Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support people with health conditions into work.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We know that work can support health and wellbeing, so we want everyone who can to get work and get on in work as far as possible. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.

We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives that join up employment and health systems such as WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants and Connect to Work. We continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.

In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on existing initiatives.

In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to help employers create healthier, more inclusive workplaces and to reshape how Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes. We are now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches that support disabled people and people with long‑term physical and mental health conditions to thrive in work. This includes developing effective stay-in-work and return-to-work practices, strengthening prevention, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice so that disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain in employment successfully.

The 10 Year Health Plan builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support people with disabilities into work.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We know that work can support health and wellbeing, so we want everyone who can to get work and get on in work as far as possible. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.

We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives that join up employment and health systems such as WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants and Connect to Work. We continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.

In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on existing initiatives.

In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to help employers create healthier, more inclusive workplaces and to reshape how Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes. We are now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches that support disabled people and people with long‑term physical and mental health conditions to thrive in work. This includes developing effective stay-in-work and return-to-work practices, strengthening prevention, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice so that disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain in employment successfully.

The 10 Year Health Plan builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase employment support for people receiving sickness benefits.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We know that work can support health and wellbeing, so we want everyone who can to get work and get on in work as far as possible. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.

We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives that join up employment and health systems such as WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants and Connect to Work. We continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.

In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on existing initiatives.

In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to help employers create healthier, more inclusive workplaces and to reshape how Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes. We are now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches that support disabled people and people with long‑term physical and mental health conditions to thrive in work. This includes developing effective stay-in-work and return-to-work practices, strengthening prevention, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice so that disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain in employment successfully.

The 10 Year Health Plan builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

Found: April 2026 10.55 am Watch the meeting Members present Lord Agnew of Oulton (The Chair); Baroness Alexander of Cleveden