Employer and Partnership News 04 February 2026

DWP Business Updates
 
LA Welfare Direct bulletins: F(link is external)ebruary 2026(link is external)
Guidance: These LA Welfare Direct bulletins provide information that affects Housing Benefit and other areas of DWP, to local authority staff.
Update include:

• Reminder: Pension Strategy Computer System Application Programming Interface uprating solution
• All LA HB Award Accuracy Initiative conference call on 5 March 2026
• Publication of HB speed of processing statistics for July 2025 to September 2025
• Practitioners’ Operational Group and Local Authority Welfare Steering Group
• HB Decisions by the Upper Tribunal
• New Legislation
• What’s new on our HB pages on GOV.UK

Universal Credit for the self-employed(link is external)
Guidance: How Universal Credit works if you are self-employed and how to report your self-employed income and expenses to Universal Credit every month.
Update: Clarified what is counted as a room in your property.

From lived experience to lasting change: Disability Advisory Panel begins work(link is external)
Press release: Ten experts with lived experience of disability and long-term health conditions have been appointed to help shape Government health and disability policy.

• Ten people with long-term health conditions and lived experience of disability appointed to advise Government.
• Independent Disability Advisory Panel holds its inaugural meeting – putting disabled people’s voices at the heart of the Plan for Change.
• Government delivers on Get Britain Working White Paper pledge to ensure lived experience guides decision-making.

WorkWell Pilot Management Information from 1 October 2024 to 30 November 2025(link is external)
Research and analysis:

• There were approximately 25,000 working age people with health conditions starting a WorkWell intervention between October 2024 (when the programme began) and the end of November 2025 (the latest month where data was available). 
• Of those who started the program, 41% were in work, and 59% were out of work at their first appointment. 
• The main referral route for WorkWell was a GP or Primary Care setting, which accounts for 28% of all starts. 
• Almost half (48%) of all starts listed a mental health related condition as their primary barrier to work.  
• Mental health conditions were also the most prevalent condition across all age groups of those who started in WorkWell.  
• Over two thirds (68%) were aged 35 and over. 
• 56% were female, and 43% were male.

Get Britain Working: Labour Market Insights January 2026(link is external)
Official Statistics: Labour market official statistics in development covering into-work rates, the employment of Universal Credit customers, and analysis of how young people out of work varies across the country.

• In September 2025, the overall into-work rate for customers in the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime in Britain was 7.1%. Higher rates are often found in more rural local authorities and Jobcentre Plus districts.
• The proportion of customers who move into work who sustain employment for at least 3 months fluctuates around 70%.
• The measure of worklessness has ranged between 70% and 80% in recent years. It is lowest for younger customers, and higher for customers aged 50 and over.
• Young people on Universal Credit (UC) are more likely to work in administrative, or accommodation and food service roles compared to other age groups.
• In England, for the year ending July to September 2025, the North East had the highest NEET rate, while the South East had the lowest NEET rate.
• Rural local labour market types have the highest uptake in apprenticeships of those aged 16 to 24 years.
• Local labour market types with more adverse labour market characteristics have the highest percentages of young people aged 16 to 24 years on the UC ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime.
• ‘Industrial retirement’, ‘Coastal industry and ‘Towns in transition’ local labour market types have the highest proportion of young people aged 16 to 24 years with a health condition on UC and in the ‘No work requirements’ conditionality regime.
• ‘Coastal industry’ has the highest percentage of those aged 16 to 24 years who are inactive due to health-related reason in the past 3 years.

Jobs Guarantee(link is external)
Guidance: Information for organisations applying for grant funding to deliver the Jobs Guarantee.

Youth Guarantee gets blockbuster backing to drive support for TV and film jobs(link is external)
Press release: Young people are set to benefit from TV and film industry support for the Government’s Youth Guarantee.

• Pinewood Studios, Europe’s leading studio complex and home to James Bond and the Carry On films, is supporting the Government’s Youth Guarantee.
• Industry leaders including Netflix, Disney and Vue International met Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden at Pinewood Studios to discuss how they can support more young people into creative roles.
• More than 4,500 young people attended Pinewood Group’s “Futures Festival” event – Britain’s biggest TV and film careers event.

Tech giants meet disability sector to break down barriers at work(link is external)
Press release: Disabled people are set to benefit from the expertise of some of the world's tech giants to help make the workplace more accessible to them.

