In November 2024, the government published the Get Britain Working White Paper , setting out plans to reform employment, health and skills support as part of the Governments wider Plan for Change. These plans intend to tackle rising economic inactivity levels, support people into good work, and create an inclusive labour market, recognising how different local economies can be, in which everybody can participate and progress in work. 

Since publication, employment has started to rise, and economic inactivity has begun to fall. Employment in the UK has risen to nearly 34 million, an increase of nearly 200,000. Youth employment has increased by 39,000, while the disability employment rate reached 54.0%, reflecting a 2.2 percentage point rise since 2019. There are also record numbers of women in work, with 16.5 million employed, up 129,000 since the White Paper’s release.

We are already seeing the difference that an active government, with an active labour market policy, can make. 

Dylan’s story of how tailored support has helped him gain confidence and move towards work

Dylan, an 18-year-old from Rugby with multiple physical and mental health conditions including Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and anxiety, began his journey on Universal Credit in December 2024. Dylan started attending Additional Work Coach Time Health appointments on video, which transformed his confidence. Participating in the Movement to Work programme, Dylan thrived in the supportive group setting. He now volunteers 3 days a week at the Smarter Outsource Service Unity Hub based in Rugby, contributing to app development and community engagement. His parents have said they have seen their son come on leaps and bounds through the tailored support he has received. Dylan’s story exemplifies the positive impact of adaptive, community-focused initiatives. 

Vihan’s success story of securing and succeeding in work with the support of his work coach

Despite graduating with a Masters degree in IT, Vihan was struggling to find work and was referred to the Youth Hub from his main job centre. After getting to know Vihan and his barriers, his work coach started to support Vihan to improve his confidence in speaking with employers, as well as helping him with his CV and the best way to approach job applications. When Vihan secured an interview with the Ministry of Defence as an IT Tools Developer, his work coach arranged mock interview sessions, helping him to prepare for the questions he might be asked. That wasn’t all… Vihan was helped with the cost of suitable clothing for his interview and his travel fare through the Flexible Support Fund.  

Vihan was successful in securing the role and has since won awards and secured a promotion in another government department. 

Progress summary  

Since we published our radical reforms in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we have been focusing on delivery, with many positive first steps including: 

We have launched our first Jobs and Careers Service Pathfinder in Wakefield to develop and test new services and different ways of supporting people. Alongside this, we have begun testing a new Coaching Academy so that our teams can better assist those that need help to find work. These are great examples of our test-and-learn approach to developing the new service, which also includes testing changes to the Jobcentre Plus environment for customers and colleagues through our Innovation Hubs in Worsley, East Kilbride, Stratford and Porthcawl, and running 2 large-scale trials to better understand what frequency and mode of engagement will work best for the individual. On top of that, our DWP Vans are trialling a new outreach service, particularly in rural areas like North Wales and rural Scotland, and in Greater Manchester where social isolation can still be a problem. The Spending Review funding we received will allow us to continue our test and learn approach over the next few years and transform our Jobcentres into a Jobs and Careers service fit for the future.

We have rolled out DWP Ask, a simple question-and-answer tool powered by AI, in Doncaster and Maltby Jobcentres. This helps work coaches quickly find the most appropriate guidance to support citizens. It will be rolled out across Wales next. 

We have established a dedicated team to serve the needs of employers and launched our new employer commitment, which sets out the minimum standard of service available to every employer working with Jobcentre Plus to fill vacancies. Our New Business Team (NBT) is also committed to reaching out and engaging with 8,000 large employers across the country. 

We have published guidance for local leaders to develop local Get Britain Working plans. And, to facilitate Jobcentres and DWP as a whole collaborating with our public sector partners, we are changing our operational boundaries to fit the wider Government’s devolved structures. 

We have initiated 8 place-based Youth Guarantee trailblazers across England, testing a local delivery approach to ensure 18-21-year-olds have access to training, apprenticeships, and support into employment. The 8 youth trailblazer areas in England are: Cambridgeshire & Peterborough; East Midlands; Liverpool; Tees Valley; West Midlands; West of England and 2 in London. The Chancellor also confirmed in the Spending Review funding for the continuation of our Youth Guarantee trailblazers and to expand our Youth Hubs further to Local Authority areas. This investment ensures that young claimants—particularly those on Universal Credit—can access even more tailored employment and skills services in their local communities.

DWP has also established a Youth Advisory Panel to capture the views of young people and has formed partnerships with leading organisations in the media and sports sectors, who are bringing more opportunities to young people. 

We are delivering 9 economic inactivity trailblazers across England and Wales to test and deliver employment, health and skills support for people who are economically inactive, primarily focusing on disabled people and those who are out of work due to ill health. 

The 9 economic inactivity trailblazer areas in England and Wales are: the North-East Combined Authority; West Yorkshire Combined Authority; South Yorkshire Combined Authority; Greater Manchester Combined Authority; York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority; 3 in London working with the Greater London Authority and one in Wales working with the Welsh Government.   We have secured funding to continue these trailblazers for at least an extra year so we can gather the evidence needed to influence informed policy decisions relating to employment support and, most importantly, to make a meaningful, lasting impact in reducing economic inactivity.

