PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Employment: Mental Illness (21 October 2024)

Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. We want people to avoid poverty, and for this to happen we must ensure that disabled people and people with health conditions have the opportunity to work and save for as long as they wish and are able to.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals, including people with mental health conditions, to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and the Work and Health Programme, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.

As part of the get Britain working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

People on low, or no income or earnings who have a health condition or disability which restricts the amount of work they can do, can claim UC and are referred for a work capability assessment (WCA). The WCA is a functional assessment which assesses what a customer can do as well as what they cannot do.

A healthcare professional provides the outcome of the assessment to a DWP Decision Maker, who, using the evidence available, determines if the customer:

• has limited capability for work (LCW), or

• has limited capability for work- and work-related activity (LCWRA), or

• does not have LCW – meaning the customer is fit for work.

Where it has been decided that customers have LCW or LCWRA, they will be entitled to a work allowance, and in couple claims where one is working, access to help with childcare costs.   Those customers that have been determined to have LCWRA may be entitled to the award of an additional amount of benefit – the LCWRA addition – which is £416.19 per month (2024-25 rates).

Universal Credit provides incentives for workless households to take up jobs, including at a low number of hours per week. Part-time jobs could be important in helping individuals who have spent long periods in unemployment take steps into the labour market. To strengthen incentives to move into work and progress in work, UC withdraws support at a steady rate allowing customers to see their income increase and their Universal Credit award is reduced by less than they are earning. Although their Universal Credit award reduces, they will still benefit from their income.