Nearly a hundred jobseekers have been employed by the Metropolitan Police through an innovative new recruitment partnership in London. Jobcentre Plus, the Metropolitan Police and the London Employer Coalition devised a scheme to meet the needs of the police service by filling vacancies and at the same time helped people from some of London’s most deprived boroughs into work.Applicants for posts such as Communications Officers, Traffic Police, Community Support Officers and Administration Officers normally require qualifications and this can exclude many suitable candidates. To overcome this restriction the partnership devised a work preparation programme. Courses now run in four inner London boroughs. All applicants who complete the course are guaranteed a job interview and 80% of those who reached the interview have secured jobs.

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The Home Office and the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit have launched a learning progamme to find effective ways to lower racial tension and bring community cohesion. Councils have been invited to propose projects for inclusion in the Community Cohesion Pathfinder Programme. The successful 15 bidders will receive a grant of 285,000 pounds for the period up to January 2005. The Programme aims to build real-life examples of areas that are getting community cohesion right. Findings from the projects, including what worked and what did not work, will be published to build up a body of learning about best practice. Emerging findings will be published as the projects progress.The successful bidders will have to demonstrate that they are committed to working in partnership with other local agencies and voluntary and community groups. They will also have to commit to mainstreaming community cohesion into all they do rather than treating it as an add on activity. The voluntary and community groups will share in the project funding.

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By Liz Allen and Jane MartinSchools operate at the heart of their communities and have potential to play a central role in neighbourhood regeneration. This report aims to help senior officers and elected members to learn from practical examples of change being implemented on the ground. It also seeks to open up the debate to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between schools and their communities.

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