Work, skills and health

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Stockton-on-Tees is situated in the Tees Valley (north east region of England) and of its 120 neighbourhoods, 39 are identified as in the 20% most income deprived (ONS, 2019). There is a well-established link between the money and resources a person has and their mental and physical health.

National priorities

The Government announced their ambition to get to an 80% employment rate in their Get Britain Working Whitepaper, November 2024. The Government has launched a comprehensive plan to address unemployment and inactivity, with a focus on work, health and skills.

Coordinated through the North-East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB) and Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) who are leading on coordination of programmes designed to:

improve population health and reduce health-related economic inactivity, through the Work Well Programme
commission employability support by Local and Combined Authorities, including the Connect to Work Programme

The Tees Valley Combined Authority's Youth Guarantee Trailblazer

A Get Tees Valley Working plan of how this will be delivered will be completed by Summer 2025. In addition to this, there is a regional digital innovation pilot being developed to try to streamline the available services.

Government's Spring Statement 2025

The statement shares the aim of getting more people into better jobs as a central part of the government's growth mission.  The government is committed to helping people start or stay in work, while protecting those who cannot work due to ill health.

This is essential for:

driving opportunity
producing better employment outcomes and living standards

Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working

On 18 March 2025 the government published Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working.

The Green Paper outlines reforms to incapacity and disability benefits which will save £4.8 billion from welfare spending in 2029 to 2030. This will in turn make the welfare system more pro-work and more financially sustainable.  The government will invest in additional employment, health and skills support from 2026 to 2027 to help people start or stay in work, and not fall into long term economic inactivity.

This will be scaled up to £1 billion a year by 2029 to 2030. This will provide employment and health support to anyone receiving out of work benefits with a work-limiting health condition.  The government will be reviewing Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Assessment Systems.

Local priorities

Stockton-on-Tees Plan 2024

Priority 4 - an inclusive economy - ensuring all our residents can benefit from economic opportunities by delivering and embedding a fairer distribution of wealth.

Inclusive Growth Strategy

Key levers under the strategy are:

ensuring all our target communities can access economic opportunity
making Stockton-on-Tees a recognised place for good work and fair pay

Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Healthy workplaces

We will make Stockton-on-Tees a recognised place of good work and fair pay. As many employers as possible offering safe and supporting workplaces, that promotes and support staff health and wellbeing.

Addressing inequality

We will provide support for skills, education and training to give people better chances to access the job opportunities available. We will focus efforts on communities that have more widespread issues with lower skills and lower wages, as well as people facing barriers, such as those living with a disability or those with long term health conditions.

What we know

Other factors that have an impact

People with the lowest incomes, those at risk of or living in poverty (lacking enough resources for basic essentials), are at the highest risk of poor mental and physical health.

Unemployment is greatest (more than double) for individuals living in the most deprived areas, compared to those living in the least deprived areas.

For those individuals who are at risk and or living in poverty, these basic needs are not met. Therefore, their psychological needs are unable to be met, contributing to a poor state of mental and physical health.

These individuals often face barriers to:

accessing nutritious food
safe housing
healthcare
opportunities for education and employment

There is clear evidence that employment can improve health, resilience, and well-being, but it needs to be good quality work. This means fair pay, a safe and supportive environment, where people have opportunities for growth and development.

In 2024, the gross weekly median pay for Stockton-on-Tees residents was £647.90. Those in the 10 percentile were £432.80 per week and those in the 20 percentile were £482.40.

What do the people of Stockton-on-Tees need?

The people of Stockton-on-Tees need:

supporting workplaces to have good work practices and offer fair pay for all
to be in sustained employment
better health outcomes for employees
employers providing appropriate health and wellbeing support in workplaces - this would help to potentially increase the employment rate locally therefore improving economic inactivity
employers and workplaces to be recognised and supported for addressing health and wellbeing in the workplace (the Employment and Training Hub and Better Health at Work Award, support with this, but there are further opportunities to build on this)
support for young people at risk of falling into economic inactivity to gain work experience through work placements and support them to gain insight and experiences in workplaces to help them with their career development
initiatives introduced by the Get Britian Working Whitepaper to be utilised which will support the council to support businesses and residents around work, skills and health
support for people in work with their health

What this means and what we are doing about it

There are good levels of employment in Stockton-on-Tees, however a fifth of those employed are paid lower than the living wage foundation recommended rate, which means they are potentially living in poverty. The data shows that many people in work are living and working with at least one physical or mental health condition that has lasted over 12 months. This demonstrates there is a need to encourage good work and fair pay.

