A pioneering approach to tackling economic inactivity, developed through Barnsley’s Pathways to Work Commission, which aims to get 10,000 South Yorkshire residents back into work over the next four years is set to receive Government funding.
Unveiling the Government’s Get Britain Working White Paper, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall MP, confirmed up to £10million of funding for a trailblazer programme that will be led by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), focussed on improving the support available to people who are economically inactive due to ill health, helping them return to work.
As part of the trailblazer, the South Yorkshire Integrated Care System will also become an NHS England Health and Growth Accelerator area, receiving a share of £45million. This will help develop evidence of the impact of targeted action on the top health conditions driving economic inactivity. SYMCA and the South Yorkshire ICS will work together to integrate the support to tackle economic inactivity.
These programmes will build on the recommendations of the Pathways to Work Commission which was led by Barnsley Council in partnership with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. The report outlined the need for a proof-of-concept model that brings together work, health and skills support in a radical new approach to help people overcome barriers to employment.
The funding for South Yorkshire, which is part of a £240m cash injection announced in the Budget, will accelerate the rollout of local services for employment support. The Pathways to Work report highlighted that the proof-of-concept model could deliver direct Exchequer savings of up to four pounds for every one spent.
The commission, led by former Health Secretary Rt Hon Alan Milburn, reported this summer and revealed “a catastrophic failure” in the benefits, health and employment system. It highlighted “a chaotic mess” of national and local initiatives and a focus on toughening benefits rules instead of addressing ill health, the primary driver of economic inactivity.
Official forecasts expect working-age health-related benefits to increase from £48 billion in 2023-24 to £63 billion in 2028–29.
Based on the largest-ever survey of people classified as ‘economically inactive’, the commission found that seven in 10 people would take a job aligned with their skills, interests and circumstances. However, only one in 10 economically inactive people had demonstrated steps to finding employment.
The commission made a series of radical proposals to help people overcome the obstacles to work with intensive, personalised support and a duty to engage with employment services.
In line with the Pathways to Work Commission recommendations, the South Yorkshire trailblazer will include:
- A system steward to provide oversight for the first time of the myriad different initiatives to help people back into employment
- A system manager to work with service providers, break down barriers, manage performance and address any gaps in services
- Personalised support to connect people with services from initial engagement to attachment and triage to ongoing interaction
- Employment activation to leverage training, development and employment opportunities and help people back into the workplace
- Evaluation to measure improvements in health, wellbeing and employment outcomes, focused on the individual rather than the programme
- Preventative approaches to help people at risk of becoming economically inactive such as school leavers, those leaving their current employment or career changers.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, was among the members of the Pathways to Work Commission, which took evidence from employers, educators, experts and 750 residents affected by economic inactivity.
Mayor Oliver Coppard, said: “In South Yorkshire, work, health and skills barriers have prevented people here making the most of their talents for far too long. That’s why we’re has been determined to address those barriers through our pioneering Pathways to Work Commission. The Commission’s report set out recommendations that could unlock the full potential of our communities and I’m really pleased that the Government has backed our pioneering approach.
“In South Yorkshire we have led the way in highlighting the importance of bringing work, health and skills together as we support people back into employment. We now have a Government that understands the importance of devolution and joined-up working, and together we are undertaking the biggest reforms to how we support people into work for a generation.
“Our trailblazer will help us to create a bigger and better economy in South Yorkshire that helps people to stay near and go far.”
Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive of NHS South Yorkshire, said: “We know that there is a strong link between good health and a good job and vice versa. We’re absolutely committed to supporting those in South Yorkshire with a health need to access work or stay in a job if it’s at risk. This is also about fairness, often those with a disability or a long-term health condition live in some of our most deprived communities. So were focussing our efforts where it will help the most. We are already making progress but I’m delighted we’ve been selected as a Health and Growth Accelerator to help us go further faster.”
The Rt Hon Alan Milburn said: “We warmly welcome the Labour government’s support for our proof-of-concept model in South Yorkshire. Doubling down on getting more people out of economic inactivity is key to the UK raising the level of economic growth. The social costs of not doing so are catastrophic and so are the welfare costs. The movement for change advocated by our commission has begun in Barnsley and is now spreading across the UK."
Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of Barnsley Council, said: “Local knowledge, partnerships and systems reform will be at the heart of enabling all people to benefit from happy, healthy, productive lives.
“In Barnsley, we’re ahead of the curve, cracking on with solutions to help our people, communities and local economies to grow. We recognised the opportunity to develop better Pathways to Work and focused on driving innovation locally, so that we can support everyone who wants to work, into good work.
“Our ambition is stronger than ever. We’re keen to demonstrate that our trailblazing approaches in South Yorkshire play a leading role in building national solutions to workforce and productivity growth.
“This is a huge opportunity for UK plc, supplying a ready-made labour force for businesses to support the government’s growth mission.”