UK Government ‘to unlock work’ for sick and disabled people

Work will be unlocked for thousands of sick and disabled people through new measures that will bolster the support offered in Jobcentres and make the welfare system more sustainable, the Department for Work and Pensions has announced today

• New plans to improve employment support brought forward ahead of wider reform package to fix broken welfare system. 
• 1,000 work coaches deployed to deliver intensive employment support to sick and disabled people as part of the government’s Plan for Change which will break down barriers to opportunity.
• It comes as a new survey reveals scale of the broken system with nearly half of disabled people and those with a health condition saying they don’t trust DWP to support them.

The plans will see 1,000 existing Work Coaches deployed in 2025/26 to deliver intensive voluntary support to around 65,000 sick and disabled people – helping them to break down barriers to opportunity, drive growth and unlock the benefits of work.

This intensive support for people on health-related benefits – including those furthest away from work – will see Work Coaches providing tailored and personalised employment support, and help claimants access other support such as writing CVs and interview techniques. They will also access a range of DWP employment programmes to help claimants unlock work based on conversations with their Work Coaches.

The additional help will be delivered by reprioritising work coach time so they can focus on tackling economic inactivity in order to make the welfare system more sustainable. The 1,000 redeployed Work Coaches are a “downpayment” on wide-ranging plans to overhaul employment support, which are set to be unveiled in just a few weeks’ time. 

It is part of the Government’s Plan for Change – which will boost living standards and grow the economy by unlocking work for the 2.8 million people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness – the highest in the G7 – and bring down spending on incapacity benefits which is expected to reach £70 billion by the end of this parliament. 

It comes as new survey results show the current system isn’t just failing the taxpayer, it’s also failing the people it’s meant to help, with 44% of disabled people and people with a health condition believing DWP does not provide enough support to people who are out of work due to disability, ill health, or a long-term health condition.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP said: “We inherited a broken welfare system that is failing sick and disabled people, is bad for the taxpayer, and holding the economy back. 

“For too long, sick and disabled people have been told they can’t work, denied support, and locked out of jobs, with all the benefits that good work brings.

“But many sick and disabled people want and can work, with the right support. And we know that good work is good for people – for their living standards, for their mental and physical health, and for their ability to live independently. 

“We’re determined to fix the broken benefits system as part of our Plan for Change by reforming the welfare system and delivering proper support to help people get into work and get on at work, so we can get Britain working and deliver our ambition of an 80% employment rate.”

The data from the DWP Perceptions Survey – soon to be published in full – also shows:  

• 35% of disabled people and people with a health condition believe DWP does not provide enough support to people of working age who are out of work, to help them get back into work. 
• 44% of disabled people and people with a health condition don’t trust the DWP to help people reach their full career potential. 
• Nearly 2 in 5 (39%) disabled people and people with a health condition do not trust DWP to take its customers’ needs into account in how it provides services. 

These figures follow recently released data which shows that there are over three million people on Universal Credit with no obligation to engage in work-related activity, despite over a quarter (27%) of health and disability benefit claimants believing that work could be possible in the future if their health improves and 200,000 saying they would be ready to work now.

Data also shows the number of working-age people on the health element of Universal Credit or claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA) has risen to 3.1 million, a staggering 319% increase since the pandemic, reflecting the alarming rate at which young and working aged people are increasingly falling out of work and claiming incapacity benefits. 

Behind each of these statistics is a person with hopes and ambitions, who can provide businesses with much-needed skills and experience, helping to grow our economy.

To give people the support they deserve, and restore trust and fairness to our welfare system, reforms to the welfare system are expected to be announced in just a few weeks. 

These reforms will recognise that some people will be unable to work at points in their life and ensure they are provided with support while transforming the broken benefits system that: 

• Asks people to demonstrate their incapacity to work to access higher benefits, which also then means they fear taking steps to get into work.
• Is built around a fixed “can versus can’t work” divide that does not reflect the variety of jobs, the reality of fluctuating health conditions, or the potential for people to expand what they can do, with the right support.
• Directs disabled people or those with a work-limiting health condition to a queue for an assessment, followed by no contact, no expectations, and no support if the state labels them as “unable” to work. 
• Fails to intervene early to prevent people falling out of work and misses opportunities to support a return to work.
• Pushes people towards economic inactivity due to the stark and binary divide between benefits rates and conditionality rules for jobseekers compared to those left behind on the health element of Universal Credit.  
• Has become defined by poor experiences and low trust among many people who use it, particularly on the assessment process.

The government’s plans to fix the broken benefit system will build on the biggest employment reforms in a generation announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, which will empower mayors to drive down economic inactivity, deliver a Youth Guarantee so every young person is either earning or learning, and overhaul jobcentres across the country. 

Former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield is leading an independent review investigating how government and employers can work together to help disabled people and those with ill health who may be at risk of falling out work stay on in employment, with the findings of the discovery phase expected in the spring.

The government is also investing an additional £26 billion to cut NHS waiting lists and get Britain back to health and back to work. 

The government has already delivered on its pledge, providing two million extra appointments in five months and as a result, around 160,000 fewer patients on waiting lists today than in July.

Teams of clinicians will also introduce new ways of working at 20 hospital sites in areas with the highest levels of economic inactivity to help patients return to the workforce faster.

This is alongside the recruitment of an additional 8,500 mental health workers to ensure mental health is given the same attention as physical health.