Building bridges to work: new approaches to tackling long term worklessness
"Building bridges to work: new approaches to tackling long-term worklessness", published on 29 March 2010, outlines the Government's next steps on welfare reform. It sets out how we will help the long-term workless back into work and support disabled people and those with health conditions who are at risk of long-term unemployment and worklessness to make sure no one gets left behind in the recovery.
The key elements of this package are:
- improving the accuracy of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), giving appropriate consideration of people’s ability to adapt to their disability, as well as ensuring better recognition of mental health and fluctuating conditions
- assessing everyone on incapacity benefits over the next three years through the WCA, culminating in the abolition of incapacity benefits in April 2014
- providing extra support for people who are newly assessed as fit for work but may have spent a number of years on an incapacity benefit
- providing a personalised time-limited WCA reassessment and an individual programme of support with conditions for those who are currently unable to work but maybe able to in the future
- guaranteeing employment or work placements for jobseekers who do not find work after two years
- guaranteeing a place on our specialist disability employment programme, Work Choice, for those on Employment and Support Allowance who want to work but do not find work after two years.
These proposals involve a radical change in the way we use our resources to support people at risk of long-term worklessness – providing more personalised help and conditions coupled with guarantees to prevent those who are able to work spending a lifetime on benefits.
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Impact assessment
- Building Bridges to Work: new approaches to tackling long term worklessness – impact assessment (267KB)
Work Capability Assessment Internal Review
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was introduced in October 2008, as part of Employment and Support Allowance, and is used to determine entitlement. This review was tasked with establishing whether the WCA is achieving its aim of correctly identifying an individual’s capability for work.
