PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Community and Third Sector Organisations: Employment - 10 February 2025 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

Before I start the debate, I would like to declare an interest: I chair the organisation in my constituency that I will be talking about, but I get absolutely no remuneration for it.

It is a privilege to speak on behalf of my constituents in Erdington, whose communities are filled with untapped potential. My constituency ranks among the top five most deprived areas in the country, with an unemployment rate of around twice the national average. Sadly, we fall well below the national average for functional literacy, ranking 47th lowest out of 533 constituencies in England last year. This stark reality creates major barriers for my constituents, but I am proud to say we have not stood idly by. Instead, in the face of adversity, our community came together to take decisive action to shape our future.

In 2020, in response to the economic fallout from the covid pandemic, the north Birmingham economic recovery board was formed. This vibrant and dynamic board is administered by the Witton Lodge Community Association, and I have had the honour of serving as its chair since March 2022. Driven by collaborative action, we are ambitious, maximising economic opportunities and supporting thousands of residents into training and employment. The board brings together around 25 organisations, including the local authority, the combined authority, local and national businesses, community groups and third sector organisations, to deliver skills, training and employment opportunities to residents of north Birmingham, particularly those facing the greatest barriers and exclusion. From the beginning, it was vital to include businesses and social enterprises of all sizes to ensure that local residents can access and benefit from significant business opportunities.

I spoke to the hon. Lady before the debate, and I commend her initiative. Her constituents can feel immensely proud of her efforts. Scrabo residents’ group has done something similar in an area of disadvantage in my constituency where people do not have opportunities. The group has provided jobs in security and HGV driving, for example. These people previously had no job, and now they have opportunities for employment. A community initiative has made this happen.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for sharing what his constituents are doing.

The results speak for themselves. To date, we have secured over £15 million in investment, supported 8,000 residents—two thirds of whom are aged between 24 and 49 —and helped over 1,000 people into work. We have enrolled 1,500 residents in gateway courses, linking them to jobs, and supported major employment with recruitment drives such as at Amazon’s Peddimore site.

But it does not stop there. Witton Lodge Community Association holds regular skills workshops and jobs fairs in north Birmingham, such as the event at St Barnabas church in Erdington just two weeks ago, connecting hundreds of local unskilled jobseekers with more than 25 diverse employers. The board is working with companies such as Halfords to develop bespoke apprenticeship packages, ensuring that young people and adults can access high-quality training and job opportunities. None of this would be possible without the dedication of our partner organisations like Birmingham Metropolitan college, IM Properties, Pioneer Group and Witton Lodge Community Association.

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point, and I absolutely agree with what he says.

The commitment of the partner organisations in my constituency has been the driving force behind our shared vision, and I take this opportunity to pay tribute to them. I am sure the Minister will join me as I extend my heartfelt thanks. However, progress does not come without its challenges.

My hon. Friend has focused on the benefits of partnerships. Does she agree that employability partnerships led by third sector organisations have been shown to be more successful than traditional approaches to employability support, because they involve organisations with a wide range of expertise? Similarly, in Scotland, we have the All In partnerships led by the disability charity Enable Works, for which I used to work. Fife Gingerbread in my constituency works very successfully in partnership with other organisations to deliver employability support to lone parents.

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It is so important for us to work together to get what we need for our local communities.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Small organisations can often have the biggest impact. Chocolate and Co. in York is taking people out of the criminal justice system and people who have had a life of addiction and turning their lives around with employment. However, it costs money. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to see a long-term cost-benefit analysis of what these organisations can bring, to ensure they get the funding they need to transform these people’s lives?

My hon. Friend raises the valuable point that we cannot do anything without money, so we must ensure that the funding is there to support these organisations to deliver what we need in our local communities.

The challenges that we face in Erdington and north Birmingham are not unique. The UK has long grappled with the skills shortages that holds back economic growth. According to the Department for Education, skills shortages have doubled between 2017 and 2022, to more than half a million, and now account for 36% of job vacancies. This a national crisis that demands a national response. That is why I was encouraged by the Labour Government’s announcement of Skills England last year. The initiative, which brings together stakeholders to meet the skills needs of the future, is exactly the kind of bold, collective approach we need. By creating a more integrated and responsive training system, Skills England will provide new opportunities for young people and support businesses in building a skilled workforce.

In Wolverhampton, we have the Wolves at Work programme. It is co-ordinated by the City of Wolverhampton council, but involves partnership working with local employers and partner organisations. The programme provides one-to-one support to highly skilled professionals and those with no experience at all, so that they can get jobs or advance their careers. It also provides assistance to employers. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need collaborative working, with local authorities involved, and with that goes investment for authorities as well?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we need collaboration. Such programmes will not work if organisations work in isolation.