Initiatives in place in Stockton-on-Tees

Better Health at Work Award programme

This is promoted by Public Health and supports good health and wellbeing practices in the workplace through an accredited programme. In Stockton-on-Tees this supports all size organisations, but predominately medium and large workplaces.

Benefits for employees are:

increased access to health information and intervention
workforce is healthier
improved focus at work
improved general wellbeing
reduction in stress
increased job satisfaction
positive outlook

Benefits for employers are:

recognised regional kitemark
increased productivity
improved staff morale and performance
reduction in levels of absenteeism
enhanced organisations' reputation with staff stakeholders and wider community
increased staff recognition and feeling valued, supporting around health outcomes to build a motivated and engaged work culture

Based on figures between the middle of 2021 and January 2025:

between 18 and 24 workplaces engaging annually
47 assessments have taken place across all levels of the award
maintaining excellence level (highest level) continues to engage established workplaces who can be assessed annually to keep the accreditation
119 staff members have been trained to be health advocates for the award

Economic Development team

The Economic Development team provide support, advice and guidance to businesses across the Borough including:

a Green Toolkit for businesses
recruitment support
support to grow a business
help with contracts and supply chain

This is all underpinned by:

Inclusive Growth strategy
Health and Wellbeing strategy
establishing a Stockton-on-Tees Good Employment Charter
launching a Stockton-on-Tees Employment Scheme

The Employment and Training Hub

This supports residents across Stockton-on-Tees at all levels of aspiration. The hub holds a number of recruitment events for those both in work and requiring support, to those furthest away from the labour market.

The hub offers:

direct 1:1 support with young people to develop employability and job seeking skills
awareness of opportunities and support available
a place that engages, enthuses and empowers young people to seek and sustain education, employment and training outcomes

To date since the launch of the Employment and Training Hub, the service has achieved the following:

1457 residents into work
8146 residents registered with the service
486 businesses supported
their Hub on Tour has supported 267 residents in 54 locations across Stockton-on-Tees in all priority wards

Stockton-on-Tees Learning and Skills

Stockton-on-Tees Learning and Skills receive funding from TVCA to deliver skills courses to learners who require skills and knowledge to gain employment. Skills which can be offered are Maths, English and Digital Skills courses as well as vocational subjects such as Health and Wellbeing, Team Leading, Management and Early Years courses.

They also partner with different employers to deliver courses which employers require such as Care Homes within Tees Valley. They work closely with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council to ensure staff are work ready by offering Management courses and First Aid courses.

Youth Guarantee Trailblazer

There are 3 delivery strands of this initiative:

to track 2025 Year 13 leavers
to engage and offer support to this cohort and other not in employment education or training (NEET) 18 to21 year olds
a work experience programme including 3 month and 6 month paid work placements and a range of other support

Connect to work

The Connect to Work programme is a UK government initiative launched under the Get Britain Working Strategy.It aims to help people with disabilities, health conditions, or complex barriers to employment find and sustain meaningful work. It will follow two Supported Employment models.

Work Well Programme

The NENC ICB are overseeing the coordination of the Work Well Programme, to be delivered until March 2026, which will be delivered using 3 pillars:

having job coaches to help people stay in work, or get back into work
supporting health and care workers to stay in work and assist in the waiting well prioritises
engaging employers to support their staff within the workplace

Participation Advisor (PA) Service

Provides support with establishing realistic goals and all areas of Job search support including:

CV preparation
job search techniques
support with liaising with employers to help a return to work

Social value

Social value in Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's procurement have a social value policy and supporting businesses to meet their commitments through contract arrangements, supporting sustainable development. The Council have recently recruited a dedicated social value officer to streamline this process for businesses to maximise social value impact in the borough.

Catalyst

Catalyst is Stockton-on-Tees's voluntary development agency. They provide a service to support around Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by facilitating opportunities from the private or corporate sector to help support the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. This may be through volunteering time, sharing expertise and facilities or making a financial donation. Find out more about CSR on the Catalyst website.

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