Connect to Work

Descriptions

This notice is intended to alert providers to an opportunity to deliver the Connect to Work programme for Greater Essex (Southend ,Thurrock and Essex) through its Accountable Body - Essex County Council (ECC). The e-tendering system used by ECC is ProContract. Potential applicants for Connect to Work are encouraged to register on ProContract as soon as possible. It is free to register and use the system. You will need to create an account on ProContract to access and bid for public sector opportunities issued by ECC, including this Connect to Work opportunity. Visit https://procontract.due-north.com/Register to register an account. Connect to Work The recently launched "Get Britain Working" White Paper outlines Government's strategy to invest £240m to support the ambition of a national 80% employment rate and help improve workplace health and keep people in work, including trials of combined public services for those out of work due to ill health. Connect to Work is the first major element of the Get Britain Working Strategy. By encouraging join-up between health systems and employment support, Connect to Work will support those, primarily, currently outside the workforce and facing greater labour market disadvantages, to stay in work and get back into work. In turn, supporting the Government's ambition for a more inclusive economy, supporting local people to realise their potential and supporting local and national growth. Connect to Work funding will support around 100,000 disabled people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to get into employment and on in work. In Greater Essex, Connect to Work will support 7,804 residents across the entirety of the programme. ECC is the Accountable Body for Connect to Work in Essex and, working in partnership with both Unitary Local Authorities, Thurrock Council and Southend-on-Sea City Council, responsible for the commissioning of Connect to Work delivery. Connect to Work is a voluntary programme, delivering the evidence-based Supported Employment model, 'place, train, and maintain', via two different types of interventions based on the needs of the participant - Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF). This opportunity relates to both models of delivery.

Updated estimated tender notice date
Publication date of tender notice (estimated)
31 July 2025