Job centres to be replaced in DWP plan to 'get Britain working again'

The North East is to get extra NHS funding after being selected to pilot a scheme that aims to “get Britain working again”.

The region is one of 16 places with the highest levels of joblessness will get extra support under wide-ranging reforms designed to tackle economic inactivity and deliver the Government’s promise to bring more than two million people back into work.

Most recent figures on unemployment show the North East has higher than average levels of both unemployment and people classed as economically inactive. A number of business groups have called for action to be taken to get more people back into work, saying a lack of available labour is holding back the region’s economy.

During the election, Labour promised to increase the employment rate to 80% from its current level of around 75%, which would mean around two million more people in work. As well as providing extra capacity to cut waiting lists at the 20 NHS trusts with the highest levels of economic inactivity, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall’s plans will see an expansion of mental health support and efforts to tackle obesity.

Alongside the focus on improving health, the Government’s plans will see Jobcentres replaced by a new National Jobs and Careers Service. Backed by £55m, the new system is expected to have a greater focus on helping people back into work rather than monitoring benefit claims.

Other policies include providing additional employment and training opportunities for young people and extra powers for mayors to develop their own employment plans.

Ms Kendall said: “To get Britain growing, we need to get Britain working again. Our reforms will break down barriers to opportunity, help people to get into work and on at work, allow local leaders to boost jobs and growth, and give our children and young people the best opportunities to get on in life.

“The Get Britain Working White Paper shows that this Government stands unashamedly for work. We will make sure everyone, regardless of their background, age, ethnicity, health, disability or postcode can benefit from the dignity and purpose work can bring.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “From the broken NHS, flatlining economy, and the millions of people left unemployed and trapped in an inactivity spiral – this Government inherited a country that simply isn’t working.

“But today we’ve set out a plan to fix this. A plan that tackles the biggest drivers of unemployment and inactivity and gives young people their future back through real, meaningful change instead of empty rhetoric and sticking plaster politics.”

Sir Keir added that the Government’s reforms would “put an end to the culture of blaming and shaming people who for too long haven’t been getting the support they need to get back to work” and help people into “decent, well-paid jobs”.

The North East will be one of three trailblazer areas for “NHS accelerators” that aim to stop people falling out of work completely due to ill health. There will also be pilots of schemes where young people can get better skills and £115m in funding next year for local areas to develop a new supported employment programme called Connect to Work scheme.

North East mayor Kim McGuinness said: “I have made it my ambition to make North East England the home of real opportunity. We are already starting to deliver projects that will make a real difference and that’s why the Government has chosen the North East as a trailblazer area for Get Britain Working, which will further boost our own plans.

“We don’t need to be told the reasons why people are excluded from work because of health issues, because the jobs out there are insecure and low-paid, or because they were not allowed a second chance since leaving school. Our Get Britain Working trailblazer will give us the power here in the North East to take the step we know will work in our communities, in partnership with both the Government and NHS.”

Disability charity Scope also welcomed the announcement as “a positive vision for supporting disabled people into work”, but warned a “lack of trust” in the Department for Work and Pensions could “seriously undermine” the plan.