Get Britain Working White Paper: LGA response

• Through the LGA’s Work Local campaign, we successfully made the case for reforming the employment and skills system. It set out our long-term ambition for devolved and integrated services and developed a cost benefit analysis of the benefits for individuals, the local economy and the public purse.
• The fact that Local Get Britain Working Plans (LGBWPs) will be developed by all of local government – mayoral authorities and their constituent councils, as well (groups of) councils in areas outside of devolution – signals a clear commitment from Government that it wants to work closely through all of local government to deliver new approaches that work best for their areas.
• The White Paper will promote higher employment and reduced economic inactivity, helping individuals enhance their skills and transition to better jobs.
• The Government should invest in prevention which should be part of a long-term strategy which consistently funds early action and support laying the ground for long-term savings.
• A significant shift in DWP policy is the introduction of Connect to Work (CtW) which will be grant funded to mayoral authorities and (clusters of) councils in areas outside of devolution. It is a supported employment ‘place, train and maintain’ service to help ‘economically inactive’ people.
• For areas outside of devolution, CtW is a clear building block for councils to take on new devolved powers. We now urge the Department for Education (DfE) to also take a more localist approach and empower councils outside of devolution with a new ‘Community Skills’ function so they can plan and cohere the adult skills offer locally.
• With a workforce of 1.4 million, local government is a major employer and should be involved in the planned review into the role of employers.
• A dedicated youth service is essential, and so we support the Youth Guarantee. The LGA called for similar in our Work Local Youth Pathways.
• It is good to hear the Secretary of State confirm in her statement to the House, that councils outside of devolution will be responsible and accountable for the Youth Guarantee. We would welcome a discussion with DfE and DWP about how and when this can be developed.
• Integration of Jobcentre Plus and National Careers Service into a new jobs and careers service is positive and fits within the public service reform agenda and our Work Local calls. All of local government – councils and mayoral authorities – need to shape how the service will work for their areas. The LGA is keen to work with Government to define a new partnership between councils and the new service.
• It is clear from the White Paper that there are several opportunities for all of local government to shape emerging new policy. We would like to approach this in a systematic way and pursue the Work Local proposal for a joint national board chaired by a Minister with local government to help areas transition to take on devolved employment and skills services.

Overview

The Get Britain Working White Paper

The White Paper will promote higher employment and reduced economic inactivity, helping individuals enhance their skills and transition to better jobs. This will support the Government’s goal of achieving an 80 per cent employment rate in the UK. The three strategic pillars:

• a modern Industrial Strategy and Local Growth Plans to generate quality jobs nationwide
• improving job quality and security through the Plan to Make Work Pay
• major reforms to employment support by integrating skills and health.

This White Paper addresses six key issues:

• many people, including those with health conditions, caring responsibilities or lower skill levels, are excluded from the labour market
• young people often leave school lacking essential skills and opportunities for further education or apprenticeships
• individuals are trapped in insecure jobs that harm both the economy and their wellbeing
• women with caring responsibilities find it difficult to stay in and advance at work
• employers struggle to fill vacancies due to labour and skills shortages
• there are significant regional and demographic disparities in labour market outcomes.

The White Paper recognises the significance of ill health to rising numbers of economically inactive people. To address this requires a collaborative approach across local and national government, the NHS, and employment services, grounded in ‘place’ and local leadership with four priorities:

Priority 1: Improving the health of the population

As well as building capacity in the NHS, Getting it Right First Time Further Faster teams will offer end-to-end support for people receiving treatment to obtaining good work and health in 20 Trust areas.

LGA view: Improving the health of the population

Supporting people who experience ill health to get back into work is vital and a localised approach to economic inactivity is welcome. Focusing on treatment alone is not the answer. We need preventative strategies to deliver better outcomes for individuals and mitigate costly interventions. The Government should invest in prevention which should be part of a long-term strategy which consistently funds early action and support laying the ground for long-term savings.

Priority 2: Local leadership

The Government will support and enable local areas in England to lead a coherent offer of support across work, health and skills, and engage local people and local employers in that offer. Every area will have a Local Get Britain Working Plan (LGBWP) plan to tackle economic inactivity. These plans will be developed by mayoral authorities where they exist, and across groups of local authorities elsewhere. Plans will be backed up by a new supported employment Connect to Work programme starting with £115 million going to local areas in 2025/26 as the first strand of these plans. Some MCA trailblazers will go further and faster towards a locally-led approach to join up work, health and skills, which will link with Local Growth Plans and other relevant strategies and funding. These will draw on the full range of provision and resources in a local area, as well as maximising the contribution of local relationships and assets. This includes local authorities, the NHS, training providers, Jobcentre Plus, the voluntary sector, employers and trade unions. There will also be a new role for government in making a more locally led system a success with support for areas outside of devolution to develop their plans and build capacity and infrastructure.

