Cambridgeshire and Peterborough seeing 12-year high in economic inactivity

A report to be put before the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) skills committee on June 16 revealed that 23.8 per cent of 16 to 64-year-olds in the region were out of work in the year to September 2024.

This was due to an increase in the number of economically inactive people, which includes groups who are not currently working such as students, those looking after family and individuals with illnesses or disabilities.

According to the figures, 37.8 per cent of economically inactive Peterborough residents were not in work due to long-term sickness.

The report stated that higher unemployment in the UK has been driven predominantly by a rise in the number of people out of work due to long-term sickness.

It added: “Inactivity due to long-term sickness has been on an upward trend for four years – since the COVID-19 pandemic – and has also occurred across England.

“National data on types of conditions causing inactivity due to poor health shows that depression/anxiety is the top reason for health-based inactivity and the health condition that increased the most between 2019 and 2023.”

The CPCA will draft a Local Get Britain Working Plan (LGBWP) which must be published by September and has received £100,000 in funding from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

It will highlight local labour market challenges in the region and demonstrate how the authority is addressing these challenges. It also aims to address economic inactivity associated with health conditions.

The LGBWP forms part of the government’s long-term ambition to achieve an 80 per cent employment rate which would place the UK among the highest-performing countries in the world.

Two key programmes of employment support that the CPCA will be directly involved in delivering through the LGBWP are Connect to Work and the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer.

The government chose the CPCA as one of eight trailblazer areas for the Youth Guarantee with the authority receiving a Grant Funding Agreement of £5 million from the DWP.

The Youth Guarantee Trailblazer runs from April 2025 to the end of April 2026 and is an initiative aimed at supporting young people in England aged 18 to 21 by providing access to education, training or employment support.

CPCA’s board should jointly agree upon the LGBWP and it should be signed off by the chair of the Integrated Care Board and senior representatives from Jobcentre Plus.

A skills committee will note progress with the preparation and development of the LGBWP at its meeting on Monday, June 16.