from Employment Studies, our public policy research newsletter, no. 3

Are local solutions effective?

Sara Dewson

The Working Neighbourhoods Pilot (WNP) appears to have achieved some significant successes so far with almost one-third of participating customers already moving into employment, according to the recently published interim evaluation report from IES. The report shows that the pilot sites share many characteristics of severe disadvantage: employment rates are low, economic inactivity is high, human capital is poor and there is a poverty of aspiration. At the halfway stage, most participants on the pilot have been active jobseekers and a key issue for the time remaining is to attract non-traditional customer groups, particularly Income Support and Incapacity Benefit customers to take part. The pilot is due to finish in March 2006 and a final evaluation report will be published in the autumn.

For further information on the research, please contact Sara Dewson.

Evaluation of the Working Neighbourhoods Pilot: Year One, S Dewson. DWP Research Report RR297, November 2005. ISBN 1 84123 914 3