Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will extend eligibility for the Kickstart and Restart schemes to people in receipt of employment support allowance; and if she will make a statement.

There are currently no plans to extend the eligibility criteria of the Kickstart Scheme or the Restart Scheme.

Employment Support Allowance claimants who require more intensive employment support would have access to both the Work and Health Programme (WHP) and Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) and can volunteer for this support at any time irrespective of benefit claimed or no benefit. The WHP predominantly helps people with a wide range of disabilities and health conditions to enter into and stay in work, and is suited to those who expect to find work within 12 months. IPES is an intensive, highly personalised voluntary support package that is flexible to participants’ needs. It supports disabled people with complex barriers to work who would be more than 12 months from the labour market without the benefit of IPES support.