DwP releases new funding to get 300,000 people with long term sickness or disability back into work

The government chose the stat to announce its latest raft of investment into Connect to Work, its programme which supports people with disabilities, health conditions or complex barriers into work.

A total of £338m has been released to fund localised, tailored support to over 85,000 people who are sick, disabled or face complex barriers to work in 15 areas across England.

The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that around 300,000 people in England and Wales could benefit over the next five years.

Announcing the funding, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said it was part of ‘decisive’ action to reduce economic inactivity: “For too long, millions of people have been denied the support they need to get back to health and back to work.

“It’s bad for their living standards, it’s bad for their families, and it’s bad for the economy.”

People who are sick, disabled or face complex barriers to work will get tailored support. Photograph: iStock

South Yorkshire will receive some of the funding. It has around 140,000 people who aren’t working, said Mayor, Oliver Coppard: “Many of those people desperately want to have a job, want to provide for their families, and contribute to the future of our communities.”

“Connect to Work… is designed to help those with disabilities, long-term health conditions, or from disadvantaged backgrounds, into good, secure jobs.”

While supporting the measure as a ‘vital step in supporting people with complex needs to return to work’, Rahel Suff, senior wellbeing adviser at the CIPD, called for stronger measures to encourage employers to recruit under-represented groups, including older workers and those with disabilities.

Businesses need to play their part, said Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Group Risk Development (GRiD): “While we commend the Government’s commitment to helping more sick and disabled people to get back into work, we’d suggest that stemming the flow of sick and disabled people out of the workplace is equally important.

“Employers have a vital role to play in retaining sick and disabled people in the workplace as valued employees.”

Connect to Work was unveiled in November last year as part of a suite of reforms unveiled to Get Britain Working again.

Figures then showed that almost one and a half million people are unemployed, over nine million people are inactive and a record 2.8 million people are out of work due to long-term sickness.

More on the announcement here