Wednesday 08 March 2017
Sir,
I would like to use this speech as an opportunity to provide an update on a number of the Committee for Employment & Social Security's many responsibilities. Time doesn't allow for an update on everything we do. So I'll focus on a just a few areas, including some which are perhaps less well known and have not recently been reported on.
[Back to work Benefits, CEPS, Prepare to Care etc.]
One such area is what I'll group as 'back-to-work' programmes, although that's a very broad label for a range of programmes for people with different needs.
The job centre has continued its excellent work since this term began. Unemployment figures have fallen over the last 12 months. The most recent figures show 386 people wholly unemployed at the end of February. This is a reduction of 36 compared with February 2016.
Of course nothing is more influential than the economy when it comes to unemployment rates. But work experience programmes and training initiatives also have a key role in keeping unemployment low and returning jobseekers to work as quickly as possible. I'd like to take a moment to highlight some of the Job Centre's recent and ongoing projects.
The Community and Environmental Projects Scheme and Work2Benefit scheme continue to work very well indeed. The programmes provide vital skills and experience to job seekers while benefiting the island as a whole by completing works that otherwise would not get done. The final quarter report for the year shows work of a notional value of almost £270,000 was undertaken over the course of 2016 by the CEPS team. The performance of the work2benefit scheme suggests a notional value of over £150,000 during 2016. That's in addition to the £270,000. The works in the two programmes maintained public land and supported local community projects and charities.
I'm pleased to say that the projects achieved their primary goal of getting people back to work, this year we saw a similar number of placements to previous years. But because of an extra focus on finding the right match between employee and employer, those placements are on average lasting longer.
The Prepare to Care course was recently run by the Job Centre in partnership with the College of Further Education. It allowed 10 Job Seekers the skills they needed to begin careers in the care industry. This has to be a good thing. We already need far more care staff than can be recruited locally. And I'm so pleased that the outcome of this course has been positive and has allowed job seekers to meet what we know will be a growing demand as demographics change.
[Disability and Inclusion Strategy]
I know that many people are keen to hear a progress update on the Disability and Inclusion Strategy. The States approved a Disability and Inclusion Strategy in November 2013, and responsibility for its implementation has now passed to the Committee for Employment and Social Security.
The Committee has two main priorities in this area for this term. The first is to introduce effective legislation to ensure equality for disabled people in all aspects of life, including employment, and access to goods and services. A member of staff has been allocated to work on this legislation. We will report further on progress with the legislation, and the implementation of other Disability and Inclusion Strategy work streams before November this year, as directed by the November 2015 Wilkie and Bebb amendment.
The second priority is to establish an island-wide Equality and Rights Organisation, in accordance with the Strategy. This will promote positive public awareness of the value of inclusion and accessibility. It will provide general education and awareness-raising, as well as guidance and assistance on good practice to employers and service providers, and advocacy on behalf of those who face discrimination or exclusion. It is likely that this work will not commence until proposals for the Disability Discrimination Legislation work stream has been brought forward. The Committee will work with other States' Committees and organisations to ensure that the recommendations of the Strategy are implemented.
Recent progress on the Disability and Inclusion Strategy includes the launch of the Signpost website. This provides easily accessible information for disabled adults and carers, and parents and carers of children with disabilities. It includes information on how to access services, social activities, support groups, and much more. The Committee forHealth & Social Care has begun work on the framework for people with dementia, and a paper on the long-term policy vision for safeguarding is out for consultation with people directly involved in safeguarding. We're pleased to be working jointly with HSC, who are leading on this work stream.
A staff survey was launched last week to gather information about what it is like to be employed by the States of Guernsey as a person with a disability, long-term injury, or health condition. Focus groups will follow the survey to generate more detailed information on experiences. The Business Disability Forum has interviewed key stakeholders and workshops are planned with Guernsey people with disabilities. This will help the States, as an employer, to develop a Disability Action Plan. The framework for children and adults with autism has been completed jointly with HSC, and the implementation phase is now commencing.
The project board is keen to support the launch of a pilot project for Demand Responsive Transport and work on the Service Level Agreement for Wheelchair Services, both of which are current priorities for key stakeholders in the Strategy.
The Committee also recognises the importance of equality and inclusion for other groups of island residents who have often been overlooked or left behind, and the string of important international social and justice standards which the States has committed to adopting, but has not yet been able to implement. This includes the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This all overlaps with the Committee's mandate, and as such, we will be seeking to ensure that there is modern and effective legal protection against all forms of unjust discrimination. I must explain that there is an outstanding Resolution from the November 2015 debate on the Domestic Abuse Strategy. This directs ESS to report back to the States by March 2017 on progress made towards extending the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women to Guernsey. Progress has been made towards CEDAW compliance in some areas, such as the introduction of the new package of parental benefits, and statutory maternity leave. Unfortunately, since this came under our mandate last April, we have not been able to devote the required time to the update Policy Letter.
One step towards this is the introduction of Same-Sex Marriages in Guernsey. We recently issued a media release explaining that the 2nd of May would be the earliest possible implementation date for the legislation that will enable same-sex marriages to take place. I can now report that earlier this week, the draft legislation was approved by the Legislation Review Panel. We will now ask that the States debate this at the earliest opportunity, which is the meeting of 26th of April.
