Promoting social inclusion in particular by reducing poverty 61. Measures of the Länder to

support activation and reintegration, particularly of the long-term unem-ployed

Baden-Württemberg: With a comprehensive package of measures, the Baden-Würt-temberg “Land programme for good and secure work”, which is also co-financed by ESF funds, contributes to the integration of the unemployed. It is aimed particularly at young people who do not have a vocational qualification, the long-term unemployed, single parents, older persons and migrants. The programme comprises five modules:

passive-active exchange, assisted training/part-time training, lasting integration of long-term unemployed into the labour market, advice centres for the unemployed, and work and health. Over 1,000 people have already received support through the “pas-sive-active exchange” module.

Programme duration:

passive-active exchange extended to the end of 2016

No. Action name Description of action and anticipated impact Status and schedule Bavaria: The “Prospects for Families” and “Tandem” pilot projects in Nuremberg and

Fürth demonstrate that including the family in the integration process is an important element towards breaking the cycle of long-term unemployment. For successful activa-tion and subsequent integraactiva-tion into the labour market, long-term unemployed persons require individual and particularly intensive support that takes all problems into consid-eration. This also includes matters not only concerning the employable person eligible for benefits but also issues in that person’s family environment. The holistic approach is also the suitable and effective way to integrate asylum seekers with good residence prospects in training and work, as these individual also generally face multiple barriers to placement.

Bremen: In the state of Bremen, the European Social Fund is sponsoring measures for labour market integration particularly of (long-term) unemployed persons, single par-ents, people from a migrant background and women. A local support centre (TERTIA) has been operating in the Bremen district of Gröpelingen since February 2015. Working in tandem with the job centre and a programme aligned with individual needs, TERTIA deals with the multiple problems that often make it difficult for participants to get into a daily work routine. The aim of the support centre is to help participants so that they can recognise their particular skills and abilities, identify any obstacles to getting back into regular employment and then develop their personal and professional goals.

TERTIA places emphasis on individual support and project work in the metal and woodwork sectors, the hospitality sector, and gardening and landscaping. In addition to project work and individual support, TERTIA also offers programme participants job application training and support from social workers.

Bremen: The “LOS - Local Capital for Social Purposes III” programme wishes to main-tain, improve or restore the work ability and employability of people who are at risk of, or affected by, exclusion from the labour market while at the same time strengthen local social cohesion and networks. LOS Bremen has funded micro-projects with a duration of up to 12 months. In particular, this seeks to reach individuals who do not normally participate in, and receive from, the ESF programmes. The programme has already been implemented in the last two ESF programming periods and is being con-tinued in the current programming period, particularly in light of growing long-term unemployment and increased immigration (eastern Europe, refugees), and the particular problems facing young people when transitioning from school to work. The aim is to reach people with multiple issues, women facing particular difficulties, and migrants.

Low-threshold activation and upskilling services – such as those developed in the LOS Bremen programme – are of central important in neighbourhoods with high poverty levels in order to reach the long-term unemployed target groups and introduce them to other measures through “step-wise support”.

Pilot projects will run until June 2016; imple-mentation in the regular set of instruments is being sought by the Länder.

Duration: February 2015 to July 2016

LOS projects are approved over the entire programming period (2014 – 2020), roughly 60 projects are running at present (some still in the examination phase).

The projects can run up to 12 months, and also 24 months in certain circumstances.

Schleswig-Holstein: By promoting innovative and regional projects, the state of Schle-swig-Holstein seeks to develop and trial new strategies for access to the primary labour market for persons with particular obstacles to placement in employment. The projects are selected in competitions for ideas, which are held regularly. In the reporting period, 16 projects with a duration of 24 months are being implemented to integrate long-term unemployed persons at the margins of the labour market into the primary labour market. For example, the “Jobredaktion” project run by the Flensburg employment and skills development company seeks to successfully motivate, upskill and integrate long-term unemployed persons into the primary labour market using instruments that are new as regards content and methodology. Professional skills development offerings in cooperation companies or at external providers of continuing vocational education and training (CVET), and the conclusion of employment contracts, are placed at the fore-front in the main phases of the project. The project is monitored scientifically by the Labour and Technology Vocational Training Institute of the University of Flensburg.

