Increasing Aspiration.
Promoting Good Work.
Reducing Health Inequalities.
GET
SOUTH MIDLANDS
WORKING
The South Midlands Get Britain Working Partnership is seeking to set out a vision to integrate health, work and skills work support across our region within the term of the current government. HM Government’s White Paper “Get Britain Working” aspires to achieve an 80% employment rate by addressing six key challenges:
- Employer Vacancies
- Disparities in Labour Market Outcomes.
- Exclusion from the Labour Market
- Youth Employment
- Insecure and Low-Quality Work
- Challenges for Women
OUR
PURPOSE
Our purpose is to work with our residents, employers and partners to support good working lives and equity within our communities. We will look at scaling up existing solutions and developing fresh solutions to support residents in work, health, and skills development. Together, we will build on what is strong and address what is wrong.
By linking communities themselves, health, work, skills, business, the voluntary and community sector and social care, we intend to deliver a comprehensive, place-based approach that empowers individuals, supports local economies, and creates long-term positive outcomes.
The Get South Midlands Working Plan
The Get South Midlands Working (GSMW) Plan sets out a coordinated, partnership-led response to labour-market challenges across Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire.
The Plan’s purpose is to increase labour-market participation amongst those furthest from the labour market, support people into good jobs, and strengthen the connections between work, health and skills so that economic growth is more inclusive, productivity improves, and people are prevented from leaving work due to ill-health or a lack of support.
The Plan aligns with the Government’s Plan for Change and the Get Britain Working White Paper, which aspires to raise the national employment rate to 80%. It also reflects the ambitions around the recent Mayfield Review identifying the need to create a new integrated employment support system that supports workplace health.
The Get South Midlands Working Plan is available to read here.
Challenges facing the SOuth Midlands
High economic inactivity & long-term sickness
– Long-term sickness is the biggest driver.
– The South Midlands follows this national trend, with significant variation across our region
Workforce pressures in health & social care
– Recruitment and retention challenges in the NHS and the care Sector
– Need for new entry routes via apprenticeships, upskilling, and employment pathways
Health inequalities & fit note dependency
– 1 in 5 GP appointments are non-medical (linked to work, money, housing, stress)
– Higher reliance on fit notes suggests gaps in keeping residents in work or transitioning them back into employment
Integrated care & place based working
– Integrated Care System (ICS) prioritises prevention, early intervention, and tackling social determinants of health
– Neighbourhood-based collaboration is essential to make work and health support accessible, localised, and effective
The role of employers and Anchor institutions
The Get South Midlands Working approach will focus on early intervention and prevention with an increased education offer for employers in terms of promoting healthy work places and mental health support, an uplift in hiring and retaining workers with health conditions, increased engagement with job centres to consider job carving, adjustment support and flexible use of the Growth and Skills training levy. In South Midlands the Work and Health Stewardship Partnership, place-based Employment, Skills and Business Boards, Economic Growth Boards and ICB Workforce Anchor Boards will play a direct role in supporting the wider community where possible with access to education, maximising our social value approach to support employers and communities. As Anchor organisations we are committed to leveraging our social value, assets, and social capital to support economic growth and wellbeing.
Take a deeper look a the data
As part of the Get Britian Working programme we’ve collated available data from public data sourced from the ONS and from Government departments, to inform the South Midlands plan.
Key policies
Along with Get Britain Working, we have set out some key policies that will inform the missions we build together to empower and support aspiration, prosperity, and wellbeing below:
Get Britain Working White Paper (2024)
Tackling economic inactivity, reforming health & disability benefits, and integrating job centres with health services
Dame Carol Black Review (2021)
The role of work in mental and physical health, occupational health reforms
NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan (2022)
Expansion of apprenticeships, local workforce sustainability, and upskilling in health & social care
Levelling Up White Paper (2022)
Reducing regional inequalities in employment, skills and health outcomes