Connect to Work Expression of Interest
Connect to Work is part of the Government's Get Britain Working Strategy. The programme will be commissioned locally by lead accountable bodies (e.g. Combined Authorities and Local Authorities). Connect to Work is a voluntary, high-fidelity Supported Employment programme in England and Wales, to help economically inactive people who want to work, to remove their barriers to work and find sustainable employment.
Priority participants groups will be disabled people, people with health conditions and people in the specified cohorts. The specified cohorts are: Offenders or ex-offenders; carers or ex-carers; people who are homeless; a former member of the Armed Forces or partner of current/former Armed Forces personnel; a person with a drug/alcohol dependency; a care experienced young person or care leaver; a refugee, a resettled Afghan or a person on the Ukrainian scheme; a victim/survivor of domestic abuse; young persons identified as being involved/at risk of being involved in serious violence; victims of modern slavery.
It is anticipated that 75% of participants will follow the Individual Placement & Support (IPS) model and 25% will follow the Supported Employment model. It is expected that delivery partners will follow the respective fidelity assurance systems (IPS and SEQF).
We are seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from local organisations with experience of locally delivering:
- IPS services
- Supported Employment services
- Proven employability services, supporting those who are furthest from the labour market
- Specialist services removing barriers to employment for one or more of the above specified groups
Given that the nature of these locally commissioned programmes will require local, community-based delivery, we will be looking for evidence of this in EOI responses.
Please fully complete and submit the below EOI before Friday 10 January 2025 at 6pm.