£9m boost for Nottingham in battle against recession
NEARLY £9m is to be spent on recession-busting measures in Nottingham.
The move includes parents paying just 50p for kids to enjoy all-day leisure centre activities and £1m to support new companies.
Nottingham City Council leader Jon Collins said: "We know times are tough for people and we've been working hard to look at what we can do to help.
"We want to help the unemployed back into the job market as soon as possible and have earmarked a significant amount of money to do that."
The measures include:
£4m to pay the long-term unemployed for work that is currently voluntary; to help people retrain for work; and to credit unions;
£2m to pay for apprenticeships within Nottingham City Council and local businesses;
£1.3m to secure 10 welfare rights workers and a training programme for new recruits;
£1m for an "enterprise allowance" scheme to support new small and medium-sized companies in the city
£650k to fund hugely discounted activities for young people.
Parents will be able to pay 50p for their child to enjoy a full day's activities at city leisure centres during the school holidays, starting this summer.
The money has been provided by the Government as part of a £30m grant known as the Working Neighbourhoods Fund, to the city's regeneration organisation One Nottingham.
It must be spent from 2009 to 2011.
Projects have been identified by One Nottingham with support from Nottingham City Council.
Coun Collins, who is also chairman of One Nottingham, said: "It's important that at times like this we do what we can to make a difference to the lives of Nottingham people."
The first projects to be launched will be cut-price activities for young people and an increase in Welfare Rights advisers – waiting times at the city's welfare rights organisations are up to six weeks.
The leisure activities for kids will feature tennis coaching and it is hoped that the scheme will take the pressure off parents who may be struggling to pay out for these holiday activities at this time.
Council officers say they will also promote healthier lifestyles and help to reduce anti-social behaviour among young people by keeping them active during the summer holidays.
A new report by data analysis firm Experian says that Nottingham is better placed than many other cities to weather the economic downturn with a higher proportion of workers here in resilient industries. However, small and medium-sized businesses are suffering and bankruptcies in Nottingham are higher than average.
charles.walker@ nottinghameveningpsot.co.uk
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by Chris, Notts
Sunday, June 14 2009, 7:30PM
“You lot make me laugh! Like people with ill thought out views who think the world would be solved if only people listened to their half baked, incompetatnt ramblings! This is why people like you don't get more say than your vote - because you are pig ignorant!”
by MadBadger, The Sett
Sunday, June 14 2009, 5:32PM
“Meeki.
Age Concern don't really help with electricity and gas bills, they just pass pensioners on to those who CAN help. They don't pay their bills, do they.
The experience I had with the Pensions Service for my mother is that they were very good.
Blimey, even I've passed pensioners onto Warm Front and the STWA fund myself. You make it sound like Age Concern is the fount of all knowledge.
You're wrong.”
by Meeki, Nottingham
Sunday, June 14 2009, 4:58PM
“MadBadger, The Sett, if you had knowledge how the Pension Services functioned you would be aware that department passed many referrals to Age Concern.
There have been situations where a hospital discharged a DS 1500 patient. Social Services or Pension Services did not get involved
In these situations Age Concern always immediately became involved.
Did MadBadger consider the elderly don't trust government departments and would rather speak to a friendly faced volunteer. Government departments are no different to Council departments- they're too rigid and regimented.
An example is:
Pension Services do not help the elderly with gas and electric bills. I could quote other instances where Pension Services do not advise the elderly.”
by jikasljf, b
Sunday, June 14 2009, 3:03PM
“bu¿¿un¿ p¿¿u ¿¿¿¿ ¿u¿¿¿ ¿”
by MadBadger, The Sett
Sunday, June 14 2009, 11:42AM
“I agree with you, Andy. The local Pension Service needs more staff.”
by Andy, Nottm
Sunday, June 14 2009, 11:38AM
“I used to work for a major welfare rights advice provider in the city. The Pension Service were supposed to refer complex cases and refusals to us but they never actually did. They were only interested in numbers. Mind you I'd be the first to admit we had one or two muppets working for us...
I was also the vice chair of a national welfare rights organisation who I represented at various national consultative meetings, media and responses to government consultation papers.”
by MadBadger, The Sett
Sunday, June 14 2009, 11:05AM
“And for whom do you work, Andy? The National Audit Office? They're about the only people who see Pension Service 'casework', as you call it.
My experience is that they are highly professional and know the system inside out and always advise pensioners of their potential entitlement and, more than that, encourage pensioners to claim any and everything to which they are entitled.”
by Andy, Nottm
Sunday, June 14 2009, 10:50AM
“"The experts are the people who work for the local Pension Service."
You're joking aren't you? I once did an audit of their work, in the few cases where their case recording was good enough to tell what they'd done it was shocking how much they'd failed to advise people of their entitlements.
"Nottingham City Council are and never have been in charge of roads"
Nottm City Council are the Highways authority for the area within the City boundaries, Notts County for for the Counnty area (obv). Nottm City Council is a unitary authority.”
by MadBadger, The Sett
Sunday, June 14 2009, 9:13AM
“billy. If the government were to invest in private enterprises, wouldn't that be more akin to communism?”
by billy, sherwood
Sunday, June 14 2009, 8:59AM
“I see that Nu Labour has its priority right...spending more on welfare rights than investing in businesses that actually generate the taxes to pay for "welfare"..all part of zanu labours plot of creeping communism”