Minnow Films has been given exclusive behind the scenes access to a Jobcentre Plus centre in the heart of Leeds for a new Channel 4 documentary.
Yorkshire on the Job (working title) is a 6 x 60 minute series, which has been filmed at Southern House, where 35 job coaches see up to 600 customers every 24 hours.
It is executive produced by Sophie Leonard (SAS: Who Dares Wins) and Grace Reynolds (Educating Yorkshire) and series produced by Martin Fuller (The Secret Life of the Zoo).
“We’re delighted to be turning this hard-won, deep access into such an ambitious series for Channel 4. We’ve spent over five years talking to the DWP about bringing the inner workings of a Jobcentre Plus to screen, which shows just how passionate we are about documenting life there with real heart, humour and humanity,” said Leonard and Reynolds.
Rita Daniels is the Commissioning Editor for Channel 4:
“Lots of series have been made about benefits, mostly focussing on the extreme end of the spectrum and the long-term unemployed. This will be the first series placing equal emphasis on the human stories on both sides of the desk – challenging preconceptions about staff and claimants. And, as the last government agency on the high street, there couldn’t be a more pertinent precinct to speak to life in the UK today.”
