Pilot ‘hyperlocal’ job support scheme in England shows promising signs of effectiveness

Caseworkers and staff at the Thirteen community hub in Newtown, Stockton on Tees, one of the pilot locations where the ‘hyperlocal’ approach is being trialled. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Caseworkers and staff at the Thirteen community hub in Newtown, Stockton on Tees, one of the pilot locations where the ‘hyperlocal’ approach is being trialled. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian Pilot ‘hyperlocal’ job support scheme in England shows promising signs of effectiveness Government-funded JobsPlus trial in 10 neighbourhoods could be scalable nationwide, evaluation shows We would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job-hunting experiences A government-funded pilot of “hyperlocal” job support in 10 neighbourhoods across England has shown “promising early signs of effectiveness”, including for young people, and could be scalable nationwide, a new evaluation has shown. The JobsPlus scheme, backed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Youth Futures Foundation , an independent non-profit organisation, focuses intensive support in a small area of predominantly social housing. Echoing a similar, long-established scheme in the US , “community champions” at each site help to engage hard-to-reach people in the local area. Residents of social housing are almost twice as likely to be unemployed as the population as a whole, and many of the participants have barriers to work such as caring responsibilities or a health condition. JobsPlus caseworkers offer one-to-one support, financial help with needs such as interview clothing or transport to facilitate finding work, and can connect clients with local employers, Jobcentre Plus offices or NHS services. The evaluation found the pilots were “engaging residents who are typically further from the labour market and who may require longer and more intensive support before employment outcomes can be achieved”. View image in fullscreen ‘Everything is done within the community so that [clients] don’t have to venture out as much – sometimes it’s about building their confidence,’ says Lyndsey Henry, left, seen here with her fellow caseworkers at the pilot scheme in Stockton on Tees. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian ‘They can open doors’: the community-based project helping people into work in Teesside Read more Between July 2024 and December last year, 27% of the 1,000-plus participants in the scheme had achieved a positive employment outcome – in the vast majority of cases, moving from unemployment into a job, or for a few, finding a better job. Participants as a whole reported “improvements in mental health including reduced anxiety, low mood and social isolation alongside improved resilience”, the evaluation found, many feeling these improvements were “essential precursors to applying for roles or sustaining work once secured”. About a third of those enrolled so far (31%) are aged 16-24, compared with 12% of local people in the eligible locations. Labo