Mayor Campbell ‘too busy’ to take MP’s call on disability work scheme

ACCESS: The Connect to Work programme is already running in other parts of the country

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

The region’s Reform UK mayor has been accused of delays in setting up a programme to help people facing difficulties accessing the jobs market, and of being too busy to take a phone call from an MP about it.

Hull Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson said she had spent a week trying to set up a private call with Hull and East Yorkshire Mayor Luke Campbell about the launch of the Government’s new Connect to Work programme, which helps people with disabilities, long-term health problems and complex needs find work.

But after being asked by the mayor’s office to submit an outline of what she wanted to discuss ahead of the call, the MP was then told the mayor had no time in his diary “for the next few weeks”.

Dame Diana has now written a joint letter to the mayor with her fellow Hull Labour MPs Emma Hardy and Karl Turner, which says: “Given the urgency of the situation that we describe below, we have decided to write to you jointly, formally and openly.”

The letter, which is also addressed to Councillor Mike Ross, leader of Hull City Council, and Councillor Anne Handley, leader of East Riding Council, follows the changing arrangements for supporting local employment projects that were formerly funded by the European Union, and then by the time-limited UK Shared Prosperity Fund through the two councils.

These responsibilities have now been devolved to the combined authority led by Mayor Campbell.

The letter notes Ms Hardy has already written to the mayor citing “delays in mayoral decision-making” about the Exploring Opportunities Partnership. This involves funding for 13 local organisations that have had a 72 per cent success rate in supporting 900 unemployed and low-skilled local people into work.

It continues: “However, we would like to focus more specifically on the implementation of the Labour Government’s new Connect to Work programme in our area. This programme assists those people furthest away from the labour market due to having long-term health conditions, disabilities or complex needs. It provides an excellent opportunity to help these people into work.

“…As you are no doubt aware, Connect to Work is a supported employment programme that has been rolled out across the country over the past year by the Labour Government – with all local programmes required to be in place by April 2026 at the latest.

“As mentioned above, the delivery of Connect to Work in Hull and East Yorkshire sits with your Mayoral Combined Authority. This is meant to ensure that it is locally-focused and informed by knowledge and understanding of the population, the area’s labour market and the needs of local employers.

“Other parts of the country have already established their Connect to Work programmes – some as early as last summer. It is already working well in these places, with their local residents getting the tailored individual support that they need. It helps them to move towards work and supports them in work.

“We are sure that you will agree that we all have an interest in making sure that people in our area also get the help and support that they need; and that providing that support is both in their personal interests and in the wider interests of tax-payers and the economy.

“It is therefore very disappointing to hear that there have been prolonged delays in setting up Connect to Work in Hull and East Yorkshire. It means that our constituents have already been missing out on this vital support.

“We understand that several millions in Connect to Work funding that was available to Hull and East Yorkshire for this current 2025/26 financial year has now been lost for our residents.

ACCUSED OF DELAYS: Mayor Luke Campbell

“More broadly, the Hull and East Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has been allocated £5m from the Government for the next financial year of 2026/27 starting in April in the Local Growth Fund that replaces the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

“Your Mayoral Authority also has £5.7m of unspent money from the separate Investment Fund pot that was part of the Hull and East Yorkshire Devolution Deal. This could also be used to plug any funding gap for existing local organisations involved in employment support work.”

The MPs then say they understand Mayor Campbell has been telling local organisations that “whatever approach is agreed, it will need to reflect the reduced national funding now available”.

“This is misleading and untrue,” the MPs write. “It is clear that your Combined Authority has sufficient funding to continue support for these local organisations – and to do it without any need to raise more from the Council Tax precept or Business Rates.

“Given that we have to fight hard to get every bit of funding and investment for our region, we would like to understand how and why this delay has been allowed to happen?

“Why has there been such a long delay, for almost a year now, in rolling out Connect to Work in our area, alongside the wider failure to provide answers on future funding to those involved in the Exploring Opportunities Partnership? Our constituents are owed an explanation.”

The MPs also claim that “if and when” Connect to Work finally gets off the ground in Hull and East Yorkshire, the mayor has been advised that the way to deliver it, and employment support more broadly in the region, through an outside national provider.

“This means by-passing the many established local voluntary, community and social enterprises who have provided employment support in our area for many years,” the letter says. “They have great experience of knowing the local population, employers and our labour market. 

“We would like to understand your thinking on this. We know that many of these local organisations were keen to be considered for delivering the Connect to Work programme. As a result of them effectively having previous funding sources removed without any replacement, choosing a national provider will even mean local job losses – flying in the face of what Connect to Work and other employment support funding is meant to achieve. This already appears to be happening.”

The letter also asks: “Why is it apparently believed that only an organisation from outside our area is capable of providing these services? Why is it thought that organisations based elsewhere in the country, and inevitably less familiar with our local needs, would do the job better?”

The letter adds: “As local Labour MPs, we are very disappointed that the Connect to Work programme has been delayed for our constituents, with much funding already lost, and that we still do not know when the scheme will be up and running – or if it will happen at all in Hull and East Yorkshire. The April 2026 deadline is now only a few weeks away.”

The MPs say they assume a decision will “finally arrive” at a meeting of the combined authority’s executive board on March 4. They ask for an update on the procurement timetable and when it can be expected the Connect to Work programme will begin in Hull and East Yorkshire.

The letter concludes: “We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience and regret that the requested private telephone call between the Mayor and Diana Johnson MP – who was seeking to work cross-party, as MPs have done for many years around the Humber – could not deal with this Connect to Work issue in a way that matches both its importance and its urgency.

“This is such an important issue for us. It is simply unacceptable that local people in our area have been missing out because of apparent delays at the Mayoral Combined Authority.”

The mayor’s office has been contacted for comment.