Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and Hereford have each received a share of £10.7 million in regional funding.
The funding is part of a wider £338 million national investment into the Connect to Work programme, which will provide intensive, localised and personalised support to help more than 85,000 people across 15 areas in England find and sustain work.
In Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and Hereford alone, the funding is expected to support around 2,650 people who are currently out of work due to health conditions or complex barriers to employment.
Shropshire Council has been chosen as the ‘lead authority’ for the pilot area. There are 15 pilot areas in total, including Worcestershire, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands.
The programme offers a range of targeted services, including one-to-one coaching from employment specialists, job matching services that are tailored to individual skills and needs, and support for both participants and employers to help ensure long-term employment success.
Telford & Wrekin Council revealed that it has received a £3.2m share of the allocation to provide support over the next five years.
It said this will enable a team of employment specialists to provide tailored support to up to 300 people per year, and will form part of the council’s wider Job Box Service.
Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for children, young people, education, employment and skills, said: “We are delighted that the Connect to Work programme has launched – helping people break down those barriers which hinder them from finding employment and give them a foothold in the workplace, as well as supporting those with a disability or additional needs to find and sustain employment.
“We’re pleased to be working in partnership with organisations across the region to deliver this scheme and make a difference for our residents to help them achieve their employment goals.
“In Telford and Wrekin we are committed to helping people find work through our Job Box service and providing help and support to those who need it the most.”
Nationally, the Government stated that around 300,000 people across England and Wales are expected to benefit from the Connect to Work scheme over the next five years.
Support can be accessed via self-referral or through healthcare professionals, local authorities, and voluntary sector partners, making it easier for those in need to connect with the help available.
With 2.8 million people currently out of work due to ill health – one of the highest rates in the G7 – the Government says the scheme is a key part of its plan to “get Britain working again”.
Labour MP for Shrewsbury, Julia Buckley, has welcomed the funding for the region.
She said: “This is fantastic news. I am so delighted that Shropshire Council has been chosen as the lead authority for one of the pilot areas of the Government’s Connect to Work scheme, a major expansion of a tailored employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions or experiencing non-health-condition barriers to work.
“Shropshire is one of the very first areas to receive this support. It’s an exciting move that will help people back into work.”
The Government stated that one in four people out of work cite sickness as a barrier to employment – more than double the rate in 2012 when it was one in 10.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: “For too long, millions of people have been denied the support they need to get back to health and back to work.
“It’s bad for their living standards, it’s bad for their families, and it’s bad for the economy.
“That’s why we’re taking decisive action by investing millions of pounds so sick or disabled people can overcome the barriers they face and move out of poverty and into good, secure jobs as part of our Plan for Change.”
