Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department makes available for people who are returning to work after a period of ill health.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has developed Fit for Work to help people who are returning to work after a period of ill health. Fit for Work provides both a supportive occupational health assessment and general health and work advice to employees, employers and General Practitioners (GPs), to help individuals stay in or return to work.

People who have been unemployed due to ill health may be also eligible for support from a number of other programmes, including:

• Work Choice, which is a specialist disability employment programme that provides tailored support for disabled people who face barriers to finding and retaining work

• Specialist Employability Support (SES), which was launched in 2015, is a new national provision, designed to help unemployed disabled adults with the most complex needs to secure and sustain employment or self-employment.

• The Work Programme, which allows providers the flexibility to design an innovative and personalised approach to help participants back into sustained employment.

Additionally, an individual who is returning to their current job or a new job after a period of ill health may be eligible for support from Access to Work, which is a discretionary grant scheme that offers financial awards for in-work support for people whose disability or health condition affects the way they work.