Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 8 March 2017.
Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Following on from the announcement of the intention to phase out Communities First in its current form and the shift of focus onto employability-type programmes, I’m sure you’re already aware, Cabinet Secretary, of the numerous employability programmes in Flintshire that are providing support not only to prepare people for the world of work, but to also enable and empower them into work—projects such as the Building Futures course in bricklaying skills, and the brilliant one that I saw on a recent visit to Ysgol Maesglas in Greenfield. It is a brilliant initiative they’re doing there to work with the parents on an employability programme. Of course, we’ve got the Lift programme, which has seen over 200 participants, and partnership programmes with Lift on social care. Cabinet Secretary, are you able to provide a further update on the future sustainability of such projects and perhaps provide an idea of alternative support that could be made available for any projects that don’t fall directly under the future criteria under the new employability scheme?