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Over 16,000 Londoners have benefited to date from the London Development Agency’s investment in employment and skills programmes, according to a report launched yesterday.

The LDA report, Great Expectations: How London delivered in hard times, sets out the challenges and barriers that long term unemployed and low-skilled Londoners face getting into work and progressing into better jobs.

Since 2007, the LDA has invested significant time and expertise to get Londoners working and develop programmes which give them the skills they need to succeed. These interventions have delivered better results than previous comparable programmes, cutting the LDA’s unit costs by more than one third.

London Development Agency Director of Employment and Skills Stephen Evans said:

Over the last three years the London Development Agency has worked closely with key stakeholders to embed a fundamentally different approach to unemployment in the capital. Our results speak for themselves. Our programmes have delivered better and cheaper outcomes than comparable previous programme

The success of our work can be measured not only by the numbers of Londoners in sustained employment but through the amount of money we have saved taxpayers and the Government in benefit payments. The LDA has demonstrated to London that it is possible to deliver better results with less funding during one of the toughest recessions the UK has ever faced

The LDA’s innovative approach to unemployment, includes:

· Better targeting of investment

· Championing increased transparency and accountability

· Thought leadership and innovation

· Delivering more outputs for less money

LDA investment is delivering some excellent results for London and the Agency is working closely with Government to share our experience.

Alongside this report the LDA is also publishing independent analysis of its labour market programme carried out by Inclusion, a leading UK Welfare to Work body.

Dave Simmonds, Chief Executive, Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion

said:

The LDA's labour market interventions have been a refreshing take on the design and delivery of back-to-work support for the unemployed. Our independent analysis shows that the LDA’s investment in employment and skills has produced sizable returns in terms of sustained jobs for unemployed people and value for money. The LDA has gone some way in showing that a focus on outcomes can deliver better results for London’s unemployers

Great Expectations: London’s delivery in hard times is available on the LDA website.

The report by the Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion, Assessing the LDA’s Labour Market Programme Performance, is available on the LDA website.