RBLI

Pathways to Work

What is Pathways to Work?

Pathways to Work (PTW) is for people with health conditions and disabilities. It provides support to help them move into work and RBLI is working in partnership with Jobcentre Plus in delivering this additional support. Available across Great Britain by April 2008, PTW represents a key part of the Government’s aims of helping:

• Reduce the number on incapacity benefits by a million from their 2005 levels
• Move incapacity benefits customers into the right work for them
• Reduce the gap between the percentage of disabled and non-disabled people in work
• To lower the number of children in workless households

Pathways may offer:

• Support from highly skilled Personal Advisers such as RBLI, including five additional work focused interviews (WFI) for up to six months after the initial WFI (conducted by Jobcentre Plus)
• Help to develop a personal work action plan
• Rehabilitation support to help people manage and cope with their health condition
• A Return to Work Credit of £40 weekly for 52 weeks to customers who start work and earn less than £15,000 per annum

Background

Pathways to Work was first introduced in three Jobcentre Plus districts in October 2003. From April 2008, 60 per cent of the population will have Pathways to Work delivered by an external contractor.

What does it do?

It provides extra help for people on incapacity benefits to find work, including support from skilled personal advisers, additional work focused interviews, rehabilitation support (the Condition Management Programme) and in-work support.

How does it work?

The Pathways to Work process includes:

• A Personal Capability Assessment which determines the level of a person’s incapacity and therefore whether they are entitled to benefits. (Because of the nature of their disability, some people will be exempt from this assessment and any further mandatory involvement in the programme)
• A mandatory work-focused interview (WFI) eight weeks after making a claim for incapacity benefit (except in cases where this is deferred or waived due to the nature of the disability)
• A screening tool at the initial WFI will establish who will have more work-focused interviews and who will be exempt from further mandatory participation
• Access to ‘Choices’, a range of programmes to support the customer in preparing for work. Choices includes the New Deal for Disabled People and the Condition Management Programme. The Condition Management Programme aims to help the customer manage their health condition or disability so that they can get back to work
• A Return to Work Credit, where customers who enter employment can qualify for a weekly payment of £40 a week for 12 months if their salary is below £15,000 a year

What do Pathways providers do?

Following the first mandatory WFI (which is conducted by Jobcentre Plus):

• Five mandatory WFIs, then interviews less frequently, or
• Mandatory WFIs every three years and
• Mandatory WFIs when circumstances change

In addition:

• Ensure customers meet their responsibilities to comply with the mandatory regime
• Assist with the sanctions process if they don’t
• Deliver the Condition Management Programme element
  Provide a range of flexible, tailored, voluntary back to work support

How is it going so far?

The first 15 contracts (each in a JC+ district) for provider-led Pathways have now been awarded and went live in December 2007 (Phase 1).

A second phase of contracts was announced on 20th December 2007, ensuring that anyone on incapacity benefits will have access to a local Pathways service by April 2008. These will cover the remaining 16 Jobcentre Plus districts and commence in April 2008, completing the national rollout across Great Britain.

Why introduce Pathways?

The Pathways to Work Green Paper (discussion document) – Helping People into Employment (November 2002) set out a number of targets relating to benefit claimants:

• Reduce by 1 million the number on Incapacity benefits
• Help 300,000 lone parents into work
• Increase by 1 million the number of older workers
• Bring employment rate for disabled people in line
• Reduce numbers leaving work due to illness
• Increase numbers leaving benefits
• Better address the needs of those on benefit, with additional payments to the most severely disabled

Pathways to Work is the vehicle for achieving this.

Is it working?

Early evidence since Pathways began:

• Almost 32,000 recorded job entries for Incapacity Benefit (IB) customers
• A significant number leave IB in the first six months of their claim compared with non-Pathways districts
• Research shows that after 10.5 months 32% of new IB customers on Pathways were employed compared to an expectation of only 22.5% without Pathways
• 25,380 people have been awarded the Return to Work Credit
• 15% of Pathways customers attending Work Focused Interviews join New Deal for Disabled People compared to 4% of IB customers elsewhere
• 14,520 people were referred to CMP

Video Case Studies

Welcome to RBLI
Louise's Story
Tom's Story
Tommy's Story
Clem's Story