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Area TUC man to make sure Europe's money is well spent.
The UK's ability to attract hardship funds from Europe may have an uncertain future thanks to falling unemployment, but we now know that there have been ten successful bids since the change of government last year. In North London, colleges, businesses, councils and others have combined to mount a concerted attack on unemeployment with the help of money from the European Structural Funds. The grants they have targeted, under the European Territorial Employment Pacts programme, were unavailable before the change of government in May. But while outside help was spurned by the Tories, Labour lost no time in sending a list of ten proposed pacts to the European Commission. The Tottenham Partnership which won the funding is made up of organisations as diverse as the Haringey Women's Forum and Ford, the car manufacturers, and intends to draw up pacts with employers to recruit and train people. Steering the North London project, among others, is Steve Hart (T&GWU Woodberry) of the South East Region TUC and the deputy leader of Haringey Council. There are over 90 such pacts in the EU, but the Tottenham partnership is the only one in London.
The project is designed in two stages. The research phase aims to identify ways to re-engage the jobless with the labour market while discovering what are the impediments to job creation and employability locally. It will also look at what needs to be done to raise educational aspirations. The second stage will put lessons learnt into practice. Phase one began in December and the main phase starts this April. Territorial employment pacts, launched in December '96, are primarily driven by the European Structural Fund which was set up to provide assistance to disadvantaged regions. Tottenham had a 17.3% unemployment rate in April 97, more than double the average for London. Haringey male average gross earnings are the lowest in the capital. The area qualifies as an urban community suffering from industrial decline, along with parts of Enfield, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
The East London and Lee Valley Objective 2 Region, which has a population of 0.55 million and covers parts of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Enfield, Northern Forest, Haringey and Newham.
European Regional Development Fund
European Social Fund
from the Government Office for London,
tel 0171 217 3005 fax 0171 276 5827
Riverwalk House
157-161 Millbank
London
SW1P 4RR
Partnership is the key to working with the funds, Dr Jane Pillinger explains in her excellent TUC guide Trade Unions and the European Structural Funds published October '97. Dr Pillinger lists the types of projects that could be developed to assist workers and target funds, in partnership with local authorities, government departments, TECs and the private sector.
For more information call the TUC 0171 636 4030.
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