Project duration 2015 – 2016

No. Action name Description of action and anticipated impact Status and schedule 62. “Opening Opportunities –

Safeguarding Social Partici-pation” plan to reduce long-term unemployment

The plan contains a broad-based package of measures with different priority areas, tar-get groups and approaches, and has several modules to address the central challenges of integrating long-term unemployed persons: bundling of the necessary support ser-vices, enlisting employers to employ individuals in long-term unemployment, stabilising these employment relationships on a lasting basis, and opening up participation options for long-term unemployed individuals far from the labour market. The improved approach to support and activation within the networks to activate, advise and offer opportunities in regular operations, the ESF federal programme to integrate long-term unemployed beneficiaries under Book II of the Social Code into the regular labour mar-ket, and the federal programme to encourage “Social Participation on the Labour Mar-ket” are key elements of the overall plan. ESF and federal funding of roughly €885 mil-lion are to be directed into the ESF federal programme through to 2020. The aim of the ESF federal programme is to integrate into the regular labour market some 30,000 long-term unemployed persons at the margins of the labour market by specifically pitching to employers, coaching the workers after they take up employment, and pro-viding degressive grants towards wage costs to compensate for the workers’ lower output.

Under the federal programme to encourage “Social Participation on the Labour Mar-ket”, support is given to roughly 10,000 jobs for long-term unemployed person furthest from the labour market with health issues or with children in a joint household. 105 job centres have been selected to participate in the programme. Total funding of €450 mil-lion is mobilised for the federal programme.

ESF federal programme implemented since Q2 2015 will run until 2020 at the latest

Federal programme implemented since 2015, will run until 2018 at the latest

63. Measures of the Länder to promote social inclusion, tackle poverty and discrim-ination

Bavaria: A system of support services provided by youth social work (youth social work at schools and work-related youth social work) contributes to delivering equal opportu-nities, social integration and the successful transition of socially disadvantaged young people, and young people facing particular individual barriers, from school to work. This also particularly contributes to the integration of young refugees.

Brandenburg: The integration mentoring programme supports long-term unemployed person and jobless family joint households with at least one dependant child under 18.

The primary aims of the support programme are to boost the employability of the par-ticipants and improve their social situation. With the help of integration mentors, the aim is to develop individual strategies and solutions to overcome the diverse problems the individual is facing and implement them in concrete support modules. This approach also pays particular attention to the situation of the children in the families concerned. Another goal of the measures is to strengthen and cement the aspect of leading a life together among the participating families.

Mecklenburg Western Pommerania: In model projects, the “Budget for Work” pro-gramme supports the transition of people with severe disabilities from a workshop for persons with disabilities to a job subject to compulsory social security contributions in the regular labour market. The aim is to improve the participation of people with severe disabilities in the working world.

Lower Saxony: The “Right in the Middle! Young and Active in Lower Saxony” funding initiative paves the way into the centre of society for children and young people from financially disadvantaged families across the state. It is particularly aimed at promoting mobility and interconnection in structurally weak areas, supporting language and social skills, and funding projects that allow children and young people to realise that they can bring about change through their own actions. Voluntary bodies responsible for youth welfare services, non-profit organisations and associations can apply for funding. The regional office of the Alliance for the Protection of Children is the project executing agency.

North Rhine-Westphalia: The Land and the municipalities safeguard social work at schools with an annual funding volume of €67.7 million. By compensating for social disadvantages, the aim is to ensure that children and young people reliably take part in education and social and cultural life.

Implementation 2015 and 2016

36 projects approved across the state in August 2015, projects will run through to January 2018 A second selection round is planned for 2017.

Programme commenced in June 2015

€1.2 million in Land fund-ing is available from 2014 to 2017.

Measure will continue through to 2017 at least.

No. Action name Description of action and anticipated impact Status and schedule North Rhine-Westphalia: The government of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has

extended the “All Kids Eat Together” hardship fund until 2020 so that children, teen-agers and young adults up to 25 who are at risk of poverty can reliably take part in lunch at school.

North Rhine-Westphalia: With the “NRW Sticks Together … For a Life without Poverty and Marginalisation” state initiative, North Rhine-Westphalia is placing a priority on a prevention approach to reduce or prevent poverty and social marginalisation. The cen-tral aims in this respect are to improve the personal situation of people in disadvan-taged neighbourhoods and to improve the situation particularly of groups at risk of poverty. With the funding programme, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been providing support since 2015 to projects and measures to improve the participation opportunities of children, young people and their families in disadvantaged neighbour-hoods (funding scope: €4 million).

North Rhine-Westphalia: Established in 2015, the “Specialist unit to tackle poverty in the social environment” provides free, extensive support to municipalities and districts in the implementation and continued development of strategic and integrated social planning processes. The “Strong Neighbourhoods – Strong People” project brings together funding from the ESF, ERDF and EARDF and other federal and Land pro-grammes, making roughly €350 million available to the local authorities/municipalities in the 2015–2020 period. The aim is to improve the situation in disadvantaged neigh-bourhoods, with a focus on groups of individuals particularly affected by poverty. All activities involve the collaboration of the Land government with the municipalities, associations and organisations, stakeholders and citizens.

