The expansion of the Connect to Work programme will see it rolled out to the North East (£49.7m), Buckinghamshire (£7.2m), Oxfordshire (£8.3m), West Sussex and Brighton (15.6m), Berkshire (£9.5m), Devon, Plymouth and Torbay (£22.8m), Cumbria (£11.7m), South Midlands (£32m), York and North Yorkshire (£10.4m).
Support includes embedding specialist advisers directly within healthcare teams - from GP surgeries to mental health services - treating employment support as holistic care, while areas such as Portsmouth, the North East and East Sussex are also:
- Connecting people from community-based health programmes to dedicated employment support
- Using Virtual Reality immersive classrooms to support people with interview practice
- Helping parents and families access affordable childcare so they can re-enter the workforce
- Running workshops to improve participants' confidence and communication skills.
Work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, said: ‘We are giving people a hand up, not a handout, realising their potential and providing them with the skills to succeed as part of our Plan for Change.
‘Thanks to local areas hitting the ground running, it is already delivering results – proving that when we invest in people and communities, everyone wins.'
Minister of state for health, Stephen Kinnock, added: ‘For many people, getting help finding the right work could be as an important part of their prescription as the correct physio or medication.
‘This investment is just what the doctor ordered and will help thousands more find the help they need to get back into a job.'
Total funding for the initiative is now set to reach more than £1bn across England and Wales over the next five years, and it is set provide 300,000 sick or disabled people with help to get into work by the end of the decade.
