A Review of health-related support provision within the UK work programme - what's on the menu?

In common with other European welfare states, a large proportion of those who are out of work andclaiming welfare benefits in the UK have long-term health conditions. The need to reduce the numberof people who are claiming sickness related unemployment benefits by supporting them into paidwork has been highlighted as a priority across the political spectrum since the late 1990s. However,recent years have seen a significant shift in UK welfare-to-work policy, with the introduction of theWork Programme in 2011. This unified programme diverges from earlier approaches in severalimportant respects. The shift includes a move towards so-called ‘black box’ commissioning, throughwhich contracted organizations are given far greater freedom to design and deliver their interventions.Therefore, important questions arise regarding whether and how support for claimants with healthconditions will be provided across Work Programme areas and the implications for claimantoutcomes. This article begins to address these questions by reviewing Work Programme PrimeContractors’ (Primes) proposed approaches as set out in their bids. Using a structured, interpretiveanalytical framework, bid documents prepared by the 18 Primes were reviewed and synthesized.The findings showed that individuals facing similar health-related obstacles to employment canexpect to receive very different levels and types of support depending on which Primes’ programmethey are assigned to join. This review suggests that policy needs to ensure that claimants’health-related barriers to employment are addressed. Research to explore how claimants’ healthrelatedneeds are being met in practice is also recommended