There is always room for improvement. I firmly believe that the Government should look at the success of place-based partnerships and professional support, as demonstrated by the north Birmingham economic recovery board. I urge the Minister to consider the approach as a potential model for national policy.

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing the debate to the House. Does she agree that the third sector has to be taken into account when we are developing economic strategies? For example, in Scotland, 135,000 people are employed in the third sector in comparison to life sciences, which employs only 40,000 people. However, life sciences get a lot of public sector and university funding. In my own seat, the Aberlour children’s charity employs 94 people directly, but supports a much larger voluntary network.

Everybody heard my hon. Friend’s contribution and agreed with what she said.

Earlier this year, I was delighted to welcome the Minister for Employment, my hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Alison McGovern), to my constituency of Birmingham Erdington. During her visit, we saw the impact of personalised assistance and wrap-around support. At the Witton Lodge Community Association, we heard from young people and local partners about their shared experiences and ideas for expanding opportunities. At Erdington jobcentre, we met dedicated work coaches who are helping residents achieve their goals, but we also heard about the challenges. Residents are waiting over three years to access English language courses, limiting their ability to find work, while others are making two-hour journeys and catching three buses for a 15-minute appointment, only to face harsh sanctions for being a few minutes late, regardless of their circumstances.

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this really important debate. I pay tribute to our local jobcentres, particularly in North West Leicestershire, which are working tirelessly alongside local employers and the voluntary and community sector to ensure that my constituents are equipped to enter the workforce. Does she agree that such support delivered in partnership for our young people will help them to prepare for the world of work?

My hon. Friend makes a critical point. If we want to see people grow, we have to give them the support they need; that is vital. I would not have got to Parliament without the support that I received earlier in my life.

These stories are not unique to the Birmingham Erdington constituency. Many in the Chamber will no doubt have their own stories to tell from their own constituencies, so I urge the Minister to consider the need for greater compassion and a flexible approach to employment support.

It is clear that a one-size-fits-all approach simply does not work. Each community is unique and requires its own tailored support. We must not let rigid structures limit the full potential of initiatives that are already achieving extraordinary things in communities like mine. That is why I urge the Government to take a deep look at how the Department for Work and Pensions operates across the country. By incorporating local variables and using the expertise of the third sector, we can address the skills gap to help people into employment.

On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?

I will absolutely give way to my lovely hon. Friend.

Watford Workshop in my constituency does incredible work offering employment to disabled people and those with learning disabilities as well as by supporting local business in the constituency and the wider region. Does my hon. Friend agree that community and third sector organisations offer particularly invaluable work to disabled people seeking not just employment but focus and meaning?

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. Communities working together with people makes a difference, and as leaders it is vital that we not only encourage that but press Governments to support us to make that happen.

The work that we are doing in Erdington and north Birmingham is a testament to the power of a community, with people working together, determined to make a difference. It is a reminder that politics at its core is about helping each other, being there for one another and creating opportunities for everyone. That is what I believed when I first became a councillor 21 years ago, and it is what I believe today as an MP.

Helping people flourish in the world of work is not just an economic necessity but a moral imperative. It is how we build a brighter future for all. I look forward to hearing from the Minister about the points that I have raised.

I thank and pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton), who brought the debate to the House this evening. All hon. Members will agree that her passion and commitment to her constituency and this subject shine through. I can only say what an absolute honour it was to visit her constituency to discuss the work of the north Birmingham economic recovery board. I will come shortly to the situation in Birmingham and the approach that my hon. Friend recommends that the Government take. I hope that her remarks at the end of her speech on the purpose of politics and the role we all must play in giving everybody a chance and an opportunity in our society would be supported across the House, but she makes the case well for that approach.

And so to Birmingham. This debate is important for many reasons, not least because some parts of our country suffer much worse than others with poor employment outcomes. The Government are committed to our ambition of moving towards a goal of an 80% employment rate, though some places in our country are already there. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Birmingham where the employment rate is around just 66%. That is not acceptable because when some parts of our country fall behind economically, it is bad for those places and bad for all of us, because it means that some people in our country cannot play their full role in our economic growth.

Economic inactivity is also higher than the average, and that is why our reform plans take a different approach. We are no longer doing the same thing everywhere, but trying to tailor and personalise our employment support to where people are and what they need.

Does the Minister agree that one of the challenges with previous models of employability support is that they have not been tailored and they have not meet the needs of people for sustained support in that employment? Does she agree that one of the benefits of what my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton) said is that those third sector partnerships, which bring together organisations with great expertise in certain areas in a consortium model, provide the best opportunity for a one-stop shop for people to get the tailored support that will sustain them in employment, as well as helping them find that job in the first place?