[Longer Working Lives]
Another project for me to report on is Longer Working Lives, which came out of a Resolution from the March 2015 debate on the Personal Tax, Pensions and Benefits Review. With an ageing population and an increasing state pension age we are expecting more people in their 60s in the workforce in future. We also expect that there will be fewer younger people on the island to undertake work. In order to maintain our workforce, it is important that people in their 50s, 60s and beyond, are able to work if they wish to. The Longer Working Lives project has been initiated to look at how to enable people to work for longer. We have spoken to a wide range of people in the community about the challenges they might face in continuing to work in later life. We have used what people have told us to inform our discussions around a range of important topics including how to support people who care for family members or grandchildren, how to address concerns about employment decisions being made on age alone, and what support is available when someone needs to change career. There are no easy answers but there is scope for change. Work is now underway to identify the key policy principles and priorities for action. We will seek further feedback on these principles and priorities before returning to the States at the end of the year.
[Secondary pensions]
In February 2016, the States approved in principle the implementation of a Second Pillar Pension Scheme for Guernsey and Alderney. The Resolution from that Debate was to report back to the Assembly by December 2017 with further research, and an economic impact assessment of the proposals. We are making good progress, but a December 2017 Policy Letter is only achievable if it is not a full report, which we think would be unsatisfactory. If the Policy Letter is to include a comprehensive set of recommendations, including a preferred pension provider for the States to approve, September 2018 would be more feasible.
A tender is currently in progress for the development of projections on the future size of the Secondary Pensions Scheme and its economic impact for Guernsey and Alderney. The successful service provider will deliver expert advice, information, and assistance on matters within the context of the project, and deliver a report on this to the Committee, and also the Policy & Resources Committee for consideration. The next step will then be to undertake the tender process for the administration of the pension scheme, which will first involve a soft market test looking for expressions of interest, and a Prior Information Notice, which will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Property Rationalisation]
The next update concerns the States property rationalisation programme. Edward T Wheadon House is an important part in the various moves across the estate which will result in the vacation of the Income Tax Office and Education's Grange Road premises at the end of the year.
Housing staff will be moving from Frossard House to Wheadon House, and the plan is for this to have taken place by the middle of this year. All members of the Committee for Employment & Social Security are really looking forward to having housing and social security under the same roof, because there is so much work that involves the two sections but the same customer. We're sure that the teams coming together will improve customer service and efficiency. And when the rent rebate scheme and supplementary benefit system come together, it will also help with the implementation of the new income support arrangements approved by the States on recommendation by the Social Welfare Benefits Investigation Committee (SWBIC). We have had some very helpful discussions with Policy & Resources on this over the financing of the new scheme. We will continue to make every effort to push the commencement of SWBIC, and at present are anticipating a July 2018 start date.
Returning to the property rationalisation, before anyone asks me a question on this point, I will say that everyone involved in the project recognises that additional customer parking is essential. I'm not talking about large numbers, because that is obviously not possible in the close vicinity of Wheadon House. But we will need more than the 4 or 5 spaces that we currently have alongside the building.
[Housing Needs Review]
I'd also like to update Members on progress with the report on the Housing Needs Survey, which resulted from the September 2015 Soulsby and Le Clerc amendment. An independent survey was conducted by KPMG. The report on this is in its final phases, and is due to be delivered to ESS and the Committee for the Environment & Infrastructure next month. This will provide direction for local market housing needs, potential first time buyers' schemes and private rental costs, etc. over the next five years.
[Off-Island Health Insurance Scheme]
Another work stream that I am keen to update Members on is the project to implement an insurance scheme for Guernsey and Alderney residents who require medical or hospital treatment while travelling in the UK. We recently conducted a soft market test, as reported in the media. This helped us to refine the specification for the formal tender exercise, which is due to commence this month. The tender will identify an insurer that the States can contract with to provide the insurance scheme. We think that the earliest that the scheme could be up and running is the middle of next year. This is because of the time it will take to seek approval from the States, once the successful bidder has been selected, and draft the necessary legislation to implement the scheme. This insurance scheme is becoming more necessary, following the UK Government's decision to introduce charges for secondary healthcare for overseas visitors, including from Guernsey and Alderney. There are proposals to extend these charges to primary healthcare, but they are yet to be implemented. The lack of a reciprocal health agreement impacts this to some extent but would not provide a complete solution, in particular because a reciprocal healthcare agreement would not cover non-urgent treatment for pre-existing conditions. The proposed scheme is intended to help those patients that have pre-existing conditions and cannot otherwise get insurance.
[Minimum Wage]
Finally, I want to let Members know that, this year, on a trial basis, we intend undertaking our consultation on minimum wage rates a little differently. When we go out to consultation, we will float a minimum wage which we have in mind to propose to the States, subject to consultation feedback and subsequent consideration. This differs from the process to date which has invited comment and submissions, but not around a particular figure.
Sir, that concludes my update on a number of matters falling under the mandate of the Committee for Employment & Social Security. I am happy to take questions.
