An overhaul to the welfare system aimed at getting more people back into work has been announced by ministers.
Among the measures in the Government’s plan to “get Britain working” is extra support for people who are out of work due to long-term sickness to get back to work.
The number of people with a long-term illness has been a major driver of joblessness in recent years, having risen this year to 2.8 million from approximately two million in 2019.
Ministers hope that tackling this problem will help towards the Labour Government’s mission to grow the economy.
An official Government policy document setting out the plans, known as a White Paper, was published on Tuesday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at what ministers are planning in the overhaul.
– Extra NHS staff could be deployed to the 20 areas of England where the highest number of people are out of work. Ill health is considered the biggest driver of joblessness and the extra health workers would help to clear NHS backlogs and treat people, with the aim of getting them back into work.
– Some 8,500 new mental health staff will be employed and access to a scheme aimed at helping people who are mentally unwell into employment will be expanded. Together, these steps are estimated to help 140,000 people by 2028/29.
– A scheme which joins up health, work and skills support will be piloted in “trailblazer” regions in the North East, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, with the aim of designing something that could rolled out across England and Wales. Some £125 million will be spent on it.
– Job centres across the UK will be overhauled into a new work and careers service. The service will not only help people get jobs, but to stay in work and get training they need to progress in their career. Job centre staff will be encouraged to move away from a “tick box” culture and offer a more personalised service to jobseekers while new digital systems will be trialled to free up their time.
– Every 18 to 21-year-old in England will have access to an apprenticeship, training, education or help to find a job through the new “youth guarantee”. The Premier League, Channel 4 and the Royal Shakespeare Company are among the partners who have signed up to the guarantee.
– The apprenticeship levy, a tax on large employers used to fund apprenticeships, will be reformed into a new growth and skills levy, which ministers say will help to fund more courses like shorter apprenticeships and foundation level schemes.
– Regional mayors who are not getting access to cash for pilot schemes will be offered £15 million to help develop their own local plans to get people back into work.
– An independent review will be launched into what employers can do to help prevent people falling ill. It will look at how they can do more to recruit and keep disabled people and those with long-term heath conditions. Trade unions, businesses and health experts are among those who will contribute towards it.
– The White Paper acknowledges another large group of jobless people are those with child or adult care commitments who are not able to balance a job alongside this. It says the large majority of people in this category are women, and that the Government is looking at expanding access to childcare. Ministers are also reviewing support for unpaid carers.
– Prison leavers are also a group where the vast majority are out of work over the longer term. Some 31% of them are in employment six months after release, the White Paper says. Ministers are looking at ways to increase their employment rate because this could bring “tens of thousands of people” into work.
