Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Universal Support programme; and what steps she is taking to ensure that funding is targeted towards the areas of highest deprivation.

The Universal Support funding has supported the expansion of Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and additional support through Work and Health Programme Pioneer.

For Work and Health Programme Pioneer, between September 2023 and May 2024, the Official Statistics publication Work and Health Programme statistics to May 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) shows that 17,000 individuals were referred with 11,000 starting on the programme. By May 2024, so far 1,700 people had achieved first earnings from employment and 290 people had achieved a sustained work job outcome.

Data on Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care will be published in due course.

We will shortly announce further details about a new supported employment programme, which, using the funding originally intended for the main Universal Support programme, will be co-designed with local authorities. Once fully rolled out across England and Wales, the programme will support up to 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment to help them get into and on in work per year. As local areas understand local needs best, they will be able to make choices about which eligible groups to prioritise for support.