Serious questions over DWP pilot scheme at heart of ministers’ jobs strategy

The government is facing serious questions over the success of a key employment support scheme, after its own research showed the NHS organisations running its pilot projects fell far short of their targets for recruiting disabled people.

Ministers frequently point to WorkWell as a key element of their plans to support disabled people and those with health conditions to stay in work or quickly return to employment if they have had to leave a previous job.

The programme, a joint venture between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department of Health and Social Care, is due to be expanded across England this autumn to eventually support about 250,000 people with health conditions.

Most of those on the scheme will have “significant health-related barriers to work”, with mental health the most common condition reported so far.

WorkWell aims to “support disabled people and those with health conditions by linking work and health, acting as a gateway into local services” and to ensure they receive early support, “helping them stay and thrive in work or quickly return if they fall out”.

The scheme is currently being piloted by 15 NHS integrated care boards (ICBs), but a new evaluation shows that only 12 of the 15 pilots were able to provide valid information about their progress in March 2025, six months after it was launched.

The report, carried out by IFF Research on behalf of DWP, shows that one of the 12 – NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB – had recruited just 28 of the 5,000 participants it was targeting, or 0.56 per cent.

Another ICB, NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, managed to recruit only 57 people out of its 2,067 target (2.8 per cent), while NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB had signed up 128 out of 1,500 (8.5 per cent).

Another poor performer was NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB, which only managed to recruit 171 participants out of a target of 7,200 (2.4 per cent).

Even the two best-performing sites – NHS Northwest London ICB and NHS North Central London ICB – only managed to recruit about 30 per cent of the participants they had been targeting.

The report says that the “vast majority of stakeholders noted that referrals had not met their expectations and were concerned they would not meet their targets by the end of the delivery period”.

Satisfaction with the support provided through WorkWell varied considerably, with the highest rates of participants saying they were satisfied in the NHS South Yorkshire ICB scheme (82 per cent) and the lowest satisfaction levels with North Central London (61 per cent).

Overall, one in nine (11 per cent) were dissatisfied with the support they received through WorkWell, and another 13 per cent said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

It is not clear why it took so long for the government to release the initial findings from the pilot schemes, but even the latest overall figure on recruitment – revealed by work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden in January – suggests that only about half of the intended number of participants had been signed up by the end of 2025, 15 months after WorkWell’s launch.

Despite these figures, the government announced a £259 million expansion of WorkWell in January.

DWP declined to explain why it took so long to release the initial findings, or to say how close it has got to the target of about 50,000 participants in the pilot schemes.

But a spokesperson said in a statement: “These are early implementation findings from the first months of the pilots, and it is not unusual for new programmes to take time to establish referral pathways and build relationships.

“The report itself reflects this, noting that sites have been working to strengthen those relationships, and 70 per cent of those helped said they were satisfied with the support they received.

“We’re rolling out WorkWell across the country – ramping up the support that will help up to 250,000 people – helping more people stay or return to work, boost living standards, and grow the economy.”