Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she will take to help ensure that people with arthritis can stay in work.

A range of Government initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including arthritis, to start, stay, and succeed in work.

These include:

• Increasing Work Coach support in Jobcentres for people with health conditions receiving Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance;
• Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;
• The Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support, providing tailored and personalised support for participants;
• Access to Work grants towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;
• Disability Confident, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;
• The Information and Advice Service, providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting and managing health and disability in the workplace; and
• Support in partnership between the DWP and the health system.

To tackle rising economic inactivity due to long-term sickness, we announced a wide-reaching package at the Spring Budget to support disabled people and people with health conditions to work. New investment will provide faster access to joined-up work and health support, including for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions; the two leading causes of economic inactivity due to long term sickness.