- 100,000 disabled people and those with health conditions have been supported to move closer to the labour market by Pathways to Work advisers.
- New figures show landmark Government employment scheme has reached a record milestone.
- Part of the Government’s £3.5 billion plan to break down barriers to opportunity and offer disabled people and those with health conditions personalised employment support.
Pathways to Work advisers – first announced in March 2025 – offer free, voluntary, and personalised help for people assessed as having Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA).
Under the previous Government these claimants were left behind with no support, and denied the help the need to move into work and out of poverty.
Based in every Jobcentre across England, Scotland and Wales, the specialist advisers identify the barriers people face, provide skills training – such as IT upskilling – and signpost people to work-based training schemes in sectors including construction, hospitality and manufacturing.
With 2.7 million people on Universal Credit assessed as too sick to work, over 170,000 of whom are aged 16 to 24, Pathways to Work advisers are making a real and lasting difference, helping people into good, secure jobs and boosting living standards across the country.
The achievement sits as part of a larger Government focus on supporting people up and down the country into good, secure work, with 920 thousand more people in employment under this government.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said
Supporting someone instead of writing them off is life-changing, and I’ve seen firsthand how our Pathways to Work advisers are building people’s confidence and helping them achieve their ambitions.
The welfare system we inherited left too many people without the skills, support or hope they needed to get on in life and build a career.
We were determined to change that, and we have. Now 100,000 people living with long-term conditions, disabilities and personal challenges who want to work, have taken crucial steps towards that.
Previous analysis shows participants are 40% more likely than non-participants to be in work after two years – evidence that the programme is making a meaningful and lasting difference to people’s lives, prospects and helping get the wider economy firing on all cylinders.
The Pathways to Work adviser programme is part of the Government’s wider £3.5 billion investment in personalised employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions. This includes Connect to Work, which provides intensive, tailored job-search assistance, employer engagement and on- and off-the-job support, and WorkWell, which brings together health and employment support to help people stay in or return to work.
It also follows the launch of the £60 million Pathways to Work Innovation Fund, in which businesses, charities and organisations are invited to present bold ideas to help more people into work.
Deborah, who is deaf and manages several long-term health conditions, had been out of work for 16 years. After connecting with her local Pathways to Work adviser, she received tailored support including help with her CV and identifying her transferable skills. With the help of a BSL interpreter at her appointments, Deborah went from feeling anxious about returning to work to securing a part-time role as a Support Worker with the Deaf Support Network – a job she began at the start of February. She said
I wanted to find work that would help my finances and give me more independence, but after 16 years I didn’t know where to start.
The support changed everything- my adviser believed in me and helped me see what I could offer.
Now I’m starting a job supporting other deaf people, and it’s just the beginning. I’m already looking forward to building up my hours and earning more.
The milestone comes as part of the Government’s broader drive to fix the broken welfare system it inherited, including
- Rebalancing Universal Credit to remove the perverse incentives that push people away from work.
- Introducing a Right to Try Work Guarantee, giving everyone who can work the chance to do so without fear of losing their benefits.
- Investing £3.5 billion in tailored employment support for sick or disabled people.
- Increasing face-to-face assessments for health benefits.
- Tackling fraud and error in the benefits system, saving £14.6 billion over this Parliament
- Alan Milburn is due to bring his final recommendations later this year on tackling the barriers young people face, and the Timms review is looking at how to make sure PIP is fit and fair for the future.