As part of the GM Economic Activity Trailblazer (ETB), Manchester City Council wishes to commission several Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise and Housing Sector (VCSE) organisations to provide a holistic, multi-disciplinary service model which integrates employment and health support for residents experiencing long-term health conditions, disabilities and/or have caring responsibilities, helping them move towards economic activity.
What is the Economic Activity Trailblazer?
The Get Britain Working White Paper (November 2024) aims to achieve an 80% employment rate by transforming employment support, reducing unemployment, and addressing economic inactivity. It introduces Trailblazers, which are one-year test and learn programs designed to create job opportunities and support career progression. These programs will be evaluated at the GM level by DWP/GMCA.
Greater Manchester is one of the eight Trailblazers introduced from The White Paper and will be awarded up to £10m to deliver this programme from April 2025 – end March 2026.
The overall aim of this programme is to test new and innovative approaches to identifying, engaging and supporting the wider needs of those who are not economically active to provide access to services which help reduce any barriers to employment, particularly those who have been failed to reach.
Providers are required to collaborate with relevant partners to build a model of delivery that has the potential to address barriers related (but not limited) to ESOL, mental health interventions, money matters, digital, socialisation, confidence/motivation and healthy lifestyle/wellbeing.
The programme will be delivered from June 2025 - March 2026.
What will successful applicants be required to do?
- Appropriately engage residents with long term sickness/disabilities (including physical, neurological, neurodevelopmental and mental health barriers) and/or caring responsibilities into employment.
- Recruit experienced and dedicated keyworkers.
- Work with individuals to co-produce appropriate action plans, looking at wider barriers and needs to employment.
- Support residents to progress towards or enter paid employment.
- Signpost and facilitate access to skills and training provision suited to individual goals
- Refer and signpost to additional mental health or physical health provision
- Refer participants with digital skills and access needs to the City’s digital inclusion offer.
- Deliver a service that is trauma informed, culturally proficient and neurodiverse aware.
- Provide learning from their delivery to support evaluation
For more information and to apply, please see the attached documents, including slides from the briefing session held on 22 April 2025. For queries email: [email protected]
Get Britain Working Economic Activity Trailblazer Information Session recording
Deadline for applications: 8th May 2025, 4pm. Applications received after this will not be considered.
Completed applications and should be emailed to [email protected]