My hon. Friend is right. When I was in Erdington, my Department for Work and Pensions colleagues and I met the college, Witton Lodge and other community partners. By bringing those people together around a common goal, we can change the fortunes of a place. As I will explain in a moment, that approach is knitted into what we set out in the White Paper in November.

I want to mention my DWP colleague Lucy Divers, who has worked as part of the north Birmingham economic recovery board to bring DWP right to the heart of this local community approach. That is the right way to have a partnership where people can bring their different expertise to tackling the ingrained problems of economic disadvantage and unemployment. I met colleagues in Erdington, and we talked through the various challenges. I was struck by the importance of skills and the need to address the skills deficit, but we also need to ensure that young people—Birmingham is quite a young city—have access to the best possible jobs.

I want to mention a few ways in which the Government have redesigned employment support to try to bring this new localised approach to enable us to work better with community and third sector partners. The last Parliament saw the biggest increase in economic inactivity in nearly 40 years. We remain the only G7 country with a higher rate of economic inactivity now than before the pandemic. We have a near-record 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness, and, tragically, almost a million young people are not in education, employment or training and many more are stuck in low-paid work. This is an absolute crisis. It is the biggest unemployment crisis in our generation.

We know that we have to learn the lessons of the failures of the past 14 years. We cannot keep going in the same direction; we needed to change course. For me, that means localising our services, so we pay attention to the specific features of each place that we are trying to help.

It is testament to the importance of this issue, and to how strongly Members feel about tackling unemployment in their constituencies and working across and in partnership with community groups, that so many have stayed for the Adjournment in order to make detailed points, as my hon. Friend has, on a matter that is the biggest challenge in some constituencies. I thank him for bringing that expertise and hope that we can continue this conversation as the DWP moves forward with our change programme.

As I was saying, the challenge is great. We need a totally different approach and much more local collaboration. That is why our “Get Britain Working” plan sets out three major reforms. The first is creating a new jobs and careers service that will test, trial and develop different ways of working to get much closer to communities. We are already seeing work coaches take their role out into communities to connect with people where they are, using the expertise of local community groups. We have also set up a number of trailblazers, including in the west midlands, to collaborate with the NHS and other organisations to give young people and those who are out of work because of ill health the support they need to get back into work, develop their talents and take up the opportunities on offer.

I know that we will not do that without better support for employers. That is one of the reasons I was so heartened to have a conversation in Erdington about the different employers and opportunities in Birmingham and across the midlands, and about ensuring that the DWP plays its role in serving employers better and getting the best-quality roles into jobcentres so that they are available to people who might otherwise be overlooked. That has been a crucial part of the north Birmingham economic recovery board, about which I learned, and it is a great example of how local leaders can take action, through work with employers, to get to the heart of unemployment and inequality.

I will respond to one point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) about enabling community groups and third sector organisations to test the efficacy of their work. She comes from the great social research city of York, so there is nobody better to make that point. Organisations can use the DWP’s data lab to establish the effectiveness of their employment programme. I encourage third sector organisations, charities and beyond to work with us to get to the heart of how we can effectively support people into work and into better work.

I am encouraged by the collaborative approach that the Minister is describing. Business and the third sector have demonstrated the power of an approach that involves just beginning and focusing on the person—the end user—and then iterating rapidly. That responsive, agile approach is really effective. Does she agree that the Government need to adopt that approach more and more as we try to address these big challenges?

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I think he has described the approach that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has recommended to us all: testing and trialling things quickly and reviewing what works and what does not work, and trying to respond swiftly and change quickly, rather than setting out a huge great plan that takes years to develop. That is an approach that the DWP is trying to model now. Only this morning, I was in Bolton with some work coaches who have developed a jobcentre on wheels—a van that we can take out to communities. They have done that pretty swiftly, and as my hon. Friend has described, they are trying to work out what works on the ground there so that they can feed back to us.

I will conclude now, Madam Deputy Speaker, because I fear that collectively, all of us in the Chamber could probably speak about this topic for about three hours uninterrupted. We had better not do that, but I want to finish by saying how important it is that we have had this debate this evening. The “Get Britain Working” plan sets out the requirement for all places to have such a plan for themselves, so that they can work out where their employment challenges are and work collectively to address them. Everywhere in our country must have a plan for growth, and our reforms nationally are in the spirit of the local action that we have seen in the north Birmingham area. Economic growth needs us all to pull together, and we know that when we do so, the benefits will be widely spread.

Question put and agreed to.