Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Paragraph: 103
The Minister said that the Department intends to pilot “passports” for jobseekers from particular groups,...
Recommendation
The Minister said that the Department intends to pilot “passports” for jobseekers from particular groups, including students and veterans, which we welcome. These passports are intended to give job applicants certainty about what support they can receive through Access to Work before they have been offered a job. We recommend that, should the pilot be successful, DWP should extend eligibility for these passports to other groups of people. It should also introduce a passport for disabled employees who are currently receiving support under Access to Work so that, if they apply for a job with another employer, their prospective new employer has certainty about what support they are entitled to and they do not need to go through the application process again. This would help to reduce the unnecessary bureaucracy applicants face.
Paragraph Reference:
103
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Health is Everyone’s Business (HiEB) consultation response was published in July 2021 and aims to reduce ill-health related job loss and see 1 million more disabled people in work from 2017 to 2027. The measures Government is taking forward provide greater clarity around employer/ employee rights and responsibilities; recognise the important role of Occupational Health (OH); re-enforce the need for employers to have access to clear and compelling information and advice that is easy to understand, trustworthy and accessible, and improve access to expert support services such as OH when needed. 20 Disability employment gap: Government response Government is working with the Occupational Health (OH) sector to improve access to quality, cost effective, expert work and health support. Evidence shows that cost is one of the main reasons for not purchasing OH among small- medium employers (SME) and the self-employed. Lack of knowledge about the benefits of OH and how to purchase this through the commercial market is also a barrier for SME and the self-employed. Many employers will have no awareness or experience of procuring or using OH for themselves and there is limited guidance targeted at SMEs and self-employed people. We are continuing to explore the efficacy of co-funding OH services, through a financial incentive scheme, and are working on ways to test this to inform further development. Initially we plan to test incentivising expert-led, work and health assessments that help employees to remain in, or return to work, for SMEs and the self-employed. This test will be robustly evaluated and findings, alongside developments in OH workforce and innovation policies, and affordability, will inform our approach. At this stage, we are not committing to the introduction of a financial incentive, but we are interested in the strength of the case to do so and building evidence on whether OH incentives and purchasing support can increase access to OH services for employees of SMEs and the self-employed, and the effect on employee outcomes. We expect to launch a user-research exercise this financial year. This will work with employers and OH providers to explore effective ways of delivering financial incentives and support to navigate the market. These findings will be used to determine the further development. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)