Early results from flagship employment support programme show it remains on target, says DWP

Early figures from the government’s “flagship” employment support programme show that about one in eight disabled people who have begun receiving out-of-work assistance through the scheme has reached its lower “threshold” for paid work.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures show that, by June 2026, 2,673 individuals on the Connect to Work scheme had achieved earnings equivalent to nine hours a week for 13 weeks at the national living wage, or 13 weeks in self-employment.

This is about 12 per cent of the 21,633 who have started receiving intensive, one-to-one, out-of-work support through the scheme since May 2025.

Only 970 individuals had reached the higher threshold for paid work, achieving earnings equivalent to 18 hours a week for 26 weeks at the national living wage, or 26 weeks in self-employment.

The programme has still not completed its rollout, with referrals in the first areas only beginning in April 2025 and 15 areas only starting to offer Connect to Work support in 2026.

This means the proportion of disabled people reaching the lower and higher thresholds for paid work is likely to rise significantly in future months.

Connect to Work is delivered in about 50 areas across all of England and Wales, except in Greater Manchester, which is using its funding to pilot its own programme.

Each area is designing and delivering its own Connect to Work scheme, with confirmed government funding of £1.2 billion.

Two local areas had still not opened their local programmes by the end of June 2026, while 15,000 of the 25,000 disabled people who have so far received support through the scheme – including those receiving support because they have a job but are at risk of falling out of work – only joined Connect to Work in the four months up to June.

About a quarter (26 per cent) of those starting on Connect to Work so far have been aged 16 to 24.

DWP said that Connect to Work remained on target to support about 300,000 people by the end of the parliament.

The department declined this week to say whether ministers viewed the earnings figures as above or below their expectations for this early stage of the programme.

But a DWP spokesperson said: “Thanks to the action we’ve taken, thousands of disabled people are already being supported into work through Connect to Work.

“The programmes is still in its early stages – with some areas only recently opening their doors – but we expect even more people to be helped into work, with 300,000 supported by the programme by the end of the parliament.”