Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 18351 on Universal Support: Veterans, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Universal Support programme in supporting veterans.

Universal Support is being delivered in two phases. Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) is being delivered across 42 local authority areas in England, and two areas in Wales providing support for up to 25,000 disabled people and people with health conditions and new support through the Work and Health Programme Pioneer for an additional 25,000 people across England and Wales. Veterans can access Pioneer support, and IPSPC if they have a disability or health condition.

Universal Support will be delivered through around 50 Local Authority led delivery areas, covering all of England and Wales. We expect areas will go live with Universal Support in a phased way from Autumn 2024.

The next release of published statistics for the Work and Health Programme (WHP) is planned for 30 May 2024. This was announced in the latest Work and Health statistics release.

This release will include statistics on starts, referrals and individual referrals to WHP Pioneer, which is part of the first phase of Universal Support (US). Statistics on job outcomes and first earnings from employment will be released in later publications.

The Secretary of State has also committed to the publication of data for the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) provision as part of the first phase of US. This will be pre-announced prior to publication.