Furthermore, Integrated Care Boards in 3 of the trailblazer areas have received additional funding to be NHS Health and Growth Accelerators, focusing primarily on stemming the flow of people who are falling into economic inactivity. They will target cohorts who are in work and are at risk of falling out of work by addressing the health drivers of economic inactivity.  

We are expanding our Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) in Scotland and England. We have committed to delivering 100,000 SWAP starts a year in 2025/26, up from 80,000 starts in 2024/25.  

We have started to test changes to the claimant commitment to enable more personalised employment support discussions between work coaches and their customers.  

We have established the Keep Britain Working independent review. This review is considering how best to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence, and recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities. After conducting an initial discovery into the underlying issues, Sir Charlie Mayfield published his early findings on 20 March 2025, which set out the key questions the review will focus on. The review has been engaging with businesses, individuals, and representative organisations across the UK, and is expected to produce a final report with recommendation in autumn 2025.  

We have published our Pathways to Work Green Paper, which has committed an additional £1 billion in employment support for sick and disabled people, to ensure they have the same chances and choices to work as everybody else. To kickstart this, we are deploying 1,000 work coaches to give additional personalised support to disabled people and people with health conditions. By the end of this decade [but rolling out rapidly from 2026] anyone who is claiming out of work benefits and is disabled or has a health condition will be able to access tailored work, health and skills support.

Local areas are opening their Connect to Work programmes through 2025, with the first areas – covering the West London Alliance and East Sussex delivery areas now open. We expect more areas to go live this summer, with progressively more each month through 2025.

In 2026/27, Connect to Work funding (including for the Integrated Settlement areas) will provide support to around 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment to help them find and sustain work.

Since publication, DWP has continued to work with the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure our reforms align and partner effectively with devolved provision to enable an integrated approach regardless of whether support is reserved or devolved. Furthermore, we have been working with the Welsh Government to progress the commitment to devolve non-Jobcentre Plus employment support funding to the Welsh Government.   

We have published our Get Britain Working outcome metrics, which set out the key indicators that the government will continue to monitor closely as we continue to deliver our ambitious reforms.  

These initiatives sit alongside wider government commitments to breakdown barriers to opportunity and kickstart economic growth and deliver the Governments Plan for Change announced the Chancellors Spending Review. This includes a £86 billion boost to science and technology, which will be felt across the country with funds dedicating awards of at least £30 million to each of the 7 Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England, as well as to one equivalent region in each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and £15.6 billion of funding for local transport projects in England’s city regions. This investment will create jobs, better commutes, bigger labour markets and more opportunity.

The Government is committed to protecting the poorest in society and breaking down barrier to opportunity, which is why it has extended Free School Meals to all children in households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.

We also announced £842m (£1bn including Barnett consequentials) per annum to reform crisis support. This includes the first ever multi-year settlement to transform the Household Support Fund into a new Crisis and Resilience Fund, incorporating Discretionary Housing Payments and funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time.

Spotlight on Merseyside 

Liverpool is set to receive a £5 million investment for its youth trailblazer, focusing on vulnerable young people often facing the most complex barriers. In its first year, the City Region aims to support tens of thousands of young people. Support will include mentoring, coaching and confidence building, working with employers to promote inclusive recruitment and retention practices and developing systems to better identify and engage young people with the offer. 

Separately, DWP is working with football charities like the Liverpool FC Foundation to help young people develop their teamwork skills and confidence ahead of entering the world of work.  

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority will receive a total of £18m for its trailblazer and NHS Health and Growth Accelerator  

South Yorkshires trailblazer was the first to go live in April and together with its NHS Health and Growth Accelerator programme aims to support over 7,800 people, with the objective of helping up to 3,000 people into jobs or to stay in work.  

South Yorkshire will receive up to £10m for its trailblazer, focusing on proactively engaging employers to shift their attitudes and change their hiring practices to widen their recruitment and create more opportunities for people with complex barriers.  

South Yorkshire has already had success in the employment support it offers, such as Gerald, who spent years working in the coal mining industry. With the help of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, he is developing his digital skills and first aid abilities so he can continue to share his knowledge with others through volunteering.  

South Yorkshire is also receiving an additional £8m towards its NHS Health and Growth Accelerator, which will focus on with those mental health and musculoskeletal conditions to provide tailored support to help people get back into work. 

The Mayor of London is working with the Sub-Regional Partnerships to deliver 3 economic inactivity Trailblazers, worth up to £20m 

In London, the Mayor is working together with boroughs to deliver the Trailblazers, including delivering a pan-London universal offer for all young Londoners whilst ensuring that London’s sub-regional challenges are met locally. In West London, recognising it is those with musculoskeletal conditions who are most likely to receive health related benefits, the Mayor is working with the West London Alliance to provide intensive support including pre-treatment that will aid recovery and keep people in touch with the labour market throughout their health journey so people are in the best, most confident position to start looking for or to renter work. A focus of the South London Partnership will also be on those with musculoskeletal conditions, alongside other interventions that will focus on creating new referral routes and joining up the current employment landscape. In Local London, the Sub-Regional Partnership that covers the east of London, a combination of self-employment and entrepreneurship support, childcare subsidies and support tailored to the needs of residents through partnership with local services will be offered. 

