Pathways to Work: Qualitative Research on the Condition Management Programme

Abstract

In October 2003, based on proposals outlined in the Green Paper 'Pathways to Work: Helping People into Employment ' (2002), changes to the claiming requirements and services offered to people making a new or repeat claim for Incapacity Benefit (IB) 1 were introduced on a pilot basis in three Jobcentre Plus districts (an additional four districts became part of the pilot in April 2004).A further 14 districts are joining in phases from October 2005, so that Pathways service will be operating in a third of the country by October 2006.The main elements of the pilot provision are as follows:• New specialist teams of specially trained IB Personal Advisers (IBPAs), as well as Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) and Work Psychologists, to advise and support people directly. Summary• IBPAs have access to an Advisers' Discretion Fund (ADF).This currently allows them to make awards of up to £100 per customer to support activities that can improve the likelihood of a person finding or taking up a job. 3• Only those identified as having the most severe functional limitations (i.e.Personal Capability Assessment (PCA) exempt) and those identified through a screening tool as least likely to need additional help to make a return to work, are not required to attend the series of mandatory WFIs, although these (and all) IB customers can request such interviews on a voluntary basis.All IB customers in the pilot areas have equal, voluntary, access to the Choices package, the RTWC and the ADF.As described above, the pilot districts have adopted varying models of CMP provision, and it was decided to sample all of these, to explore the full range of experiences to date.The study was, therefore, conducted in all of the first seven Jobcentre Plus districts:• Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll and Bute;• Essex;• Derbyshire;• East Lancashire;• Somerset;• Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taf; 5 The following reports are already available: DWP In-house analysis Incapacity Benefit reforms -Pathways to Work Pilots performance and analysis, DWP Working Paper No. 26, January 2006.

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