The Government’s drive to get people off long-term sickness benefits and back to work has suffered a setback after official figures showed far fewer claimants than expected in this category have been given support to find work, under a new employment scheme.
Of the 370,000 jobseekers referred to the Government’s flagship Work Programme between May and October last year, just 5.5pc, or 20,000, were claimants on long-term sick benefits who have been identified as being fit to work, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The Government had intended that three times as many people in this category should be referred to the jobs scheme to help speed their return to work, industry experts said, adding that without tailored support, they may never find work.
A Government-commissioned report last year warned hundreds of thousands of people were needlessly dropping out of work onto sickness-related benefits, due to an illness or disability, when they could still be earning a living in an appropriate job.
Ministers have vowed to crack down on Britain’s benefits culture, pledging to “make work pay” so that it is more attractive for claimants to get back to work where possible.
But official figures last week revealed just a tiny proportion of those on sickness benefits but classified by the coalition as able to work have been put through the Government’s £5bn Work Programme since its introduction last May.
The Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (Cesi), a think tank, said 45,000 fewer benefits claimants in the so-called “employment support allowance” category had been referred to the scheme than the Government had hoped.
Thousands of people in this category have appealed against the Government’s decision to classify them as “able to work”, which was delaying their referral to the Work Programme, the body said.
A Cesi spokesman said: “Numbers are well below where they should be. In the short term, the Government should concentrate on getting the assessment and appeals process working. There’s a backlog in assessing claims which is being made worse by a quadrupling in the number of appeals lodged against those assessments. The Government has been getting to grips with this, but it will be a little while yet before it’s sorted out.”
The majority of Work Programme referrals are being tailored towards other disadvantaged jobseekers, the ONS said, such as those on Jobseekers Allowance who have been out of work for a year or more. Some 70,000 more claimants in this category have been referred than expected, the figures showed.
However, fewer than a fifth of all claimants referred were in the “hard to help” under-25s category, despite the young bearing the brunt of UK unemployment.
The statistics released for the first time since the work scheme was introduced also show more than twice as many men were referred to the programme compared to women, despite an analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research last week showing both women and the young were being disproportionately hit by unemployment.
All referrals are made by Jobcentre Plus staff after an interview with the candidate, the Department for Work and Pensions said. Jobcentre Plus then “randomly” allocates claimants to local providers in their area.
But the Employment Related Services Association, the welfare-to-work trade body, said tens of thousands of unemployed people “will not be accessing the specialist support” available under the scheme to find and sustain jobs.
Chris Grayling, employment minister, said: “I am encouraged that so many people have been referred to the Work Programme in the first five months to get the support they need to move into sustained work.”
He added the programme was “long term”, although experts warned the only proof of its success would be how many claimants ended up in sustainable jobs. Those figures are due in the autumn.
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