In December 2024 the Mayor secured the North East CA as an Economic Inactivity Trailblazer, bringing together health, employment, and skills services to improve the support available to those who are inactive due to ill health and help them return to work. Removing barriers to employment is a key component of our ambition to make the North East the home of real opportunity an delivering the draft Local Growth Plan.
This £10m investment will provide us with the opportunity to develop and test new and innovative ways to address the persistent challenges of economic inactivity. The aim of this activity is to harness untapped human potential to help grow our economy, raise living standards, reduce child poverty and create opportunities from which everyone can benefit.
The Trailblazer investment will deliver three key objectives:
- Maximise the reach, effectiveness and impact of the range of existing services that could support people who are economically inactive to participate in the labour market, by transforming how partners and services work together locally.
- Test new and innovative approaches to: Identifying and engaging people who are economically inactive and supporting people who are economically inactive to participate in the labour market; and
- Provide a platform for longer-term systems reform, to deliver a coherent, joined-up local work, health and skills offer.
Open Call Details
The North East Combined Authority is inviting applications from organisations for provision related to our Economic Inactivity Trailblazer priority two. We are interested in innovative proposals that focus on providing economically inactive residents with support to move towards work and into work, while gaining a better understanding of what works well or less well, for this cohort, in the North East labour market.
The first open call (priority 2.1 youth employment and priority 2.2 neurodiversity) has now closed.
The second open call (priority 2.3 primary care; and priority 2.4 social housing) has now closed.
The third open call (priority 2.5 women and priority 2.6 employers) will close at noon on Monday 14 July.
Full details, specifications and guidance notes can be found below:
- Briefing Note
- Open Call Guidance
- Neurodiverse Specification
- Youth Employment Specification
- Primary Care Specification
- Social Housing Specification
- Women Specification
- Employers Specification
- Business Case Neurodiversity
- Business Case Youth Employment
- Business Case Primary Care
- Business Case Social Housing
- Business Case Women
- Business Case Employers
- Finance Tables
Provider Briefing Event
An online briefing event was held on Monday 2 June to provide an update on the activities within priority two: