Overview

• Jobcentre staff will begin routinely reaching out to people on sickness benefits to offer skills training, job‑application support and tailored medical or employment help.
• The initial contact and support will be voluntary, though ministers are weighing a new 'responsibility to engage' for long‑term sick claimants.
• About 2.2 million people are classed as having limited capability for work, with more than three‑quarters placed in the top category without conditions and roughly half citing mental health as the main reason.
• Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has ruled out changes to disability benefits until a review reports next year, while leaving the door open to broader welfare reforms including universal credit.
• Officials aim to extend help to an additional 65,000 claimants this year, but experts say even a £1 billion annual boost to support would reach only a fraction of people and is unlikely to slow rising costs soon.