The British Chambers of Commerce has welcomed the Government’s Pathways to Work report and plans for a new White Paper.
Jane Gratton, the BCC’s Deputy Director of Public Policy, said it was good to see proposals to help young people get the skills and experience they needed to thrive in work but said it was also important to help people stay in work and for Ministers to work with businesses on the frontline.
She said: “The Government is right to focus on getting more people into jobs and giving local areas the tools to do it. 
“Firms are struggling to find and keep the staff they need, with sectors such as construction and engineering badly hit. This is holding back business investment and putting upward pressure on wages – feeding into inflation and higher interest rates for longer.
“Government and employers have a role to play in removing barriers to work and helping people access and stay in employment. We need better, more joined-up employment support for skills, careers and health care – together with flexible workplace policies and investment in training.”
The Pathways to Work report was launched by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, who said it would “lay the path for a new Government white paper to get Britain working”.
She said Britain was the only country in the G7 whose employment rate had still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, while 2.8 million people were out of work due to ill health or disability and one in eight young people was not in education, employment or work.
She said: “We will empower local leaders and local areas to tackle economic inactivity and open up economic opportunity.
“We will give local places the responsibility and resources to design a joined-up work, health and skills offer that’s right for local people. DWP will support local areas to make a success of this new approach.
“We need fundamental reform so the department for welfare becomes a genuine department for work.”
Jane Gratton added: “The establishment of a Labour Market Advisory Board is positive and it’s important the Government also gets the view from business on the frontline.
“As well as helping people into work, more must be done to help them stay in work when they experience ill-health. That means helping employers to access high quality, affordable occupational health services and removing the tax on workplace health and wellbeing packages.
“People are at the heart of every business. We look forward to working with the Government over the coming months, linking them to businesses to get the grassroots answers to permanently tackling these challenges.”
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