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Interventions focus on removing barriers to work for
people at any age and career stage
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Parents on Universal Credit will be
further supported with upfront childcare
costs
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Boost to employment support for disabled people and
those with health conditions building on reforms in landmark
White Paper
Millions of people will benefit from specific support to look for
work, acquire new skills and progress into better-paid jobs.
Parents, over-50s, disabled people and those with long-term
health conditions will have opportunities arising from changes
announced in the Budget set to be delivered by the Department for
Work and Pensions.
Overall, DWP measures at Budget represent an investment of £3.5
billion over five years to boost workforce participation and grow
the economy. That includes:
- £2 billion investment in support for disabled people and
people with long-term health conditions.
- £900 million investment in support for parents on Universal
Credit.
- £70 million investment in support for over-50s.
- £485 million investment in support for unemployed people and
people who are on Universal Credit and working fewer than full
time hours.
Taken together, these measures tackle the challenges in the
labour market, which are holding back the UK’s economic
prospects, helping millions of people with specific support to
look for work and progress into better-paid jobs.
Work and Pensions Secretary, MP said:
“We know many people want to work but there are very real
barriers we need to break down to help them into employment.
“This package of support helps people at any
age and career stage to get into work,progress into
better-paid jobs - growing the economy and filling the labour
market with skilled employees.
“These interventions are only the start of a long-term journey to
drive down economic inactivity and mobilise more people into
seeking employment, which I will continue to lead across
Government.”
Childcare
Parents on Universal Credit looking to move into full-time work
will no longer be prevented from doing so because of high
childcare costs.
The Universal Credit childcare cost cap will rise in the summer
meaning the Government will pay more of parents' childcare costs.
For those with one child it rises to from £646.35 to
£951 and for two children the cap is up from £1,108.04
to£1,630, then increasing in line with CPI each year until
2027/28.
Parents will also be further supported with upfront childcare
costs. This removes any gap in funds which would currently be
claimed in arrears and eases parents into the childcare
costs payment cycle.
Disabled people and people with health
conditions
The Health and Disability White Paper, included as part of the
Budget, sets out plans to rewire the benefits system for disabled
people, shifting the dial onto what people can achieve and
removing barriers to work.
A major element of this will be through the removal of the Work
Capability Assessment, giving people the confidence to move into
work while reducing the burden of unnecessary assessments.
A new Universal Support programme will support disabled people
and people with health conditions into sustained work, with
those eligible able to opt in to receive up to 12 months of
provision, with the government spending up to £4,000 per person
and funding 50,000 places every year. This will help them to
move quickly into suitable work and, with wraparound
support, help them sustain that employment for the
longer-term.
Pioneer areas are already mobilising services to provide greater
support, and then the programme will ramp up over time, expanding
to support thousands more people.
Older workers
A new digital Mid-life MOT check will be introduced to help older
workers understand what their employment choices now mean for the
longer-term – reaching 40,000 people a year.
They will also benefit from a boost to skills and better access
to training through the Sector-based Work Academy Programme
(SWAP), Train and Progress and the new ‘Returnerships’ programme.
Jobcentre support
We are increasing jobcentre support for people on Universal
Credit who could work more, helping them progress towards more
paid work.
This includes around 80,000 more people, whose partners claim
Universal Credit, being given access to full jobcentre support
for the first time. They will be assigned their own work coach
who will provide tailored support to help them find work quicker.
All those working less than half of a full-time week will also
get full jobcentre support to look for more work as the
Administrative Earnings Threshold increases to the equivalent
of around 18 hours from 15.
And more young people aged 16-24 on Universal Credit will be able
see a work coach in a Youth Hub or benefit from the expertise of
our Youth Employability Coaches.
