{"id":185287,"date":"2025-06-15T02:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T02:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185287\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T02:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T02:47:11","slug":"pioneering-move-on-employment-praised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185287\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneering move on employment praised"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE leader of the government\u2019s Keep Britain Working review praised Barnsley\u2019s pioneering approach to employment during a visit to the town.<\/p>\n

Sir Charlie Mayfield, the former John Lewis Partnership chairman, highlighted the national significance of Barnsley\u2019s trailblazer scheme – \u2018Pathways to Work\u2019 – to help people secure meaningful, sustainable employment.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the government announced nine \u2018trailblazer\u2019 schemes aimed at getting people back into work, having used the council\u2019s scheme as inspiration.<\/p>\n

Backed by \u00a318m, South Yorkshire\u2019s dedicated new service will work with employers to hire those with health conditions, and a new \u2018triage\u2019 system to make it quicker and easier to connect people to employment, health, and skills support.<\/p>\n

In the first year, South Yorkshire will work with over 7,800 people and aim to help up to 3,000 people into jobs or to stay in jobs.<\/p>\n

Sir Charlie visited the town and spoke with leader Sir Steve Houghton and executive director for growth and sustainability Matt O\u2019Neill about the council\u2019s plans for the future.<\/p>\n

They showcased how the initiative is helping residents find meaningful jobs, supporting employers to retain their staff, and putting measures in place to prevent people from falling out of work.<\/p>\n

Sir Charlie said: \u201cI\u2019ve been hugely impressed by what we\u2019ve seen in Barnsley – the initiative taken to better support people who are far from the labour market.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe results are amazing, the people we\u2019ve met have been incredibly impressive, and the way this has all been joined up is really unusual.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great to see.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met a number of people who have been through the Pathways to Work support offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of them had someone who believed in them, supported them, and signposted them to the right opportunities, and the results speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have gone on to do things they never imagined possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to see this happening more often.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coun Houghton said that the response from local residents and businesses has so far been \u2018incredible\u2019.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe\u2019re especially proud that Pathways to Work, born here in Barnsley, has earned the support of Sir Charlie Mayfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis guidance and feedback are helping to accelerate our efforts to move thousands of people out of economic inactivity and into fulfilling, sustainable employment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Barnsley, we\u2019re now rolling out more personalised, one-to-one support to help people find opportunities that truly match their needs, interests, and circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe response from local businesses has been incredible. Employers are stepping up, ready to create flexible, inclusive roles that open doors for people who\u2019ve been out of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we\u2019re building a stronger, fairer economy where everyone has the chance to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt O\u2019Neill added that the council are currently at a \u2018pivotal stage\u2019 of the scheme.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt was a real privilege to gain insights from someone like Sir Charlie Mayfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis extensive experience in employee engagement at the John Lewis Partnership and leadership in the Keep Britain Working initiative offers valuable perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis reflections on helping people return to work are especially timely and relevant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at a pivotal stage in our Pathways to Work trailblazer. Progress is well underway, with local commissioned providers now actively connecting residents to our personalised support offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actively listening to our communities to understand the barriers they face and shaping our support around their needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we\u2019re working closely with employers to help them recruit people progressing through the Pathways journey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE leader of the government\u2019s Keep Britain Working review praised Barnsley\u2019s pioneering approach to employment during a visit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3092],"tags":[8002,48383,51,897,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-185287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-barnsley","9":"tag-bmbc","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-jobs","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114685099658639860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}