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Lewisham Boro Council not helping employment
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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #1
26-07-2009 06:38 PM

I was given to understand Lewisham had a quite high unemployment rate which is tragic
Twice recently I have dealt with the Council Tax Office and to my surprise it is based in Greater Manchester.
Why are not our council using our local people. Surely this is commonsense as by employing locals they will have more money to spend locally. Do they not have a duty also to employ locals.
No doubt I will be told it is cheaper. That would not be the case if the same wages were paid in both places.

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Ghis


Posts: 321
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #2
27-07-2009 01:18 PM

Outside the fact that in this case it is a whole service (They are in Sale, just outside Manchester) in my experience a lot of people working for councils are not always people who live in that borough. I know some people who work for Southwark council but commute from Kent. Nothing stops you applying for a job for a specific council and to commute from across London.

In the case of the service above, the company they work for probably provide the same service to a lot of other councils accross the UK.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #3
28-07-2009 06:52 AM

I appreciate LBC cannot bar people from neighbouring areas from work but to place a whole contract 200 miles away is not quite the same.
Would be interested to know how many jobs have been lost because of this.

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dbboy


Posts: 201
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #4
07-08-2009 10:17 AM

LEWISHAM GOLD COMMUNITY PROJECT

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #5
21-08-2009 12:36 PM

What does last posting mean , sorry for my ignorance.

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dbboy


Posts: 201
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #6
21-08-2009 06:46 PM

This post is NOT concerned with the outsourcing of the Lewishams Council Tax to Manchester, but rather about the work being done by the council to help those out of work to find jobs.

Lewisham Council have been seeking bids (closing date 14/08/2009) from organisations experienced in providing support to those who are unemployed and to help them return to work. This programme will be targeted at specific wards within the borough which exhibit high levels of unemployment. The programme will be aimed at providing employability support, i.e how to be successful at finding, securing and then maintaining employment for those involved. This will be a challenging task for the successful organisation.

See the following link for levels of unemployment in Lewisham. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/l...eport.aspx

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #7
22-08-2009 07:01 AM

It is good news that Lewisham are trying to help there people getting into employment but still does not really explain why they are exporting jobs to Manchester.

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roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #8
22-08-2009 12:27 PM

I suspect its probably aimed at keeping your Council Tax bill low, Brian, by moving to an area with lower running costs, lower salary expectations etc.! Best value in all Council services is also something that all Councils are required to obtain. I believe that most Councils outsource these things to a more centralised cost effective organisation for this purpose. We can't have it both ways.

Lewishams approach to assisting the jobless is good and certainly seems to compensate for the abysmal service offered by the Job Centres. Having been unemployed for over 6 months I can honestly say that the Job Centres offer little real help, just threats and punishment if you turn up 3 minutes late to sign on. Then the paperwork and attention really did flow! I had about three letters warning me that my JSA would be taken away. I suppose the extreme fuss over my ' crime' kept someone else in a job.

I did ask about training opportunities , cv writing, etc but nothing was on offer. I also asked about setting up job clubs so that people looking for work could meet in an unused part of the building and discuss strategies but this was refused. The staff although generally nice and helpful seemed ill equipped to assist the increased numbers who were signing on because of the recession many of whom had never been faced with this before hence did not have the skills or resources to market themselves effectively for the very few opportunities on offer. I had some help from my ex employer as part of my redundancy package which enabled me to seek some services privately but not everyone is so lucky, and its tough out there. If you don't get the attention of employers initially then you will never get through the barrier. They have record numbers of people after each job, many of whom havent the right skills, but its getting through the various filter systems that counts.

I have now got another job after a lot of graft but won't be getting complacent about it as the threat of cuts and future redundancies in certain sectors has not gone away by any means.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #9
23-08-2009 02:17 PM

Roz I agree with you the work is done in Manchester because they are charging less.

Surely they should pay the same rate in the borough. Must be better than being unemployed.

Also by transferring resources 200 miles away LBC might save a bit on the wages but create more social problems in the borough etc

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #10
23-08-2009 03:48 PM

I'm assuming they put the work out to tender, Brian, and the Manchester people came up with the best quote.

That's competition, fella, a concept you seem to find constantly attractive, unless it intefers with something else!

As Roz said, you can't have it both ways.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #11
24-08-2009 07:32 AM

Where have I said competition is the most important thing. Surely the unemployed of Lewisham come first.

Anyway I except no further point in this as council will not change policy. I suppose at least they are outsourcing in the UK of GB and NI

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #12
24-08-2009 12:47 PM

Ever considered it's in Manchester so that disgruntled Lewisham residents don't turn up in person? (Well, at least not too often....)

p.s. Lambeth's accounts payable centre is in Leicester - they scan all the invoices and enter them onto a database and it's all electronic thereonin... Woe betide you if you don't include the purchase order number. I despair at the number of times invoices just seem to disappear between London and Leicester.Cursing

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #13
24-08-2009 12:52 PM

That would be fine if Manchester's done in Lewisham

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