14 Accepted

DWP attributes declining into-work rates to external factors and increasingly complex claimant caseloads.

Conclusion
However, the Department also told us that it was concerned about the into-work rate, which has been declining since 2021–22.28 The rate increased to 9.7% in 2021–22, but declined in the following two years, to 8.2% in 2023–24. The Department said that external factors, like the labour market and the fall in the number of vacancies, are were making it more difficult and leading to a reduction in into-work rates.29 It also said that work coaches are seeing a more complex caseload, with customers who are further away from the labour market.30
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, outlining its existing "Get Britain Working White Paper" roadmap, "Pathways to Work" funding, and wider cross-government initiatives to achieve an 80% employment rate and improve into-work rates.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government Accepted
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 Through the Get Britain Working White Paper, the department has already set out a roadmap for how the government’s long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate will be realised. Pathways to Work will contribute to this ambition by supporting disabled people and people with long-term health conditions into, or toward, employment, backed by £1 billion a year of funding by 2030 and a total of £2.2 billion over four years. 6.3 Coordinated cross-government action is key to this long-term ambition. The department’s reforms sit alongside wider government initiatives, including the launch of Skills England to create a shared national plan to boost the nation’s skills, creating more good jobs through the modern Industrial Strategy, strengthening employment rights through the Plan to Make Work Pay and creating a National Health Service fit for the future through the 10 Year Health Plan for England. 6.4 Alongside the headline outcome of an 80% employment rate, the department has published a set of intermediate metrics. The department will publish annual progress updates against these, with the first update in Autumn 2025. The department will know its plan is working when it sees improvements in these metrics, which include:
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age 1.1 yr
Report published 02 Jul 2025