Laura, Julie and Hannah from Upton Jobcentre in Liverpool welcome these reforms 

We are already hearing from work coaches the impact our reforms are having in Jobcentres. Laura, Julie and Hannah, who work at Upton Jobcentre in Liverpool, have told us the changes are already making a difference to how effectively they can support people into work. They have welcomed the flexibility Additional Work Coach Time provides for those with disabilities and health conditions, allowing them ‘to spend more time with people, to get to know them better, for better outcomes’ and how they are seeing more people move into work as a result. Hannah also spoke about how receiving training on AI has enabled her to better support young people with examples of how AI can be utilised to develop a CV and look for work.  

Going beyond our Get Britain Working reforms to support the Government’s missions 

In addition to delivering our Get Britain Working reforms, we have been expanding our network of Prison Leaver Work Coaches (PLWC) across our Jobcentres. Over 80% of crime is now reoffending, which costs government and the wider economy over £18bn a year. We know that finding employment on release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, the latest data shows offenders unemployed 6 weeks after leaving prison had a reoffending rate more than double of those in work (34.6 v 17.8%). Our PLWCs are ensuring prison leavers have more consistent and tailored support to enter work which, in turn, reduces reoffending, and keeps our streets safe. 

We have already seen this have positive impacts. Through one of our PLWCs, James was supported through tailored 1-1 conversations. Together they established what type of roles he was interested in and looked at outdoor work, finding a drainage company that was willing to hire him, but required him to have a Construction Skills Certification Skills (CSCS) card. Utilising the Flexible Support Fund, the PLWC was able to book and pay for James’ test and travel to and from the test centre. Through this, James passed his test and has been working for 2 months now.  

We have also been improving support for vulnerable families through our Family Community Work Coaches (FCWC). We have around 300 FCWCs across England, who provide holistic support to families with multiple complex needs in community settings, to help move them closer to employment. They have been supporting people like Amy, a lone parent with 2 sons who was unemployed, homeless, and spoke limited English. She began working with her FCWC, Janet, over a period of 18 months. Janet helped her access housing and referred her to an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) course. As Amy’s confidence began to grow, she felt able to seek employment to support her family. Janet supported Amy in her applications for retail roles in her local area, and she was successful in being invited for an interview.  Janet supported Amy through the different stages of the recruitment process, including attending the job interview with her to help explain the background and how nervous Amy was feeling. The employer invited Amy to a work trial whereby the employer really liked her enthusiasm and way of thinking when trying to sell a product. As a result, Amy was offered 12 hours a week contract, with flexibility to build in more.  

Our commitment to continue working with stakeholders and partners to reach our ambition of an 80% employment rate 

Despite this progress and positive stories from people like Dylan, Vihan, Gerald, James and Amy, the scale of the challenge we face means there is still lots of work to do. We have made an important start together with the devolved governments, local leaders, employers and our amazing work coaches. We will continue to work with partners to empower more people to access and thrive in meaningful work, whilst strengthening the position of our local communities. 

Through these changes we will work towards our long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate and make the UK labour market one of the best performing in the world to support growth, opportunity and living standards for all.

Map of key Get Britain Working reform activities across England and Wales

The map of Great Britain highlights the areas in England and Wales where the key reforms mentioned in the Get Britain Working White Paper are underway. This accompanies the transformation happening in Jobcentres across Great Britain as we design and deliver a new Jobs and Careers service.

The highlighted areas are identified by a key covering the locations of Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, Inactivity Trailblazers, Jobs and Careers Pathfinder, and Work Well pilot areas. These areas specifically are:

Eight Youth Guarantee trailblazer areas located in Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, West Midlands Combined Authority, Tees Valley Combined Authority, East Midlands Combined Authority, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, West of England Combined Authority and two in the Greater London Authority (one in Pan London and one in Central London Forward).

Nine Economic Inactivity trailblazer areas located in South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, North East, York and North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Wales (located across three local authorities in Denbighshire, Neath Port Talbot and Blaenau Gwent) and three in London (one in West London, one in South London and one in Local London).

One Jobs and Careers service Pathfinder in Wakefield.

Fifteen Integrated Care Boards delivering Work Well programmes in Birmingham and Solihull; Black Country; Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; Coventry and Warwickshire; Frimley; Greater Manchester; Herefordshire and Worcestershire; Lancashire and South Cumbria; Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland; North Central London; North West London; South Yorkshire and Surrey Heartlands.

A text box at the bottom right of the map states 3 key points.

Where Work Well is shown as available, this provision may only cover part of that area.

Connect to Work (CtW) will also be available across England and Wales with the exception of the two Integrated Settlement areas which will use their CtW funding to deliver bespoke Employment Support Programmes.

Not all Get Britain Working provision is shown, including three Integrated Care Boards delivering NHS England Health and Growth Accelerator programmes in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and North East and North Cumbria.