so that everyone gets the information and support they need.

2 - 2 - Objective 1: Leadership We will strengthen leadership across the County Council, so that we: i) Raise the profile of social inclusion Have clearly defined leadership for social inclusion Embed responsibility for social inclusion at all levels in our organisation Be a champion for social inclusion Be an exemplar for good practices Be an active lead partner, where appropriate Nurture and develop agreed partnerships which contribute to the core purpose of the County Council Communicate our social inclusion aims and objectives to our staff and the people of Lancashire. Maintaining the leadership of cross-cutting policy and strategy at the executive level within the organisation and its place in the County Council s core purpose Developing and delivering a range of training to senior managers Including social inclusion principles in the core, executive and senior manager competences Evaluating partnerships using the Partnership Protocol Having a clear communication strategy ii) Increase commitment Increase knowledge and understanding of social inclusion. Undertake evidence-based policy development, business planning, implementation and priority setting, in the context of achieving greater effectiveness Promote the County Council s approach to social inclusion Developing and delivering a range of integrated training products to support managers and their staff Including social inclusion principles in the core and manager competencies and addressing practices through the PDA process Using and increasing the available corporate intelligence and data on social inclusion in Lancashire, to shape service development and delivery.

3 - 3 - iii) Ensure services are monitored and reviewed Demonstrate that social inclusion principles are embedded in their business plans and service activities by o either, increasing participation/take up of services by people at risk of social exclusion, o or, reducing take up of services by/numbers of people at risk of social exclusion, whichever is appropriate for their service, Include the social inclusion dimension when, with our partners, we are bringing together and joining-up services Measure and evaluate the impact of social inclusion policy. Embedding social inclusion principles in the formulation and delivery of public services in Lancashire Monitoring and evaluating, using -a system of select committees -the Partnership Protocol Reporting progress to the Everyone Matters (Member) Working Group Objective 2: Engagement We will strengthen the way we engage with people so that everyone can contribute. Empower individuals to become involved in local democracy to make a difference to their own lives and the community around them Listen to service users and the wider community and act positively on the feedback we receive in order to ensure that our services meet the needs of all the communities we serve. Work with partners to actively promote the involvement of marginalised groups Share best practice across the County Council and with our partners. Commitment to an ongoing programme of research to develop a corporate intelligence function which can be used to align services to meet customer need Continuing to build on current examples of successful engagement strategies

4 - 4 - Objective 3: Quality job opportunities We will improve opportunities, so that people can achieve economic wellbeing Be an exemplar for other employers to follow Raise awareness in communities of opportunities available at the County Council Vary methods of recruitment and selection processes to increase the number of people from under represented groups. Share best practice Remove any unnecessary barriers to employing members of socially excluded groups Support people to access volunteering opportunities. Support people to access personal development opportunities. Work with partners to reduce worklessness Work with partners to develop apprenticeship opportunities Work with partners to increase the number of established businesses. Making posts available and proactively promoting opportunities to those people on schemes such as Work Experience, Apprenticeships, New Deal, and people coming back into work Organising service-specific job fairs Making guided telephone applications available Standardising the approach to schools, colleges, Jobcentre + and LSC Developing further job share/part-time opportunities for higher graded staff Emphasising the benefits of working for the County Council eg flexible working, good conditions of service and employee development opportunities Researching other public sector organisations that are successful in recruiting from socially excluded groups eg NHS Reviewing job descriptions and person specifications Working with County Council Managers and employers in the community to raise awareness of the potential barriers to accessing jobs and how to overcome them, including creating a safe and welcoming working environment free from stereotypes and prejudice. Undertaking initiatives that will enable people to access employment opportunities across the county by raising expectation, motivating people to return to work, providing training and skills development opportunities, actively recruiting people with a history of worklessness into jobs, and providing an aftercare service to build and develop skills, knowledge and experience. Identifying and developing apprenticeship opportunities across a wide range of occupational areas within public sector organisations. Initiatives to support the development of social enterprises; promotion of Lancashire as a location to incoming businesses; and to provide support for new businesses in order for them to be sustainable.

5 - 5 - All these actions will need to be moved forward in the context of the Review of Human Resources and, wherever possible, support the Lancashire Efficiency Initiative. Objective 4: Accessible services We will improve access to our services, so that everyone gets the information and support they need Ensure that all information about services provided to the public and to staff, is up to date, conveniently available through several channels, and reliable Ensure services are provided when they are required and as conveniently as possible for people Ensure eligibility criteria used to determine entitlement are clear, fair and transparent. Work at overcoming obstacles faced by people due to insufficient personal resources, disability or discrimination. Develop a positive culture and attitudes in relation to how staff deliver services to people who are socially excluded or at risk of social exclusion. Making Information available in a variety of appropriate formats for people who have difficulties in accessing information Making opportunities available for self help Making opportunities available for self-assessment All these actions will need to be taken forward in the context of the Customer Access Strategy