A FRESH approach is being taken to tackling unemployment across the region.

Agencies in the North-East have worked together to develop a Regional Employability Framework (REF) to help make the £170m spent annually on employment more effective.

It comes after months of research carried out by regional development agency One NorthEast, the Learning and Skills Council, JobCentre Plus and Government Office North East.

It found that a growing number of employers were finding it difficult to fill positions because of a lack of suitable applicants, while people who were either unemployed or claiming incapacity benefit were not getting the help they needed to find work.

Robin Beveridge, One NorthEast economic inclusion manager, said: "Through our research the clear and consistent message that came out is that, despite all the funding that is available to employers and trainers to help people back to work, the system is still not working as well as it should.

"For example, some people claiming incapacity benefit were out of work for so long that they had developed depression or mental health problems, while some training providers were doing a good job once they got people involved, but were finding it difficult to encourage people to participate in the first place.

"Together with our partners, we are developing the REF to ensure a more complete, joined-up service is offered to clients and employers, which in turn should reduce unemployment."

The REF includes a five-step programme to employment, including action planning, training and aftercare.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics found that the number of unemployed people in the region had fallen to 77,000 in recent months.

However, the North-East's jobless rate of 6.1 per cent is still the second highest of any region outside London.

Andrew Lewis, deputy regional director of the economy group at Government Office North East, said: "There remains serious challenges in raising rates of employment across the North-East, despite our strong economy.

"Stronger partnerships between public sector agencies and with employers will help secure better and more joined-up services to help more people into work."

The approach is a first for any English region. Similar schemes in Scotland are restricted to one or two priority areas. The North-East model is the first to propose a solution across a whole region.