Employment: Disability

Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 30 July 2018.

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Photo of Richard Graham Richard Graham Conservative, Gloucester

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has been made in supporting people with disabilities into work since May 2015.

Photo of Sarah Newton Sarah Newton The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

This Government is committed to supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to reach their potential. Since 2015 there has been a steady increase in the number of disabled people in work. From April-June 2015 to April-June 2017 (the latest period for which the Office for National Statistics has published estimates without ‘health warnings’), the number of disabled people in work increased by 235,000 from 3.3 million to 3.5 million. The disability employment rate in this period increased by 3.3 percentage points, from 45.9% to 49.2%.

Universal Credit helps people with a disability or health condition who are already in work, to remain and progress in work. It is specifically designed so that we can engage with and support people early in and throughout their claim, to give them advice and support – and not to lose contact with them. All work coaches delivering Universal Credit will receive training on supporting claimants with health conditions.

On 30 November 2017, we published ‘Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability’, which sets out actions we’re taking in the welfare system, in the workplace and in health services to realise our commitment to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027.

Our programme is supported by a wide range of ‘test and learn’ activity designed to build the evidence about what works to support disabled people and those with health conditions to get into and stay in work. Projects worth up to around £1 billion have been launched, including:

  • up to £500m of investment in the new Work and Health Programme, which we expect to help around 275,000 people over five years, with the majority (around 220,000) being disabled people;
  • our Personal Support Package, including the investment of £330m for those on the UC/ESA health journey, delivering a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support tailored to the individual needs of claimants;
  • health-led trials in Sheffield City Region and the West Midlands Combined Authority, which build on the internationally-recognised Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach to provide employment support in a health setting for people with mild-to-moderate mental and physical health conditions;
  • more than doubling the number of Employment Advisers in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services, providing support to adults with depression and a range of anxiety disorders through integrated employment advice and psychological treatment;
  • recruiting 300 additional Disability Employment Advisers, and introducing 200 new Community Partners to bring more specialist advice and support into the Jobcentre; and
  • supporting Greater Manchester and the Scottish Government with early intervention initiatives that make it easier and quicker for people to access the right support through a needs assessment, and rapid access to interventions such as occupational health support, mental health and musculoskeletal treatment, and job brokerage.

We have also recently introduced the new Tech Fund in Access to Work, offering employers significant support with the cost of assistive technology; and we’re continuing to build our engagement with employers through Disability Confident, which is growing strongly and now has over 6,800 employers signed up.

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