Agenda item

To receive an update from officers Danny Edwards, Head of Economy and Nick Wollf, Employment and Skills Manager on employment support for those facing health and disability barriers to work, delivered through the Connect to Work programme.

The commission then received a presentation from Nick Wolfe, Employment and Skills Manager, and Kim Weatherston, Principal Programme Officer for Supported Employment, on the Connect to Work programme and its role in supporting residents with health and disability barriers into sustainable employment.

Officers explained that:

• Connect to Work is a 12?month, voluntary, supported employment programme, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as part of the national Get Britain Working strategy.
• The programme supports Southwark residents who:
  • Have long?term health conditions or disabilities.
  • Are economically inactive; and/or
  • Are in work but at risk of falling out due to health or disability.
• The programme is designed for local delivery, tailored to community needs and the borough labour market, with an emphasis on integration with health, housing and social care services.
• In London, delivery is devolved via Central London Forward (CLF). Southwark is expected to have among the highest participation, with around 700 starts per year and over 2,000 residents supported over five years, and £8.3m allocated to Southwark’s delivery up to March 2030.

The commission noted the link to the Director of Public Health’s recent annual report on employment and health, highlighting the impact of worklessness on physical and mental health.

Connect to Work is open to Southwark residents aged 18+ with the right to live and work in the UK and not on other DWP?funded programmes (e.g. Restart, Work and Health Programme). The commission was informed that:

• The programme can support some residents with no recourse to public funds, where they can demonstrate their right to work.
• Priority groups include:
  • Carers and ex?carers;
  • People experiencing homelessness or in temporary accommodation;
  • Care leavers;
  • Refugees and resettled communities (Afghan, Ukrainian);
  • Survivors of domestic abuse and modern slavery;
  • People with substance misuse issues;
  • Young people at risk of crime and gangs;
  • Ex?offenders;
  • Members and veterans of the armed forces.

The programme uses two evidence?based models:

• Individual Placement and Support (IPS):
  • Focuses on residents out of work with health conditions, closely integrated with health professionals (e.g. GPs, primary care networks, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust).
  • Prioritises rapid job search based on what the person wants to do, with on?going in?work support and health input.
• Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF):
  • Focused on residents with learning disabilities and neurodivergent conditions.
  • Smaller caseloads and intensive support, including workplace visits and employer coaching on reasonable adjustments, Access to Work and inclusive practice.

Approximately 75% of participants are expected to join the IPS strand and 25% the SEQF strand.

Each participant works with a dedicated Employment Specialist for up to 12 months and while in work. The support offer includes:

• Vocational profiling (including daily routines, strengths and aspirations, not just past employment history).
• CV development, interview preparation and targeted job search based on the resident’s preferences.
• Financial coaching and benefit calculations early in the programme, including:
  • Modelling part?time and full?time hours;
  • Childcare support;
  • Impacts on Universal Credit, PIP and other benefits.
• Joint meetings with family members where appropriate, particularly for younger adults living at home, to improve understanding of how work interacts with benefits and reduce anxiety about losing income.
• A “zero exclusion” policy: residents who are not eligible or suitable for Connect to Work are actively signposted to the most appropriate alternative service (e.g. specialist care leaver programmes such as Trailblazers, youth employment projects, or other Southwark Works services).

Officers stressed that the focus is on sustainable, good?quality jobs, not simply “any job”, and that staff challenge employers and systems when opportunities are not accessible or realistic for the individual.

The commission heard about strong and growing integration with:

• Social Prescribing Teams in North and South Southwark – with weekly calls, feedback on referrals, and high referral volumes from this route.
• King’s College Hospital MSK community days, where residents on physiotherapy waiting lists are triaged; Connect to Work staff attend, providing employment advice and have successfully engaged older participants (including residents aged 60+).
• Citizens Advice, housing and other community partners.
• Future co?location with health teams and community services in the new Southwark Works hub in Peckham (Peckham Square), where Connect to Work’s in?house team will be based alongside other services, enabling a shared, “one?front?door” environment.

The commission was informed that the programme is delivered through:

• In?house Southwark Council team (led by Kim Weatherston) – focusing primarily on residents out of work via the IPS model, closely integrated with health and council teams.
• Commissioned providers:
  • CEK and plus – supporting residents out of work (IPS and SEQF), including those linked to the Southwark Resource Centre, carers services and other social care?aligned provision.
  • BEAM – specialising in residents experiencing homelessness and working through community groups, family hubs and faith groups.
  • JCCS and Career ology – focusing on residents who are in work but at risk of leaving, providing in?work retention support.

Each strand has capped caseloads to maintain quality, and officers are monitoring referral volumes against capacity, with the option to bring forward recruitment or adjust allocation to ensure no resident is turned away unnecessarily.

Although the programme only went live in Southwark in October 2025, officers reported that:

• Southwark has already met or exceeded early targets for:
  • Programme starts.
  • First earnings notifications.
  • Residents achieving initial earnings thresholds (c. £2,000) ahead of schedule.
• Three residents have already secured employment, with more in the pipeline.
• Referrals from social prescribers and MSK clinics have been strong, including older residents (50+), many of whom face age bias and health?related barriers and benefit from targeted support.

Members asked questions and commented on:

• The total number of residents the programme can support across all partners and the management of waiting lists and capacity, particularly given the strong early demand.
• The approach to older workers (50+), including strategies for tackling age discrimination and supporting residents who may lack confidence after long careers or periods out of work.
• Financial literacy for young people and families, and how the programme works with specialist debt and money advice services.
• The new Peckham hub and concerns about the risk of being overwhelmed, given the quality of the offer compared to traditional Jobcentre Plus services.
• How learning and best practice will be shared with other boroughs and nationally to secure future funding and influence wider policy.

The commission noted:

• Officers’ commitment to sharing best practice through Central London Forward and with other boroughs, including pilots with large employers (such as revising recruitment processes for residents with health conditions and trial?first approaches).
• The strategic ambition to position Southwark as a demonstration site for devolved, locally?driven employment support, strengthening the case for further devolution and long?term funding.

The commission welcomed the human?centred, integrated design of Connect to Work and indicated that it would revisit this area in future to track outcomes and feed into its recommendations on local economy and employment.