How do we help people left outside of the workforce into work? - Dan Jarvis

We know that currently there’s around 6,000 people out of work in Barnsley, who want to work − but are finding it difficult to enter, or re-enter, the workforce after a long spell away. It is the same right across the wider Yorkshire region.

It’s clear that after 13 long years, the national Government doesn't have any meaningful answers to address this for us. While they insist levelling-up is on their agenda, there is still a big delta between the rhetoric and the delivery of practical policies that will actually make a meaningful difference.

We don’t need more schemes dreamt up by transitory Ministers in Whitehall who are far removed from the realities of life in the North. Failure to understand the specific challenges towns in the North face has badly let us down and caused less prosperous parts of our country to lag even further behind.

That’s why Barnsley Council has grasped the nettle and is taking action by mobilising a team of nationally recognised experts to find solutions and produce a plan to support people into long-term, meaningful work.

We’ve got some seriously impressive commissioners joining the initiative, such as the Chair, Alan Milburn, previously a transformative Health Secretary and now social mobility champion; Valerie Hannon, senior adviser to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Torsten Bell, chief executive of Resolution Foundation; Salma Yasmeen, executive director for strategy and change at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Oliver Coppard, the South Yorkshire Mayor; myself and more besides.

Together we’ll form the Pathways to Work Commission, an independent body, working together to better understand the challenges people face.

This will begin through four initial lines of enquiry: First, we will seek to understand who is economically inactive in Barnsley and why? Then, amongst those economically inactive, what distinguishes those who want a job from those who do not? We’ll look at what policies are impacting on those who are economically inactive? And finally, what initiatives are currently in place that have an evidenced, lasting impact on people’s ability to get back into work?

This will be a year-long project, culminating in a report with specific recommendations to both local and national Government as well as to other stakeholders. Ultimately, our aim is to answer one simple but important question, how do we help people left outside of the workforce to enter?

As part of this work, we’ll be looking to actively engage with local residents, employers and educators, so look out for opportunities to have your say.

I’m very proud to represent Barnsley and to have served as the first South Yorkshire Mayor and it’s no secret that I’m hugely ambitious for our town and our region. This is an ambition that’s informed by the conversations I have, every day, with people locally and across Yorkshire. I know how aspirational folk are, not just for themselves but for their children and grandchildren too.

I’ve seen first-hand that with the right support in place, we can make a lasting impact on people’s lives. As the South Yorkshire Mayor, I piloted a scheme, called Working Win. It was an initiative that focussed on supporting people with long term health difficulties and disabilities, to remain in or re-enter the workplace. It took hard graft, but it was a big success, and helped thousands of people across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield stay in or re-join the workforce, feeling supported and able to stay there. This is a glimpse of the success I know we can recreate through the commission.

Ultimately, the launch of Pathways to Work represents an investment in Barnsley's future but also the wider Yorkshire region. Not only will it benefit people who are currently struggling to get into work, but future generations too, increasing our productivity and improving our region’s economic and social wellbeing.

We have launched at a moment when the country is facing huge challenges, not least the cost-of-living crisis. While this difficulty is felt across the UK, it’s not being felt evenly.

I believe our commission could act as a blueprint, one that we can roll out and scale up, with Barnsley and South Yorkshire at the vanguard of our national drive towards ensuring accessible, inclusive employment opportunities to everyone. Let’s work together to make it happen.

Dan Jarvis is the Labour MP for Barnsley Central.