Barnsley £2m scheme set to help unemployed people back into work

Barnsley has one of the lowest employment levels in Yorkshire at 71.9%, with only Rotherham and Bradford lower

A £2m scheme is set to be launched in Barnsley to help get unemployed people back into work.

Almost 40,000 people are out of work in the area, according to a report prepared for the borough council.

An application for funding has been made to the government's Shared Prosperity Fund, which will replace previous European grants.

If successful, residents would receive support for training, as well as connections to workplaces in the town.

The funding would be used to provide information, advice and guidance to "raise aspirations and awareness of local labour market opportunities", the report said.

'Reduce the barriers to employment'

In the borough, 42% of working-age adults are economically inactive due to long-term sickness or disability, compared with 26% nationally, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to "help reduce the barriers some people face to employment and support them to move towards employment and education", the government said.

Currently, there are 1,800 to 2,000 average weekly job vacancies, but residents who want to work face barriers such as the "complexity and centralisation of the current support system", the report said.

Barnsley has one of the lowest employment levels in Yorkshire at 71.9%, with only Rotherham and Bradford lower at 68.8% and 68.1% respectively, according to government data.

The council's cabinet is set to approve the funding at its next meeting on 21 February.