The sickness trap: how Barnsley has tried to fight back against worklessness

Leaders of the town, which has some of UK's highest levels of economic inactivity, are hoping for help from Rachel Reeves's budget

I'd love to work again, to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning," says Michelle. The former accountant from Barnsley has been out of work since the pandemic, but has found jobhunting tough amid a battle with the depression and anxiety she has faced since her teenage years.

I've come out of a 30-year marriage. I got my first sicknote at the age of 57, first time unemployed. And everything went down hill from there," she says, wringing her hands under the table in a dimly lit room at the town's adult learning centre, alongside a dozen others in a similar position.