Pinnacle tackles worklessness in social housing communities

Pinnacle has launched a service to tackle worklessness by improving employment prospects and skills development within housing estates and communities across the UK.

The new business stream, Pinnacle People, has this week been shortlisted by the Department of Work and Pensions to deliver the flexible New Deal programme in six areas in England and one in Scotland. Pinnacle People is one of only a handful of new entrants into this market amongst a majority of existing providers.

John Swinney, Pinnacle’s chief executive, said: “Pinnacle’s experience of managing social housing has given us tremendous awareness of the high levels of worklessness amongst social housing tenants and the concentrations of economic inactivity in particular communities.

Katrina Whittaker, Pinnacle People’s managing director, added: “Our services offer innovative solutions for success, delivered within neighbourhoods and in partnership with residents. We offer people the route to self-sufficiency and independence, creating choice in place of dependency. We also have an uncompromising commitment to place: our services are designed to leave a lasting legacy.”

Pinnacle will be submitting tenders to deliver services through the flexible New Deal programme by the end of 2008. If successful, the Pinnacle People team, which is made up of experts from the welfare-to-work field, will commence delivery of their work in partnership with a mix of housing and other local organisations in Autumn 2009.

Pinnacle is a leading provider of public service solutions.