In the heart of Teesside, a pioneering employment project is taking a radically local approach to tackle joblessness, reporting significant success as UK unemployment hits a four-year high. The JobsPlus pilot in Stockton-on-Tees is connecting residents with work, providing tailored support and even direct financial aid, with caseworkers acting as crucial gatekeepers to opportunity.
A Community-First Approach to Beating Unemployment
The scheme, which covers the adjoining Primrose Hill and Newtown estates in Stockton, is one of ten pilots running across England in areas of predominantly social housing. It is backed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and modelled on a successful US programme first tried in 1998. Long-term analysis of the American scheme showed a positive intergenerational impact, with children in full-implementation areas earning an average of $2,706 more than their peers.
"We've had quite a few people on the estate get jobs," says Bryan Stokell, a 47-year-old father who found full-time work as a security guard with help from his JobsPlus caseworker, Khialah Wilson. Stokell, who had faced health problems, received support with his CV and applications. He has since become a "community champion", encouraging neighbours to enrol. "They have a lot of contacts, they can open doors into places," he states.
The 'hyperlocal' method involves saturating a small geographical area with employment support. With social tenants more than three times as likely to be lone parents and twice as likely to be disabled as the wider population, help is deliberately brought as close to home as possible. In Stockton, sessions are held in the Newtown community resource centre, a former school bustling with local facilities.
More Than Just a Job: Building Confidence and Social Capital
The caseworkers provide intensive, personal support that continues even after someone finds work. For 19-year-old Megan Steel, who was struggling to find a career path after studying childcare, caseworker Jade Green worked on building her confidence. "We'd sit there for a full hour at least, sometimes a lot longer, and first we worked on your confidence, didn't we? We built you up a bit," Green recalls. When Steel got a last-minute interview at a local casino, Green met her to give her a voucher for new clothes. Steel got the job.
This community-based model is designed to boost "social capital" – the trusted local connections that research shows are good for economic growth. Caseworker Lyndsey Henry explains, "Everything is done within the community, so that they don't have to venture out as much – sometimes it's about building their confidence."
The scheme also provides practical, direct assistance. For 63-year-old Yaw Botwe, who was spending £15 daily on Ubers to work, JobsPlus connected him with a closer employer, Morrisons, and bought him a bike to get there. "This is the first time in my life I've got a job that my heart liked," he says.
Financial Incentives and an Uncertain Future
One distinctive feature of JobsPlus is a £400 bonus paid to participants after eight weeks of paid employment. This is designed to help tide people over the difficult transition from benefits to work, a period which can be financially precarious under Universal Credit. The latest data shows that since its launch in summer 2024, more than 1,000 people have signed up across the ten pilot areas, with over 270 finding work. An interim assessment in September found three-fifths of those who found jobs had reached the eight-week milestone.
However, the future of the project is uncertain. Despite showing "real promise to transform neighbourhoods," according to Stephen Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute which is overseeing the pilots, government funding is set to run out next March. The pilots are part-funded by the Youth Futures Foundation charity alongside £2m from the DWP.
For now, caseworkers like Khialah Wilson await news on whether they can continue. "Fingers crossed, because I absolutely love it," she says, her infectious enthusiasm emblematic of a scheme proving that sometimes, the most effective solutions are the ones embedded right on your doorstep.