LGA view: Local leadership

Through the LGA’s Work Local campaign, we successfully made the case for reforming the employment and skills system. It set out our long-term ambition for devolved and integrated services and developed a cost benefit analysis of the benefits for individuals, the local economy and the public purse. We welcome the Government’s adoption and commitment to local leaders.

The fact that Local Get Britain Working Plans (LGBWPs) will be developed by all of local government – mayoral authorities and their constituent councils, as well (groups of) councils in areas outside of devolution – signals a clear commitment from Government that it wants to work closely through all of local government to deliver new approaches that work best for their areas.

A significant shift in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is the introduction of Connect to Work (CtW) which will be grant funded to mayoral authorities and (clusters of) councils in areas outside of devolution. It is a supported employment ‘place, train and maintain’ service to help ‘economically inactive’ people. Voluntary for participants, it will be phased in from April 2025 and run to the end of this Parliament. Guidance was published alongside the White Paper. DWP has engaged councils and mayoral authorities as it has been developed.

Some mayoral areas will go further to trial new ways to join up work, health and skills services. Both Connect to Work and trials to join work, health and skills services will fit within the LGBWPs. We will work with Government to develop these plans.  

For areas outside of devolution, CtW is a clear building block for councils to take on new devolved powers. We now urge the Department for Education (DfE) to also take a more localist approach and empower councils outside of devolution with a new ‘Community Skills’ function so they can plan and cohere the adult skills offer locally. This would support the transition towards devolving all adult skills funding and help: councils coordinate the local offer in non-devolved areas now; smooth the devolution transition for councils and DfE; support Employer Representative Bodies to develop adult skills pathways within Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs); and help augment the offer to address economic inactivity by aligning it more closely with Connect to Work.

Priority 3: Supporting employers to promote healthy workplaces and recruit and retain workers with a health condition or disability

An independent review into the role of employers in 2025 will make evidence-based recommendations to support employers improve recruitment and retention of disabled people and people with health conditions, prevent people from becoming unwell by providing good and healthy workplaces, and undertake early interventions for sickness absence and increase returns to work.  

LGA view: Supporting employers to promote healthy workplaces and recruit and retain workers with a health condition or disability

With a workforce of 1.4 million, local government is a major employer and should be involved in this review.  

Priority 4: Reforming the system of health and disability benefits to promote and enable employment

A Green Paper will be launched in spring 2025 to reform health and disability benefits.  

LGA view: Reforming the system of health and disability benefits to promote and enable employment

As local government are set to take on new responsibilities to support people into work, any reforms to benefits will need to carefully consider the implications for locally commissioned employment support.

Too many young people are at risk of being left behind without the skills, opportunities and support needed to get started in the world of work.

To tackle the sharp increase in youth inactivity, the Government will establish a Youth Guarantee (YG) in England, so that every young person aged 18-21 has access to further learning and help to get a job or an apprenticeship. It will include:

• £40 million invested in new foundation apprenticeships as part of transitioning the Apprenticeship Levy into a Growth and Skills Levy
• eight mayoral Youth Guarantee trailblazers starting in spring 2025 to test solutions to persistent challenges related to coordination, engagement, and accountability
• building on existing provisions and entitlements by introducing new opportunities through various place-based initiatives
• preventing young people from becoming NEET (not in education, employment, or training) by providing councils with new data tools and guidance to support 16-17 year olds at risk of disengagement and £15 million Building Futures Programme, led by the Youth Futures Foundation, to pilot targeted support
• offer of work experience and careers advice for under 18-year-olds not in school or college and trialling transition plans for disengaged young people at risk
• partnerships with organisations such as Channel 4, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and leading sports organizations including the Premier League to take on young people
• a Youth Guarantee Advisory Panel so young people can shape the design of the YG.

The Government will work with mayoral authorities and local authorities to design and deliver this vision. During her Oral Statement (26.11.24), Secretary of State Liz Kendall said that for areas outside of devolution, ‘local councils will be responsible and accountable for the Youth Guarantee’.

LGA view: Delivering a Youth Guarantee to supporting young people into work

A dedicated youth service is essential. The LGA called for similar and it is good to see the Youth Guarantee reflect our Work Local Youth Pathways.

Our proposal recommended the guaranteed offer should start earlier (at 16) as it is crucial we act early to prevent disengagement. We also called for this to be routed through local government given their post-16 duties, management of Careers Hubs, role in Youth hubs, and ability to link with council run or commissioned services.  

The eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers trialled in mayoral authorities will require close working with their constituent councils who have statutory duties for 16- and 17-year-olds. The success of this will inform a future roll out across England that is led by local government.  

It is good to hear the Secretary of State confirm in her statement to the House, that councils outside of devolution will be responsible and accountable for the Youth Guarantee. This is welcome, as councils have significant expertise in supporting young people back into learning and work for the reasons set out above, and their new Connect to Work responsibilities. We would welcome a discussion with DfE and DWP about how and when this can be developed. While new tools and guidance to support councils will be helpful for councils to fulfil their statutory duties, co-designing the Building Futures Programme, led by the Youth Futures Foundation, is vital.

Across England, the Job Centre Plus (JCP) network will be merged with the National Careers Service (NCS) into a new jobs and careers service. It aims to reduce unemployment and regional disparities, and help people increase their skills and move into higher paid quality jobs. It will be open to all individuals, not just those on benefits. Funded by £55 million investment, the five pillars / principles underpinning the reform will be:

• More locally responsive, embedded and engaged: It will actively engage local partners and providers of services, and align with mayoral authorities given their devolved skills function, test what works, and explore rebranding.  
• Improved employer engagement: Too few employers use JCP to recruit. A future Employer Review will improve the employer offer delivered by recruitment managers, employer advisers, and sector-based work academies so employers use it and can recruit skilled, specialist talent.
• Focus on progression and good work: Despite co-location, JCP and NCS offers remain separate to customers. A pathfinder in early 2025 will test better collaboration to improve employment, earnings, and skills outcomes. A new England-wide DfE and DWP data sharing agreement will enable this.
• Move to a digital, universal and fully inclusive service: JCP’s core service is face to face. The current digital offer (Find a Job, JobHelp and Universal Credit) will be enhanced with new technologies and AI to provide up-to date information on jobs, skills and other support freeing up Work Coach time.
• Provide high-quality personalised support: Work Coach time is focused on benefit compliance. To improve the experience of customers and employers coaching academies will upskill staff, trials will test mandatory engagement of claimants, and innovation hubs.

Skills is integral to these efforts, but the system is complex. Skills England will work with partners to understand national and local skills needs and ensure skills policy can meet these needs. LSIPs will complement Get Britain Working Plans and local work, health and skills plans (chapter 3) and the Government will publish a new post-16 education and skills strategy.

LGA view: Creating a new jobs and careers service to support more people into work and to get on in work

Integration of JCP and NCS into a new jobs and careers service is positive and fits within the public service reform agenda and our Work Local calls. All of local government – councils and mayoral authorities – need to shape how the service will work for their areas, given they will be responsible for Connect to Work and some for trailblazers. This builds on discretionary and devolved employment and skills services they already deliver. Ultimately, the new service must see itself as part of a wider employment place-based eco-system recognising employment services are increasingly delivered in different community locations. Effective local mapping, referral and signposting is vital to ensure all local partners delivering employment support services hide the wiring from their customers. The LGA is keen to work with Government to define a new partnership between councils and the new service.

As DfE embraces more place-based policy thinking and Skills England moves from shadow into permanent form from April 2025, councils can help shape thinking particularly from the perspective of areas not yet covered by devolution. Councils are not only one of the largest local public sector employers with a collective workforce of 1.4 million they are also trusted leaders of place that know their residents and employers and understand their skills needs.  

Any skills analysis by sector or national level must be balanced with a focus on ‘place’. It is at a local level that councils work with partners to encourage investment into a local area across a range of sectors from foundational to new emerging ones, with many having overlapping and transferrable skills, which the skills system needs to be flexible enough to respond to. The Government must make use of this expertise as it looks to ensure the skills system can respond to local and regional need.

Local government recognises the huge opportunity for communities to create green jobs which can also help tackle inequalities. Through engagement with local government and their partners, the LGA’s Green Jobs Framework identified some of the main systemic challenges they face in the development of green jobs and skills, and the solutions that are required to overcome them.

The White Paper reforms will be complemented by:

• an Industrial Strategy that creates high-quality jobs in sectors for the future
• a strengthened employment rights framework to ensure access to good work that improves living standards across the country
• actions across government to reduce barriers to work, including expanding support for parents and carers, increasing housing supply and creating new jobs in construction, investing in local transport, and tackling child poverty.

LGA view: Industrial Strategy

Councils across urban, non-metropolitan and rural areas should be equally recognised for their role in delivering local inclusive growth. They create the conditions for growth and prosperity through the services they provide and their unique convening role, driven by long-term local economic strategies and plans produced in partnership with employers.  

