Major development projects: connecting people in poverty to jobs

Development projects create valuable employment and training opportunities. However, those opportunities do not automatically help to tackle unemployment and poverty. Intervention is needed to ringfence opportunities and provide employment and skills support.

Drawing on both national evidence and action-research in the Leeds City Region, this report demonstrates the opportunities and sets out a framework for action by local authorities, partner organisations and employers.

The report shows that:

• development projects can be an important source of local employment and training opportunities;
• local authorities should make full use of policy levers in procurement and planning to maximise those opportunities;
• employers and local partners have a shared interest in supporting local recruitment; and
• city-regional co-ordination can help overcome barriers to local intervention.