Launched last year - and backed by £1 billion over this parliament - the Connect to Work Programme is breaking down barriers to opportunity by helping sick or disabled people, and those with more complex barriers, move out of poverty and into secure employment.
The programme funds support in all areas across England and Wales. Participants – who don’t need to be receiving benefits – can access intensive, one-to-one support from specialist advisers who work around them - meeting in GP surgeries, local cafés, parks or community hubs, wherever feels right for the individual, News Cover reports, citing the UK government's official website.
The first tranche of data published today shows that despite only being in its first year and most areas opening their services in the later stage of 2025/26:
Between April 2025 and March 2026, 14,000 participants started on the programme. Numbers grew steadily throughout the year, reaching 4,200 new starters in March 2026.
1,600 of those who were out-of-work started in a job, thanks to the programme.
Between April 2025 and March 2026, over a quarter of people who received Connect to Work support were aged 16 to 24.
It’s part of the Government’s drive to move from a welfare state to a working state and fix the broken system it inherited, with 2.8 million people currently out of work due to ill-health.