LGA view: Employment Rights

The Employment Rights Bill introduces an employment rights framework which is relevant to local government as it employs 1.4 million people including teachers, firefighters and other local authority related personnel, so is one of the largest workforces in the country. The sector needs to be properly resourced for the reforms in the Bill to be effective. LGA analysis shows that due to inflation and wage pressures alongside cost and demand pressures, English councils face a £2.3 billion funding gap in 2025/26 rising to £3.9 billion in 2026/27. This is a £6.2 billion shortfall across the two years. Funding from national to local government needs to fully reflect its commitment to the National Living Wage policy. Costs flowing from the proposals in the Employment Rights Bill will exacerbate this issue if not matched by increased funding to councils. The Government also needs to give clarity on whether councils will be protected from extra cost pressures from the increases to employer National Insurance contributions for directly employed and contracted out services.

LGA view: Early years childcare

Continued investment into early years childcare entitlements and a commitment to reduce the complex and administrative barriers preventing parents accessing multiple childcare schemes is welcome. The LGA has raised concerns around funding and workforce support needed to meet the expansion in September 2025. Councils need resources and levers to effectively support and manage the market and ensure the provision of affordable, high-quality childcare.  

Funding for the rollout of free breakfast clubs is welcome so all children can access food, while supporting attendance and giving parents access to childcare. However, we recognise that this process is in its early stages and we want to build on the effective work of councils in delivering wraparound childcare. Ensuring children get access to year-round childcare is essential, particularly during the holidays. Councils need to retain and build their strategic role in managing the market.  

LGA view: Welfare reform and child poverty

Research by Action for Children identified that almost 300,000 families with children are in poverty despite all parents being in full-time work. The high costs of housing were found to be a significant factor. As part of our work on preventative public services, the LGA calls on government to take a more integrated approach, with councils and partners, to considering and addressing the wider determinants of health, wellbeing, safety and prosperity.

The welfare system provides a vital safety net for low-income families, supporting parents unable to work, and ensuring adequate income and supporting progression for those in work. We continue to call on the Government to ensure the system enables low-income households to meet their essential living costs. Reviewing the complex system of tapers and work allowances in Universal Credit (UC) for those with caring responsibilities is welcome and should be extended to consider the needs of all UC claimants. Evidence shows that current benefit levels and the current conditionality regime are, in some cases, leading to unintended and detrimental consequences that may be exacerbating family poverty. Pre-existing welfare reforms need to be reviewed in this context including the overall household benefit cap and the two-child limit. We support the raising of the Carers Allowance Weekly Earnings limit to allow those receiving Carers Allowance to start work or work more hours. Simplifying and strengthening support to unpaid carers is also vital.

LGA view: Transport

It is encouraging to see the White Paper recognise the potential for devolved funding and powers to mayoral authorities. As set out in our latest report ‘How local transport influences economic inclusion’ those seeking training or employment and are reliant on public transport face a significant penalty in accessing a college or employment site in too many areas, putting opportunity out of reach for residents. The LGA calls for government to extend the same funding and powers to all councils to integrate transport and skills funding locally to support individuals effectively and affordably. With this, all of local government could play a greater role to Get Britain Working.

LGA view: Housing

We welcome the Government’s commitment to increase housebuilding, including more social and genuinely affordable homes, and that councils can themselves deliver more of these homes. There is strong appetite across the sector to work constructively to improve Local Plan coverage and housebuilding outcomes. The Autumn Budget’s Right to Buy changes and a funding increase in the Affordable Homes Programme were positive, however councils need further reforms to regain stability of Housing Revenue Accounts and to prevent a further loss of social stock. This should include increasing the 5-year rent settlement on social housing to a minimum of 10 years restoring lost revenue due to the rent cap, a review of the self-financing settlement of 2012 enabling them to combine Right to Buy receipts with all grant types, exemptions on new build properties, flexibility to set discounts at a local level. This will help councils plan longer term, deliver high quality homes and provide associated support for their tenants.  

LGA view: Planning

Allowing local authorities to set their own planning application fees would help to address growing and real resourcing and capacity constraints that planning departments are facing. The flexibility to set planning fees, alongside other measures such as increasing the number of planners, will slowly help to address the national operating shortfall in planning departments and provide better value for money from local authorities for the taxpayer.

The Government will continue to work with mayoral authorities and local government to develop detailed proposals and test new ways of working and work collaboratively with the devolved governments to share best practice, co-developing policy, and testing new ways of working.  

LGA view: The path to reform

It is clear from the White Paper that there are several opportunities for all of local government to shape emerging new policy. We would like to approach this in a systematic way and pursue the Work Local proposal for a joint national board chaired by a Minister with local government to help areas transition to take on devolved employment and skills services.