Connect to Work

The recently launched "Get Britain Working" White Paper outlines Government's strategy to invest PS240m to support the ambition of a national 80% employment rate and help improve workplace health and keep people in work, including trials of combined public services for those out of work due to ill health. Connect to Work is the first major element of the Get Britain Working Strategy. By encouraging join-up between health systems and employment support, Connect to Work will support those, primarily, currently outside the workforce and facing greater labour market disadvantages, to stay in work and get back into work. In turn, supporting the Government's ambition for a more inclusive economy, supporting local people to realise their potential and supporting local and national growth. In England and Wales, Connect to Work funding will support around 100,000 disabled people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to get into employment and on in work. Connect to Work is a new employment programme, funded by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The programme will primarily support people who are disabled and economically inactive. The programme will be based on the Integrated Placement Support (IPS) and Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF) model of supported employment. It will focus on vocational profiling, early engagement with employers and supporting people into work quickly. Ongoing support is then provided to the participant and their employer to help sustain them in work. The programme also involves flexibility to support adults at risk of unemployment due to complex needs to be supported to sustain and improve their employment. As the Accountable Body, Hull City Council is responsible for the commissioning, implementation and management of Connect to Work but will be working in partnership with East Riding of Yorkshire Council on this exciting programme which will support up to 3400 residents from the Hull and East Riding Area. The programme is expected to run for 5 years. An Invitation to Tender for Connect to Work Hull East Yorkshire programme will be launched in Late August and will be live for 30 days on the YORtender tendering system. It is anticipated that delivery will start in late 2025.