Zarah ChoudharyWork and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has unveiled the first of nine programmes in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, to ‘get Britain back to health and work’, nine months on from her speech on employment reforms in the same town.
South Yorkshire is one of the nine £125m backed ‘inactivity trailblazer’ areas identified by the Government, as it aims to help the areas with the highest levels of economic inactivity as part of the wider Plan for Change.
Backed by £18m, South Yorkshire will implement a new service working with employers to hire those with health conditions, and a new ‘triage’ system to make it quicker and easier to connect people to employment, health, and skills support.
This work will include preventing people falling out of work completely due to ill health through
Similar NHS programmes have also kicked off this week in the North East and West Yorkshire.
Kendall said: “For too long, whole areas of the UK have been written off and deprived of investment.
“We are turning the tide on this – as we believe in the potential of every single person across our country and that they deserve to benefit from the security and dignity that good work affords.
“This is why we’re investing £125m into nine local areas to get Britain back to health and back to work – with our new approach making it quicker and easier for people to access the support they need to stay in work if they have a health condition or return to work.”
She added: “South Yorkshire is the first to kick off their innovative plans – backed by £18m – and we will be launching more areas in the coming weeks as we put more money in people’s pockets, boost living standards and Get Britain Working under our Plan for Change.”
South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “We know that South Yorkshire’s industrial past has left a legacy of poor health and low skills that holds people back right across our communities; holding people back from accessing good work, making the most of their potential or living their fullest lives.
“That’s why we developed the pioneering Pathways to Work approach here in Barnsley, and why we’re now working with the Government to roll that programme out across the whole of South Yorkshire.
“From today people will receive tailored support, bringing together the health system, the skills and employment system, to truly help people back into decent work.”
He continued: “I’m really pleased that South Yorkshire is now leading with the first inactivity trailblazer and NHS growth accelerator to launch in the UK, because it means we can help people more quickly and more effectively, and in a more tailored way.
“That’s not just the right thing to do for those people locked out of finding good work, it’s the right thing for our economy too, helping us to create the bigger and better economy we need and deserve here in our region.”
Minister for Public Health and Prevention Ashley Dalton MP added: “Poor health is holding back too many people across the country, keeping them languishing on waiting lists when they could be getting back to their jobs and lives. Innovative services like these are critical to tackling economic inactivity.
“This support will get people working again, which is vital because we know being in work leads to better overall heath and helps grow the economy.
“Though the Plan for Change we will make people healthier, reduce pressure on the NHS, all while helping them into fulfilling and rewarding careers.”
