Lessons from JobsPlus: implications for practitioners working with partner organisations
At a time when the government’s Get Britain Working reforms are placing greater emphasis on joining up employment, health and skills support at a local level, the JobsPlus pilots provide valuable insights into the role that partnership working can play in delivering more coordinated support for participants.
Housing associations and partners taking part in the JobsPlus pilot scheme (a community-led, hyperlocal employment support programme) found that developing partnerships with other local organisations was a key enabler of successful delivery.
Whether with local authorities, training providers, mental health charities, youth groups or the local Jobcentre Plus, cross-referrals enabled residents taking part in JobsPlus to access locally delivered, tailored support. This helped residents move into jobs, move closer to the labour market or stay in work.
Partnership working can be challenging to establish and maintain, especially where there are capacity and time constraints on both sides. Lessons from the recent JobsPlus evaluation suggest the following approaches may be useful for programme leads and practitioners delivering place-based employment support to build and maintain effective, beneficial partnerships:
1 Mapping local support need and provision
- Sites often started by assessing local needs and provision through directories, networks or local knowledge, and by identifying gaps in support. They then took stock of existing partnerships to determine whether new partners were needed to provide specialised support.
- For JobsPlus sites, having a clear network of partners helped ensure that the support offered to participants was tailored to individual needs and complemented the focus of JobsPlus.
- Sites found that mapping was most effective when treated as a continuous process, as local needs, the local labour market context and organisations may change. Participants’ support needs often became more apparent as the programme progressed.
2 Building partnerships through informal networking and co-working
- Some organisations, especially in the voluntary sector, saw JobsPlus as competition and took a long time to become open to partnership working. Informal networking was found to be a simple and flexible way to build trust and develop relationships. Sites that developed relationships with multiple contacts at partner organisations were often better able to maintain continuity when staff moved on.
- “Snowballing” contacts from existing partners and across the team was a good way to build new relationships.
- For JobsPlus sites, working in shared spaces and having a regular presence in community spaces, such as foodbanks and Jobcentres, enabled trust to be built among both partners and participants through informal conversations.
3 Maintaining relationships through regular communication
- Regular partnership meetings enabled roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders to be established, learning to be shared, and momentum to be maintained.
- Staff turnover at partner organisations was a key challenge to maintaining partnerships for JobsPlus sites. Building multiple contacts at each partner organisation helped ensure continuity when staff left.
- The value of different relationships changed over time. Reviewing partnership networks helped sites focus their time and resources on relationships that added the most value to the JobsPlus offer and delivered benefits for participants.
4 Warm handovers and coordinated referrals
- JobsPlus caseworkers introduced participants to staff from partner organisations, often face-to-face in community hubs. This helped partners quickly understand individuals’ support needs and ensured that personal relationships were maintained with the partner organisation. It also helped increase the likelihood that participants would stay engaged with the support offered by the partner.
Strong links with Jobcentre Plus (JCP): Where JobsPlus sites had well-established relationships, referrals were consistent and joint working was easier. In these cases, sites often had contact with a designated JCP work coach who proactively identified eligible residents and referred them to JobsPlus caseworkers. These connections were sometimes built on existing relationships between caseworkers and JCP through other programmes, or via caseworkers proactively setting up meetings to identify appropriate JCP contacts.
- Some sites used light-touch systems to support coordination, such as simple referral tracking processes. These helped maintain accountability without adding administrative burden.
5 Thinking creatively about how to maximise the benefits
- Partnerships can be mutually beneficial in many different ways. JobsPlus sites and partners used each other’s spaces for activities, and sites drew on referral partners for employment opportunities as well as referrals.
Starting by listening: Regular contact helped JobsPlus staff learn about partner priorities and communicate the support available through JobsPlus. For example, some training providers were looking to expand the reach of their courses, and partnering with JobsPlus helped them reach residents they might not otherwise have reached. Clear communication about which organisation is best placed to provide certain support reduces duplication and ensures participants receive the most appropriate support.
- Relationship building is a continuous and iterative process, and approaches will vary according to different contexts and programme aims. Overall, sites that invested time and resources in partnership development reported benefits for both their own support offer and that of their partners, through shared insight, expertise and coordination. These findings support the case for more joined-up working across employment, health and skills services.
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Since July 2024, JobsPlus has been piloted across 10 housing association sites in England. IES and L&W conducted an evaluation from July 2024 to December 2025 and produced a report outlining how partnership working has supported delivery.
To find out more about how partnership working contributed to JobsPlus delivery, and the wider lessons for practitioners designing and delivering place-based employment support, read the partnership working paper here.
For further examples of partnership working in practice across JobsPlus sites, read Harry Fox’s blog here.
Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute as a whole.