Rewiring the benefits system gives everyone a chance to thrive at work

Our welfare system shouldn’t just be about a financial transaction, or job seeking in exchange for benefits. It should be about saying: we will incentivise and push you to go as far as your ability, motivation and hard work will take you, and we will give you the support you need to get there.

I am always struck by the can-do attitude of those I meet who are disabled or who have long-term health conditions. They want to have the same employment opportunities as everyone else.

They want a system that focuses on what they can do, rather than what they can’t. And yet the current system of disability benefits is letting them down.

Around three quarters of people who go through the Work Capability Assessment are put into groups that mean they get limited support to develop new skills and find work. Clearly that is not sustainable.

We need to make the system more efficient and effective for those it serves, which is why we are going to change it.

I want to ensure more disabled people are able to live the independent and fulfilling lives that they deserve.

By rewiring the system and making it easier for people by reducing the number of assessments they need to take to qualify for benefits, we are changing the conversation with disabled people from what they can’t do to focus on what they can. This Conservative approach will mean the state no longer proscribes potential.

And it means we can focus on closing the disability employment gap further and supporting more disabled people to start, stay and succeed in work.

That sentiment is at the heart of our Health and Disability White Paper. It has been designed with radical change in mind, which is why as part of our approach we will remove the Work Capability Assessment altogether.

The current process means you need to be assessed as too sick or too disabled to work before you can access additional financial support.

It creates an avoidable barrier between disabled people and work opportunities, as people worry about being reassessed, found “fit for work” after trying a job, then losing their benefits.

This change will reduce the number of Work Capability Assessments and reassessments disabled people and those with health conditions undergo from a peak of one million a year.

The White Paper will also build on our existing employment programmes by providing more work coach support across the country and extending our Work and Health Programme to September 2024, ensuring support for the thousands of people who need it most. And we will of course continue to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable and those who are unlikely to ever be able to work.

These reforms – the biggest undertaken in a decade – have been years in the making, with our initial paper having gone out for consultation in 2021. We have engaged widely on these changes, including with disability charities and organisations as well as with disabled people who have been through the current process and understand how and why it needs to change. And we will take time to carefully consider how best to implement these changes and give security and certainty to claimants.

I am proud of our record on disability employment, with more than one million more disabled people in work since 2017, but I am determined to go further, supporting more people to reach their full potential and reap the health and wellbeing advantages of work.

I firmly believe our welfare system as a whole must act to accelerate that ambition – and these reforms will do just that.