Saxony-Anhalt: To enhance the opportunities of single parents, young single mothers and fathers under 27 without a vocational qualification are to be encouraged and given the tools to complete initial in-company training. Targeted assistance in the form of youth welfare-related support and psychosocial counselling is to be provided under the projects to offer this target group the realistic prospect of qualified vocational training.

Two projects are currently being funded.

Thuringia: Based on a regional and local strategy to fight against poverty, the aim is to increase the skills and abilities of local stakeholders in poverty prevention. As providers of public youth welfare service, social assistance and health services, the districts and towns constituting a district in their own right will receive funding and support in the development of sustainable, multidisciplinary planning processes for a needs-appropri-ate social infrastructure. The Institute for Municipal Planning and Development (IKPE) has been set up to oversee the entire process. This institute is the first in Germany that seeks to bring together the academic community, practical experience and the advice of all the relevant decision-makers in municipal planning and development. Another strat-egy ingredient is the Thuringia Initiative for Integration, Sustainability, Cooperation and Activation (ThINKA) that seeks to support the municipalities in tackling poverty in socially vulnerable neighbourhoods and the integration of refugees.

Measure will continue through to 2020 at least.

Programme commenced in 2015

Being implemented.

will run until 2020

Runs from 2015 – 2017, with the option to extend

Planned funding period:

2014 – 2021

Thuringia: As part of the state programme for state-sponsored employment and work of general interest, older unemployed individuals and persons who have been unem-ployed for a very long time are given the opportunity to take part in working life through work of general interest. The measure aims to strengthen social participation and improve the social and personal situation of the participants. By introducing them to the labour market, the aim is to help their employability and employment prospects over the long term. Accompanying evaluation is also envisaged.

Being implemented, is expected to run through to 2019

No. Action name Description of action and anticipated impact Status and schedule 64. Housing Construction

Campaign

The Federation intends to run a Housing Construction Campaign to bring about effec-tive relief on the housing markets. Building on the recommendations of the Alliance for Affordable Housing and Construction, concrete measures for the creation of more affordable housing have been created and put together in a ten-point package of meas-ures which is to be implemented in cooperation with the Länder, municipalities and the other partners to the alliance by 2017. These measures include the sale of federal sites at a reduced price for the purpose of social housing, the promotion of serial building in a pilot programme to build small, modular residential units (known as “vario-apart-ments”) and numerous simplifications in construction law.

Simplifications in con-struction law by 2017

“Vario-apartments” pro-gramme commenced in November 2015

65. Compensatory funding from the Federation arising from the end of previous federal financial support for the promotion of social housing

The Federal Government will support the Länder annually through to the end of 2019 with compensatory funding amounting to €518 million in the expectation that the Länder will continue to direct the money into the promotion of social housing (previ-ously public housing). With the Act to Accelerate Asylum Procedures, the Länder will receive another €500 million in compensatory funding from the Federation each year from 1 January 2016 to 2019 inclusive. The Länder have agreed to put the money towards the construction of social housing.

In force since 24 October 2015

66. Housing benefit reform The housing benefit reform forms part of the Federal Government’s overall strategy for affordable housing (particularly the Alliance for Affordable Housing and Construction).

The housing benefit has been increased to provide relief for housing costs to people on a low income. The benefit amount and the maximum rents have been brought into line with the developments in housing costs and income since the last housing benefit reform in 2009. Around 870,000 low-income households benefit from the housing bene-fit reform, including roughly 90,000 housing that have been reliant on basic security ben-efits up until now.

In force since 1 January 2016

67. Act to Slow the Rise in Rents on Tight Housing Markets and to Strengthen the Principle that the Client Pays the Estate Agent (Gesetz zur Dämpfung des Mietanstiegs auf ange-spannten Wohnungsmärk-ten und zur Stärkung des Bestellerprinzips bei der Wohnungsvermittlung)

The purpose of the Act is to slow large increases in rents when properties are relet in areas with a tight housing market, particularly in prospering conurbations. In these areas the permitted rent when reletting property will be limited to a maximum of 10 % above the local comparative rate (rent control mechanism). New buildings and proper-ties let for the first time after comprehensive renovation are exempted from this rule.

The Land governments are authorised to define by statutory order areas with tight housing markets for a maximum of five years up to 31 December 2020. In addition, the Act aims to ensure that landlords do not pass on the costs of estate agents they ordered to the apartment seekers, and thereby establish the market-economy principle of “whoever orders also pays” in accommodation law.

In force since 1 June 2015