‘The level of unemployment in the Halle-Vilvoorde district is fairly low compared with the rest of Flanders but there is a large group of people who find it impossible or very difficult to gain access to the regular labour market', says Jan Creten, from the Halle-Vilvoorde Regional Economic and Social Consultation Committee (RESOC). The long-term unemployed, people with a disability or psycho-social problems or simply experiencing bad luck find it impossible or scarcely possible to join the regular employment system. ‘Halle-Vilvoorde has fewer social-economic schemes than the rest of Flanders, in spite of the specific challenges faced by the Vlaamse Rand.’ ‘The Tailored Support Decree for the social economy has stoked some uncertainty about what fate has in store for local service-based economy initiatives. The Flemish Authorities emphasise the need to get people into the regular labour market. This risks excluding the most vulnerable groups’, according to Creten. In Halle-Vilvoorde the social economy is providing work for roughly 2.000 people. (RK, mei 2015)

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