Thousands more people who struggle to get a job because of their health or a disability will be helped into work, thanks to the expansion of a support scheme.

Greater Manchester has used devolved powers since 2014 to run its own skills and employment support initiatives.

Now a further £12.4m from the Department for Work and Pensions is to be invested in Greater Manchester’s Working Well Work and Health programme over the coming two years.

This means that funding is in place to continue work to support an additional 7,375 people who may be facing complex barriers to find a job, and to provide help for up to six months after successful applicants enter employment.

Greater Manchester has used its devolved powers to set higher standards for support services than the national average, such as linking employment outcomes to payment of the Real Living Wage, rather than the national minimum wage, for them to count as a success and integrating employment support with other services that help to address barriers to work, such as health and housing.

Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, leader of Bury Council and Greater Manchester’s lead for work and skills, said: “The Working Well family of services has been one of the great successes of our unique devolution deal here in Greater Manchester.

“Having local control over funding for skills and health puts us in the best possible position to work with people here, identify the issues they might be facing, and offer tailored support to help them get on in life.

“Good work is good for people’s health. It’s also clearly good for our economy and good for communities.

"I’m pleased that we have been able to agree this contract extension and that thousands more people will benefit and be helped into work as a result.”

Among the people helped into work are Sophie Teal, who was supported to overcome her anxiety and land a job as a software engineer, and Kathleen McMurray, who got back into working in retail after being given help with her CV and IT skills.

Sophie said: “I will never forget the impact that the Work and Health Programme has had on my life and career,” while Kathleen added: “I now feel more content and better in myself.”

Working Well

Working Well is a family of specialist support services commissioned by Greater Manchester using powers granted by central government in its 2014 devolution deal.

The services have been designed to provide the wide-ranging support that is often necessary to help people who are out of work because of health conditions to secure and maintain permanent, good quality, jobs.

All participants are provided with individually tailored and personalised support from their own dedicated key worker.

Around 21,900 people have been helped through the Working Well Work and Health programme between 2018 and 2022, resulting in 9,209 people starting new jobs.

The Working Well services also support Greater Manchester’s Local Industrial Strategy. A key goal of this is tackle health inequalities and bring more people into the workforce.