Local government leadership in meeting the needs of the long term unemployed : the Fairfield example

Disadvantaged groups in the labour market, including migrants, women, sole parents and youth have been characterised by poor educational attainment, a higher frequency and duration of unemployment, concentration in jobs of low occupational and industrial status as well as high levels of labour turnover. The reasons for such marginalisation are complex but research offers a range of explanations identifying pre market and post market factors which pose intractable barriers inhibiting the movement of such groups into suitable training and employment. Local communities can play an important part in accessing and finding solutions to the labour market barriers suffered by many of these groups. The role of local governments in such initiatives, being the sphere of government closest to the people, is regarded as pivotal. Under the leadership of the Fairfield City Council, the Community Learning and Skills Development Project aims to improve the labour access and progress of disadvantaged groups in the region by encouraging lifelong learning through community driven networks. This paper details research undertaken as part of this project by UWS in conjunction with Fairfield City Council. The purpose of the research was to sensitise the researchers to local issues, the potentialities and problems faced by the long term unemployed in the Fairfield region and to yield promising data for local policy makers as they seek to improve labour skills and employability within the region amongst targeted disadvantaged groups including sole parents, migrants, and youth.