In this guest article from Maximus, lead sponsor of the Employment and Skills Convention 2025, Dr Andy Holroyde reflects on what works in delivering effective employment support and addressing different barriers to employment.

The last year has brought in a new Labour Government committed to delivering fundamental reforms to employment support as part of its wider welfare strategy.

Building on announcements in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we have seen the development of plans to reform Jobcentre Plus to create a national Jobs and Careers Service, the initial deployment of the highly-localised Connect to Work programme, additional capacity to support disabled people to find work through Jobcentre work coaches, and an increased focus on how employers can improve workplace wellbeing.

The recent Pathways to Work Green Paper outlined further measures, including a guaranteed offer of tailored employment, health, and skills support for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions, backed by an additional £1.9 billion investment in employability over the next five years.

The overall aim of these reforms is to support more people into work, tackling the pressing challenge of 2.8 million people in Great Britain who are economically inactive due to ill-health, and thereby achieve the ambition of an 80% employment rate.

Discussions now turn to the practicalities of delivering upon this aim in the most effective and time efficient way. For employment support, there is already a rich eco-system in local communities across the country, delivered by specialist charities, and public and private sector organisations. It is vital that implementation of new services builds upon this existing landscape and is guided by the evidence of what works – drawing upon the success, and learning from the lessons, of what has gone before.

So, what works?

Experienced employment support providers have a proven track record of helping those furthest from the labour market progress into sustainable work. Services such as the Work and Health Programme and the Restart Scheme, for example, have been effective at delivering more personalised support for those who need it – and at significant scale. Others, such as the Home Office’s Refugee Employability Programme, have successfully tailored support for very specific groups, developing consistent yet highly bespoke provision around the country.

This success has been further evidenced in the recently published Work Choice impact evaluation. Work Choice was a voluntary contracted employment programme for disabled people, which ran across Great Britain from 2010 to 2019. The evaluation determined that the programme successfully helped participants enter and stay in employment, while also delivering value for money – with each £1 spent delivering a £1.67 return to the Treasury and £2.98 to wider society. Evaluations of other programmes such as Fair Start Scotland and the Work and Health Programme have also illustrated the benefits and positive outcomes delivered through these services, with a significant economic and social return on investment.

Working in partnership to address barriers to employment

Maximus has decades of experience in delivering employment support across Great Britain, and has done significant work over the last year to understand what works in these services and how the Government’s ambitions can be achieved.

A key factor in successful delivery has come from bringing together diverse organisations through partnership working to address multiple barriers for jobseekers. Understanding why this approach is so beneficial is crucial to tackling economic inactivity. While attention here has understandably focused on health-related needs, we know that people can often experience multiple interconnected, and overlapping, challenges which are preventing them from securing and sustaining work.

Through collaborative research with Learning and Work Institute we have been able to understand what kinds of further barriers are likely to be important. Additional caring responsibilities are one such example, as across the total population of those classed as economically inactive due to ill-health, more than 20% have dependent children, and over 10% provide some form of unpaid care. Skills are a further potential barrier, with almost 40% of this cohort having no formal qualifications. To these brief examples, we could add further challenges often faced by those accessing employment support such as debt, housing issues, mental health conditions, and extended periods away from the labour market.

It is through partnerships, working alongside local organisations who specialise in helping people overcome these barriers, that holistic support can be provided for each individual. Moving away from the false dichotomy of either local or national programmes, we have seen how harnessing the strengths of both through partnership networks within local communities has benefitted jobseekers as well as the organisations delivering these vital services.

If the Government’s ambition is to bring about meaningful and rapid change, reaching groups beyond the welfare system and providing tailored support to help people address complex barriers to employment, there is an infrastructure already in place and with a proven track record able to respond effectively and swiftly.

As we enter a new era of employment support it is crucial that this builds on the foundations already laid, incorporating the evidence of what works and harnessing the existing capacity and deep experience of those organisations who specialise in providing support for jobseekers with additional needs.

If you would like to learn more about our delivery of national and devolved employment programmes, or discuss our research, visit maximusuk.co.uk or email research@maximusuk.co.uk