Committee publication · Report · 23 June 2026 · HC 77
1st Report – Employment support for disabled people: Connect to Work
From: Work and Pensions Committee
Inquiry: Employment support for disabled people
Government response deadline: 23 August 2026
Summary
The Work and Pensions Committee's first report examines Connect to Work (CtW), the government's £1.23 billion employment support programme launched in October 2024 to help up to 300,000 disabled people and those with long-term health conditions into sustained work over five years. The committee welcomes CtW's evidence-based design grounded in supported employment models but identifies significant implementation challenges: administrative complexity, inconsistent DWP guidance, workforce capacity concerns, and uncertainty about long-term funding commitment beyond the current spending review.
Key findings
- Connect to Work is built on two internationally recognised supported employment models—Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF)—with strong evidence demonstrating effectiveness, sustainment rates up to 88% at 12 months for IPS, and broader wellbeing benefits beyond employment outcomes.
- Early implementation revealed substantial delivery challenges: multiple DWP approval cycles delayed delivery plans (one plan required seven submissions), inconsistent guidance, variable quality of Regional Engagement Lead support, and administrative burden creating mistrust despite local authorities' proven track records in complex programmes.
- The devolved commissioning model risks creating inconsistent experiences: discretion given to Accountable Bodies could result in 'a single brand but not a single, consistent programme,' potentially disadvantaging smaller specialist providers over larger generalist organisations.
- Workforce capacity and access to specialist skills present a critical constraint: concerns remain about availability of trained practitioners able to deliver supported employment models, requiring clearer workforce planning and development across the system.
- Uncertainty about long-term funding commitment beyond the current spending review risks undermining confidence; mixed public messages and potential gaps between programmes do not fully align with stated ambition to increase disability employment.
Recommendations
- DWP should continue strengthening central systems, digital infrastructure and assurance processes to ensure local delivery is fully and reliably supported, moving beyond the 'clunky and unsatisfactory' early commissioning experience.
- Extend commitment to Connect to Work beyond the current Spending Review period to provide greater certainty across the system, build trust with participants and providers, and sustain momentum at this critical point.
- Develop a clearer and more coordinated approach to workforce planning and development to address concerns about availability of specialist skills, particularly for supported employment delivery.
- Implement a more collaborative and streamlined approach to delivery plan approval and ongoing oversight, treating local authorities as partners rather than providers to reduce administrative burden and demonstrate trust.
- Provide an update on programme mobilisation, including lessons learned from delays in delivery plan approval, and apply these lessons to future rollout of similar employment support programmes.
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Department for Work and Pensions, Debbie Abrahams (Committee Chair), Angus Gray (DWP Policy Director), Dame Diana Johnson (Minister for Employment), Laura Davies (Chief Executive, British Association for Supported Employment), Professor Adam Whitworth (employment support academic), Professor Benjamin Barr (applied public health academic), Enable Works
Notable line
“It is fair to say that this is the first time the DWP has done it this way and it has been a learning process.”
Key Quotes
“I am a strong believer that anybody can work with the right job and support. I fundamentally disagree with this idea that we have some people who are employable and some who are not.”
“For me, knowing disabled people is one thing, but having the right set of values that underpins a different way of working with people is more important. I can teach somebody disability awareness but I cannot teach them to have the right values.”
“… a single brand but not a single, consistent programme”
“That is why, rightly, Connect to Work has an SEQF fidelity model. For example, learning disabilities and autism has been tested occasionally with IPS, but it does not work or fit terribly well. SEQF is tailor-made there.”
“This is one of the things I am keen for the evaluation to draw out— whether there are any observable differences between the different [commissioning] models—because it is a feature, not a bug. We allowed local areas to decide how [they deliver the service].”
“The delivery plan submission process was protracted and administratively burdensome. Following submissions, there were extended periods of delay with key information and feedback provided to us at a late stage.”
“… sometimes created the sense that there was limited trust in local authorities, despite our long track record of delivering complex programmes”
“It is fair to say that this is the first time the DWP has done it this way and it has been a learning process.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