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Building Britain's Recovery: Achieving Full Employment

This White Paper, published on 15 December 2009, announces new measures aimed at ensuring that young people are not "derailed" by the recession at the start of their working lives.

It also sets out the next stage of the Government's welfare and employment reform, concentrating on helping more people back to work and ensuring that they are better off in work.

The support offered for disabled people and carers includes:

Carers

• a promise to carry out a consultation on how the Government can help people meet their caring responsibilities while remaining in work. This may include additional unpaid leave for planned responsibilities such as hospital visits and unpaid leave for carers of someone with a terminal illness.
• raising the earnings limit within Carer's Allowance from £95 to £100 a week.

Disabled people

• increased personalised help for disabled people or people with a health condition who are out of work or have never worked.
• the roll out of the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Work Capability assessment to those currently on incapacity benefits;
• a review of Pathways to Work and increase in health support for those on JSA;
• expansion of Work Choice and Access to Work to help move people into jobs
• introduction of a national network of mental health co-ordinators in Jobcentre Plus.
• Introduction of a £40 a week Better off in Work Credit which will guarantee that everyone who moves into work after being on benefit for six or more months will be at least £40 a week better off.
• considering the scope to passport people moving from ESA into work on to the disabled worker element (worth up to £48.50 a week) and 16-hours rule in Working Tax Credit.

Note: The Government's long-term ambition is to create a simpler system which could be based around a single working-age benefit and reformed housing benefit (HB).

More information

• building britain's recovery - DWP website

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