DWP reveals new plans to get sick and disabled people into work ahead of benefit cuts

Jobcentre work coaches will be tasked with delivering “intensive” support to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions to break down barriers to employment, the government has announced.

Around 1,000 existing work coaches will take on the role of helping 65,000 people who are claiming disability benefits in 2025/2026. That means around 65 people per work coach.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) claims the work coaches will provide “tailored and personalised support” and help people write CVs and learn interview techniques.

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People will volunteer to get this support – including people who are furthest away from work.

Liz Kendall, work and pensions secretary, said: “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.”

However, it comes as the government is reportedly set to make several billions of pounds of cuts to welfare, which experts have repeatedly stressed could push disabled people further away from the workplace by worsening their mental and physical health.

Spending on disability and incapacity benefits for working-age people is up by £19bn in real terms since 2019-2020, and it is set to rise by £13bn by 2029-2030.

It is a growing figure that the government is keen to tackle, but experts have told the Big Issue cuts are unlikely to lead to the savings the Treasury hopes they will.

Cuts are likely to put greater pressure on the NHS, councils, social care, housing and other support services, which are under immense pressure in the aftermath of austerity. Poverty already costs the government tens of billions of pounds every year.

Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said: “Ministers must resist the temptation to think about these changes in terms of carrots and sticks to push people into employment, and instead focus squarely on de-risking returning to work for those who can, while protecting the living standards, wellbeing and dignity of those who can’t.

“To build trust with disabled people and those with a long-term health conditions, government must work to provide more sustainable and secure job opportunities. This should include increased access to flexible working to help manage health conditions.”

Work Foundation research suggests early intervention to help workers with a health condition remain in work. Around one in 10 employees who drop out of work within four years of experiencing a health issue.

“To help these workers remain in or return to employment, government should work with employers to increase access to occupational health services, rights to flexible working – and strengthen sick pay,” Harrison said.

Only 1% of people out of the workforce for health reasons find a job within six months, despite 20% of them wanting one, according to research from the Learning and Work Institute. Currently, only one in 10 disabled people receive help to find work each year.

Catherine Parsons, managing director of Big Issue Recruit, said she is “pleased” to see the government look to provide personalised and intensive support for people facing barriers to work.

However, she added: “It’s vital that Jobcentres provide wraparound support at every stage – building confidence and skills in candidates before they begin searching for a job, supporting them with applying and interviewing, and then continuing to engage with them in-role.”

This approach, Parsons said, is helping hundreds of Big Issue Recruit candidates find “real success with job coaches helping candidates with deep, entrenched barriers obtain and retain fulfilling employment”.

Parsons urged the government to incentivise employers to “create work that’s suitable for people living with disabilities and long-term health conditions – which includes supporting businesses to retain staff who will inevitably need time off due to periods of ill-health”.

Around 35% of disabled people and people with a health condition believe DWP does not provide enough support to help them get back into work. Meanwhile, 44% of disabled people and those with health conditions do not trust the DWP to help them reach their full career potential.

Nearly two in five (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, according to the department’s own statistics.

But as experts have stressed, cuts will not lead to trust in the DWP. Anela Anwar, chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K, said: “Restricting eligibility for disability benefits will plunge families into deep poverty and jeopardise the government’s efforts to support more disabled people into employment, at greater cost to the economy in the long run.

“We want to see positive, long-term reforms which stop the system punishing disabled people for trying work, not short-term cost-cutting which will only make the system more punitive.”

The Conservative government had proposed changes to the work capability assessment, which would have restricted the number of people who can get the health element of universal credit by hundreds of thousands of people by 2029.

Rachel Reeves pledged to “deliver on these savings”, estimated to be around £3bn, in her Autumn Statement. However, the previous government’s consultation into these plans was deemed unlawful.

Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain is getting older and sicker as a nation. The consequence is a fast-rising working-age incapacity and disability benefits bill, which is on track to rise by £32bn a year over the 2020s.”

Rather than focus solely on restricting eligibility for support, the Resolution Foundation has suggested that reforms should reduce the financial gap between basic and health-related out-of-work benefits that incentivises health-related claims.

It argues that supporting more people off health-related benefits and into work would be lead to more savings for the government and better financial situations for individuals, but delivering this will “require significant investment in how the benefits system is delivered” – including with better-designed and more regular assessments for universal credit and personal independence payment (PIP).

“Far more can be done to boost exits too, which will require investment in the functioning of the benefit system and rebuilding trust among claimants,” Murphy said. “While the government is keen to score short-term welfare savings ahead of 26 March, truly effective reforms will take time to deliver.”

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