Getting neighbourhoods working: over 1,000 people take part in community-led employment support

Date:

02 01 2026

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Employment support Housing and employment Employment & social security

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Over 1,000 people have engaged with JobsPlus, a new community-led approach to finding work and increasing earnings which is being piloted across England from Medway to Merseyside following the model’s success in the United States.

JobsPlus is being delivered in partnership with social landlords, as social housing residents are nearly twice as likely to be out of work as people living in other types of housing. People in this group:

  • Make up one in four of the UK’s economically inactive population
  • Are more than twice as likely to be disabled
  • Are more than three times as likely to be lone parents or to have no qualifications, and
  • If they are in work, are twice as likely to work in lower-skilled jobs and are on average paid a third less than people who live in types of housing.

They are a key group for the Government’s 80 per cent employment rate target, and for its attempt to support the one million young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) into learning or earning.

From July 2024, over 270 JobsPlus participants have moved into work. The pilots have shown early signs of success in reaching groups who are typically less likely to use existing employment services, including parents and carers, people with long-term health conditions and young people and people from a Black ethnic minority background.

Research has shown stark local variations in health and job outcomes across the UK. The place-based focus of JobsPlus targets communities most in need of support, reaching those with significant disadvantages and where residents face complex barriers to employment. With the Government seeking to restore pride in Britain’s neighbourhoods, this evidence-led effort to build a culture of work at community-level represents a positive step.

Led by Learning and Work Institute (L&W) with funding from Department for Work and Pensions and Youth Futures Foundation, social landlords are coordinating services through on-site community hubs. Support is shaped by residents and delivered in partnership with other local organisations. Local volunteers champion the programme among their communities, and JobsPlus participants are also offered a financial incentive for finding and staying in work. In a departure from previous programmes, the pilot sites offer employment support to all working-age residents, with no additional eligibility criteria.

JobsPlus is currently expected to run until March 2026, with an interim evaluation published by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) in September 2025 showing positive emerging evidence of employment outcomes. The programme is backed by evidence in the United States, showing that it can lead to better, long-term employment outcomes for residents and for their children 20 years later.

L&W is leading the JobsPlus pilot programme in collaboration with Communities that Work and IES, with additional support from MDRC, the US-based research organisation behind the conception of JobsPlus. Youth Futures Foundation – the What Works Centre for youth employment, with a specific focus on marginalised young people – has partnered in designing a robust evaluation approach.

Learning and Work Institute is leading JobsPlus. Stephen Evans, Chief Executive, said:
This is a proud moment for JobsPlus as our hyper-local approach to employment support engages over 1,000 people across England. Social housing residents often face complex barriers to work; closing inequalities in access to employment support to help more parents and carers, young people and people with long-term health conditions will be essential for the Government to achieve its ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate, as Learning and Work Institute has argued since 2022. This model is showing real promise to transform neighbourhoods and we look forward to watching it progress.
The Department for Work and Pensions is co-funding JobsPlus. Minister for Employment Dame Diana Johnson said:
We are determined to create opportunity across the country and break down barriers that prevent people from fulfilling their full potential. The innovative JobsPlus pilot is providing support for those who need it most and I’m delighted it has reached the milestone of engaging 1,000 people. Schemes like this complement our wider Get Britain Working reforms, where we’re driving economic growth in every local area and creating more opportunities for people to move into good, secure jobs.
Youth Futures Foundation is co-funding JobsPlus. Barry Fletcher, CEO, said:
With one in eight young people not in education, employment or training, it’s important that we find ways to ensure every young person can access meaningful opportunities, wherever they live. This milestone for JobsPlus is an encouraging step. Built on international evidence, the programme supports young people in communities with a high proportion of social housing, where many face deep-rooted barriers to work. We look forward to seeing how the programme develops and what locally shaped approaches can teach us about improving long-term outcomes for young people.
Communities that Work is supporting the delivery of the JobsPlus pilots. Lynsey Sweeney, Managing Director, said:
JobsPlus shows what is possible when employment support is rooted in place and shaped by the people it is designed to serve. Social housing communities face deeply entrenched and often overlapping barriers to work. Too often traditional, one-size-fits-all approaches have failed to reach them. By bringing social landlords, local partners and residents together, JobsPlus is building trust, unlocking opportunity and creating a culture of work at neighbourhood level. These early results underline the unique role housing providers play in connecting people to good jobs and better prospects, and in supporting inclusive growth in communities across the country.
Institute of Employment Studies is evaluating the JobsPlus pilots. Naomi Clayton, Chief Executive, said:
Early findings from our evaluation of JobsPlus indicate that it is effectively reaching people who face complex barriers to work and are typically underserved by mainstream employment services. Through person-centred outreach, peer-led engagement, welcoming community hubs, flexible tailored support and strong partnerships, JobsPlus is supporting people in some of the most deprived areas secure employment and improve their health and wellbeing. The JobsPlus pilot provides valuable evidence on the role of voluntary and community-led support in helping more people find and stay in work, as well as lessons for wider reforms under the government’s Get Britain Working agenda.
MDRC led the JobsPlus pilots in the US. James Riccio, Principal Research Fellow, said:
The progress of JobsPlus in British social housing communities in such a short period of time is impressive. It is clearly tapping into residents’ desire and need for place-based employment support. Moreover, its focus on strengthening social capital and furthering community well-being aligns well with the interest in neighbourhood renewal championed by the Independent Commission on Neighourhoods and others. Policymakers and other stakeholders in the UK, US, and elsewhere who wish to make employment support a core feature of social housing and community revitalisation can learn much from the UK’s adaptation and operation of JobsPlus.

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