| answer text |
<p>The Government has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people
with health conditions, including people with mobility problems, to start, stay and
succeed in work. These include:</p><ul><li><strong>The Work and Health Programme</strong>
providing tailored and personalised support for disabled people;</li><li><strong>Access
to Work grants</strong> helping towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable
adjustments;</li><li><strong>Disability Confident</strong> encouraging employers to
think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address
the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;</li><li>A <a href="https://www.support-with-employee-health-and-disability.dwp.gov.uk/support-with-employee-health-and-disability"
target="_blank"><strong>digital</strong></a><strong> information service for employers</strong>
providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability
in the workplace;</li><li>Increasing access to <strong>occupational health</strong>,
including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises
and the self-employed;</li><li><strong>Increased Work Coach support</strong> in Jobcentres
for disabled people and people with health conditions to help them move towards and
in to work;</li><li><strong>Disability Employment Advisers </strong>in Jobcentres
offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health
conditions into work;</li><li>Introducing <strong>Employment Advisors to Musculoskeletal
Conditions (MSK) services</strong> in England, helping individuals with MSK conditions
to return to or remain in employment.</li><li>Work in partnership between the DWP
and health systems, including Employment Advice in <strong>NHS Talking Therapies</strong>,
and the <strong>Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC)</strong>
programme, a Supported Employment model (place, train and maintain) delivered in health
settings, aimed at people with physical or common mental health disabilities to support
them to access paid jobs in the open labour market.</li></ul><p>Building on existing
provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget, we announced
a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:</p><ul><li>Doubling
the number of places on the <strong>Universal Support</strong> employment programme,
to provide support for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out;</li><li>Formally
launching <strong>WorkWell,</strong> which will bring together the NHS, local authorities
and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work
and health support in approximately 15 pilot areas;</li><li>Building on the extension
of the certification of the <strong>fit notes</strong> to a wider range of healthcare
professions, exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with
timely access to work and health support; and</li><li>Establishing an expert group
to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for <strong>Occupational
Health</strong> provision.</li></ul>
|
|
