Mayor welcomes £11.7m of funding for Connect to Work programme

GO AHEAD: A new programme will help people with disabilities and long-term health problems find work

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

A programme to help people with disabilities, long-term health problems and complex needs find work will go ahead in Hull and East Yorkshire after £11.7m was allocated to it by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The funding for the Connect to Work programme will provide tailored employment support for up to 3,400 people in the region with difficulties accessing the the jobs market.

A further £200,000 to help cover transport costs for people who secure jobs through the programme will also be provided from the newly-established Mayoral Investment Fund announced by Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority. This will be provided in advance of participants receiving their first salary, helping remove one of the practical barriers to starting work.

Luke Campbell, the Reform UK Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, had been accused of delays in setting up the programme, as well as not having time to take a private phone call from Hull Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson about it.

Mayor Campbell did not respond to a request for comment about that when his office was contacted by The Hull Story last month.

But commenting on the DWP funding for the region’s Connect to Work programme, he said: “This is great news for Hull and East Yorkshire, and for the people who will benefit from Connect to Work.

“We know that giving people personalised support to find work or stay in work can positively change people’s lives. Being in work gives people structure, confidence and independence.

“I’m excited to give residents more people get practical support and take steps towards employment in a way that’s right for them.”

An estimated 71,800 of the region’s residents are currently out of work, with significantly more people citing long-term sickness as the main barrier to employment compared with the national average.

A tendering process will now take place for organisations wanting to deliver the Connect to Work programme.

In a joint letter to the mayor from Hull’s three Labour MPs, including Emma Hardy and Karl Turner, prior to the funding announcement, they said Connect to Work programmes were already running in other parts of the country, some having started as early as last summer.

Campbell won the inaugural mayoral election in May last year.

At an Executive Board meeting of the combined authority on March 4, a decision was made for Hull City Council and East Riding Council to forward fund organisations and initiatives that had been supported by UK Shared Prosperity Fund for an additional six months from April 2026.

The finance from Government for this fund is due to stop at the end of March.

Both councils may seek reimbursement for the cost of forward funding from the combined authority.