The South Midlands Authorities Board met to discuss updates on employment programmes, the South Midlands Business Board, and the Economic Growth Strategy. The meeting was scheduled to include updates on the Connect to Work Programme and the Get Britain Working Plan, as well as a report from Jason Longhurst, South Midlands Business Board Chair, on the Business Board and the Economic Growth Strategy. The board was also scheduled to approve the minutes from their previous meeting.

Get Britain Working Plan

The board was scheduled to receive an update on the Get Britain Working Plan, a UK government initiative with the goal of achieving an 80% employment rate by addressing barriers to employment.

The report stated that West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) received £225,000 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of the region to develop the plan.

The objectives for the working plan are:

• To develop a collective understanding, and agreement, of the challenges in relation to local labour market issues, including economic inactivity.
• To support a coordinated approach to tackling local labour market challenges – including economic inactivity, by multiple stakeholders across the area.
• To build understanding of the roles, provision, and current support offer of key stakeholders, including JCP, across local areas and identify opportunities for alignment, ensuring local partners can work collectively to address issues.

The report noted that a part-time project manager had been seconded to provide additional resource and oversight for the development of the plan, and that GC Insight had been secured through procurement processes to lead on the consultation and development of the Get South Midlands Working Plan.

The report also stated that a working group had been established comprising key partners involved in the development and delivery of the Get Britain Working initiative in the South Midlands, including representatives from all six local authorities, the Integrated Care Board (ICB), education and training providers, business leaders, and the VCSE sector[^2].

The report included some draft findings, including that the overall employment rate (for those aged 16-64 years) is 77.8%, above the national average (75.5%), but that there are significant variations at the local authority level and in smaller geographies, with the employment rate for Luton being 65.4%.

The report recommended that the board note the update on progress on the Get Britain Working Plan, and agree that the draft plan can be reviewed for initial submission between meetings with the final version being presented to the November Board for final approval.

Business Board and Economic Growth Strategy

Jason Longhurst, South Midlands Business Board Chair, was scheduled to provide an update on the Business Board and the Economic Growth Strategy.

The South Midlands Business Board was convened in late 2024 as a strategic advisory body to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth across the South Midlands region.

A key responsibility of the Board is to guide the development and delivery of the South Midlands Economic Growth Strategy.

The report stated that over the summer, significant progress has been made in advancing the Economic Growth Strategy for the South Midlands, and that Lichfield Consultants submitted the final evidence base and an initial draft of the strategy report.

The report recommended that the board note the update on the Business Board and the Economic Strategy.

Connect to Work Programme

The board was scheduled to receive an update on the Connect to Work Programme.

The report stated that the local authorities in the South Midlands were approached in 2024 by the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) about funding for local clusters to deliver a new locally delivered programme for supported employment. West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is the Accountable Body for the programme as the host of the South Midlands services.

The national programme will help up to 100,000 disabled people, those with health conditions and people with complex barriers to employment a year to find sustainable work, by offering them voluntary support based on a supported employment programme model.

The report stated that the Programme Management Working Group continue to meet on a weekly basis to progress local and regional delivery plans ensuring a consistency of support and collaboration across the region as well as an opportunity to engage with the assigned DWP lead and key partners/stakeholders including local Integrated Care Boards.

The report also stated that back to back contracts are currently with the 6 Local Authority legal teams for finalising ahead of the Grant Funding Agreement being signed between the Accountable Body and DWP to ensure that the area is able to go live as soon as possible. One of the points in the proposed back to back agreements provides provision for West Northamptonshire Council as the Accountable Body to utilise South Midlands services contingency reserves for any unforeseen programme costs in the unlikely event that the DWP funding isn't sufficient for this purpose – for example for any pension strain or redundancy cost strain of the 4 FTE programme team on closure of the programme should programme funding not be sufficient.

The report recommended that the board note the update on the Connect to Work Programme progress, and endorse the approach of any costs (including closure costs) relating to South Midlands Connect to Work programme not covered by the funding for the programme to be covered by the contingency reserve held for South Midlands services.