Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2026 to Question 12047 on Employment: Disability, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of employment advisors in (a) NHS Talking Therapies, (b) Connect to Work and (c) Workwell on the number of people with disabilities in work.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) delivers a range of interventions to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to find and stay in work. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Connect to Work and WorkWell. Additionally, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work and Health Directorate has developed a digital information service for employers and continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.

Evaluation is a key driver in delivering DWP’s priority outcomes and ensuring alignment with the Government’s Plan for Change. As set out in the DWP Evidence and Evaluation Strategy, ongoing evaluation of policies to support disabled people into appropriate employment is crucial in assessing whether they are achieving intended results and informs future policy design.

An evaluation of the WorkWell pilot is underway to assess the effectiveness of WorkWell and is conducted by an independent consortium of evaluators using surveys, interviews and econometric measures of success. The evaluation is tracking several outcome metrics, including reported health and wellbeing and earnings. The first pilot evaluation report has been published here: WorkWell Pilots Evaluation Early Implementation Findings. A final report in Autumn 2028 will aim to give a full assessment of the impact and effectiveness of the pilot.

A similar evaluation is being commissioned for the national rollout of WorkWell and will explore the feasibility of using a randomised control trial design. The learnings from these evaluations will inform any future decisions on the Programme.

The Connect to Work Business Case, published January 2026 (Connect to Work - Programme Business Case 1 Summary), estimates that an additional 22,000 people will be in work over the lifetime of the programme. These, and wider, impacts are being monitored through a comprehensive national evaluation, with a final report expected in 2031.

For Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, a report commissioned through IFF Research is expected to be published in Autumn 2026 which includes an impact evaluation. An independent evaluation of Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies was published on 26^th May 2026 by the Office for National Statistics. These are early findings part of a wider National Institute of Health and care Research (NIHR) evaluation. Further findings are due to be published over the coming year.

Other recent policy evaluations include assessments of Additional Work Coach Support (Evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support) and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support scheme (Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) Programme Evaluation).