Pathways savings “should be re-invested”

By Elizabeth Choppin

The government has announced substantial savings from its Pathways To Work programme, prompting campaigners to call for the money to be spent on better support for disabled people during its current welfare reform process.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has estimated that for every million pounds spent on the Pathways programme, which has now been rolled out across Great Britain, £1.5 million is returned through reduced benefits and increased tax contributions.

Findings show that 65,000 people have so far been helped into jobs via Pathways, which involves work-focused interviews, support from personal advisors and “back to work” credits.

Guy Parckar, public policy manager for Leonard Cheshire, said the savings should be put into higher rates of benefit for people on the support component of the employment support allowance (ESA) – those not required to undertake work-related activity – who are furthest away from the labour market and more susceptible to long-term poverty.

Mr Parckar said: “If that group is not expected to return to work as quickly as others, or at all, what exactly is their route out of poverty? There isn’t one at the moment. And yet the benefit rates for them are only fractionally higher than the people on the employment component. We think that group should be targeted for extra support.”

He added that there was “a case for increased support across the board”, including the employment component of ESA, as well as further investment into programmes like access to work (ATW).

Vanessa Stanislas, chief executive of Disability Alliance, said there was a particular need to reinvest the savings into promoting ATW among employers.
She said: “If you’re trying to help more disabled people into work, you’ve got to help employers understand that its not going to cost them the earth to employ a disabled person. You’ve also got to spend on general skills training.”

A DWP spokeswoman said: “ESA will actually cost an extra £400 million over the first five years because those who qualify for the benefit will get the higher rate sooner than they would do now.”

She added: “The Treasury and DWP are discussing how savings from Pathways might be reinvested.”