An event on worklessness and young people, hosted jointly by VCS Matters and Third Sector Assembly Birmingham, will be held at BVSC on Tuesday 16 December from 2.00 - 4.30pm.

Tackling worklessness is at the heart of new Local Area Agreement and the activities of Be Birmingham, the city's Strategic Partnership, until at least March 2011. Worklessness in Birmingham is the second highest amongst England's core cities and some parts of the city have 1 in 3 people out of work. It has a direct impact on economic growth, community cohesion and health.

Consequently, £57 million of the £110 million of the Working Neighbourhoods Funds will be directly spent on tackling worklessness over the next three years, utilising the Integrated Employment Skills Model. Over 70% of the worklessness allocation will be commissioned locally through newly formed Neighbourhood Employment and Skills Partnerships (NESPs) and Constituency Employment and Skills Partnerships (CESPs).

Concerns were raised at a recent VCS Matters meeting about the lack of information the sector has received about the city's worklessness strategy and how that will impact on the children and young people in Birmingham and those third sector organisations that work with them. We will hear from a member of the worklessness team from the Economic Development Department, Birmingham City Council and from two third sector organisations operating strategically within the city.

Most importantly there will be an opportunity for you to participate in a dialogue between the third sector and Birmingham City Council that will help direct strategic thinking about the issue of worklessness and young people.

For more information please contact Helen Cobain at Third Sector Assembly Birmingham: helenc@bvsc.org  - 0121 678 8830.