Data and research shaping employment support across York and North Yorkshire

Sep 15, 2026

Innovative data tools and research projects are helping organisations across York and North Yorkshire design more effective employment support for local people.

As York and North Yorkshire's Get Britain Working Economic Inactivity Trailblazer programme enters its second year, investment in data, insight and evidence continues to play a key role in shaping services that help people overcome barriers to employment.

A major achievement of the programme has been support for the People Story dashboard, a powerful data resource that brings together workforce, health and socioeconomic information in one accessible platform. The dashboard enables partners to explore local trends, identify areas of need and make evidence-based decisions about employment, health and skills services.

Part-funded through the Trailblazer programme and developed by NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), the dashboard provides detailed data covering communities across York and North Yorkshire and neighbouring areas.

By making complex datasets easier to access and understand, the People Story dashboard helps organisations use robust evidence to shape strategies, commission services and target support where it can have the greatest impact. It supports local authorities, health organisations, training providers and employment services to identify emerging challenges, understand inequalities and align resources around shared priorities.

The wider Trailblazer programme, led by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, supports people with long-term health conditions and other barriers to work, while also strengthening collaboration between employers, skills providers and health services. During its first year, the programme supported 1,945 people through a range of direct interventions and partnership activities.

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said:

"To give people across our region the opportunities they deserve, we need to understand the barriers holding them back.

"Working closely with our partners at Humber and North Yorkshire ICB to develop the new People Story dashboard, we can map out that support like never before.

"It's a fantastic, nationally recognised example of how we can work together through our Get Britain Working programme to improve the lives of people living and working here."

Jason Stamp, Chair of NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said:

"The new version of the People Story is an excellent tool to support the work, health and skills agenda within Humber and North Yorkshire. The team behind it have worked closely with colleagues across the system to develop a version which supports our new ways of working.

“It’s a great example of collaborative working and supports the ICB and Combined Authorities in achieving common goals. In addition to this, it remains an important tool to all system partners and supports strategic commissioning and planning through the delivery of high-quality data and insights to enable local conversations and decisions.”

Alongside the dashboard, research commissioned through the first year of the Trailblazer programme is helping to deepen understanding of the different factors contributing to economic inactivity across the region.

The findings and recommendations from these projects are now informing second-year activity and helping partners develop more targeted approaches for specific groups and communities.

Research themes include:

Webinars sharing the findings from each study have been published to help organisations, employers and stakeholders apply the evidence in their own planning and delivery.

The Work and Skills Interchange website brings together the People Story dashboard, research webinars and a range of labour market intelligence resources. It also hosts regular analysis of job market trends, including a recently published in-depth review of employment patterns across an eight-month period.

Together, these resources provide a comprehensive evidence base to support policy development, strategic planning and service delivery across the region.

The website also includes information about support available to residents and employers, alongside a dedicated phone line for anyone seeking guidance.

The Get Britain Working Economic Inactivity Trailblazer is one of eight programmes operating across the UK and is funded by the UK Government.

For further information, visit the Work and Skills Interchange website: https://interchange.yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/