Project details
Portfolio: Education, skills and inclusion
Funding amount: £10 million
Funder: Department for Work and Pension (DWP)
Project status: Mobilising
Delivery partner: Various – please see below
Key contact email: EI.Trailblazer@northeast-ca.gov.uk
Page last updated 10-11-2025
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The Economic Inactivity Trailblazer is a £10 million programme funded by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It aims to help over 2,000 people in the North East who are not working because of ill health. In December 2024 the Mayor secured the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer programme for the North East CA. The programme brings together health, employment and skills services to help people who are out of work because of ill health get the support they need to return to employment. It will try out new ways to support people, remove barriers that make it hard to work and make better use of existing services. This will help grow the local economy, improve living standards, reduce child poverty and create more opportunities for everyone.
The programme is centred around three priorities:
Priority 1: Better pathways into employment
We will create stronger and more joined-up routes into work by coordinating existing services and resources. This will help make employment support more effective and easier to access.
Priority 2: New ways of working
We will invest in new types of employment support to help residents move into jobs, education or training. This includes testing new ideas and approaches that could be expanded in the future. Our focus includes supporting young people, neurodiverse residents, women, social housing tenants and people receiving primary care.
Priority 3: Systems reform – an integrated approach to health and employment
We want to break down barriers and redesign services so that health, employment and skills support work together seamlessly, creating a simpler, more effective system for local people.
Lead Delivery Organisations
The North East CA is responsible for running and managing the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer programme, which started in March 2025 and will run until March 2026.
Following a thorough selection process, Lead Delivery Organisations have been chosen to manage each of the three priorities.
Contact details can be found below.