• Government brings together tech giants and disability charities to improve workplace accessibility.
• Discussions explored how emerging technologies can create new job opportunities for disabled people.
• Initiative supports the government’s mission to help people into good jobs.

£1 billion resilience fund and next step towards removal of two-child limit provide safety net for families(link is external)
Press release: Historic legislation to end the two-child limit and lift hundreds and thousands of children out of poverty has moved a step closer to reality today.  

• Legislation to end the two-child limit which would deliver the biggest reduction in child poverty in a single parliament on record, has second reading today.
• Comes as Local Authorities receive £1 billion Crisis and Resilience funds which will prevent families from falling into poverty and crisis.
• All part of the landmark Child Poverty Strategy set to tackle the root causes of poverty and deliver security, opportunity, and respect for families across the UK.
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News/For Information
More than 3,400 jobs and targeted support for local communities to help tackle the cost of living as Lanarkshire named latest AI Growth Zone(link is external)
Press release: Scotland will host a new AI Growth Zone in Lanarkshire, supporting more than 3,400 jobs and helping drive economic growth as part of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.

• Scotland to host new AI Growth Zone - a key pillar of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy(link is external) - creating 3,400 highvalue jobs and boosting wages across the region over the coming years
• Strong links with universities and businesses to open new collaborations, as the delivery of dozens of apprenticeships to support the next generation of Scottish AI talent. 
• £8.2 billion in private investment committed with an additional £540 million to support the local community, help tackle the cost of living, and boost jobs
• Demonstrates rapid progress on AI, with over 75% of the AI Opportunities Action Plan(link is external) already delivered, laying the groundwork for growth and transformed public services. 

Free AI training for all, as government and industry programme expands to provide 10 million workers with key AI skills by 2030(link is external)
Press release: Every adult in the UK is eligible to take free, newly benchmarked courses to gain practical AI skills for work – as the joint government and industry programme sees a major expansion to upskill 10 million workers.

Help with the cost of living in 2026(link is external)
News story: We know that families across the country are feeling the impact of the cost of living - it’s the number one issue impacting working people. 
It’s why we’re taking action to reduce everyday costs, whether it’s freezing rail fares and prescription charges or increasing wages and lowering energy bills. We are taking practical steps to help ease the pressure.
Here is the support we are delivering:

• Pay boost for millions of workers
• Rail fares frozen
• Prescription charges staying under £10
• £150 off household energy bills
• State Pension increase
• Removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit
• Up to 30 hours of government-funded childcare
• Free breakfast clubs for primary school children

UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses(link is external)
Press release: UK banks agree £11 billion lending packages to support small business growth, particularly for small and mid-sized enterprises.
UK businesses to benefit from a landmark £11 billion lending package to help them invest and expand abroad, to grow their businesses and the economy.   
The lending commitment, from the UK’s five leading banks, is one of the largest collective moves by the banking sector in over a decade, representing an historic show of confidence in the UK economy. 

• Money will help firms invest, hire and expand into new international markets, taking advantage of major new trade deals  
• Agreement reached at a roundtable convened by Business Secretary Peter Kyle

450,000 disadvantaged pupils could benefit from AI tutoring tools(link is external)
Press release: Safe AI tutoring tools co-created with teachers to be available to schools by the end of 2027, helping to close the attainment gap.
Up to 450,000 children from disadvantaged backgrounds could benefit from safe AI powered tutoring tools providing personalised, one-to-one learning support – levelling the playing field for those who cannot afford private tutors.
The government’s mission is to break down barriers to opportunity so every child, regardless of background, can achieve and thrive. Currently, too many disadvantaged children are lagging behind their peers with just one in four achieving a pass in English and maths at GCSE at grade 5 or above, compared to over half of their peers.

Offshore wind project will bring jobs and growth says Welsh Secretary(link is external)
Press release: A new offshore wind project off the coast of North Wales will help deliver growth and good jobs to the region Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has said.

Targeted energy bill support and simpler access to legal guidance among plans to put data to work to improve lives(link is external)
Press release: New projects to test how public sector data can be better joined up to improve lives, including through AI, while supercomputing capacity to increase sixfold.
Projects include:

• Partnering with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to deliver the new Get Adult Social Care Data service
• Bringing together data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) so those who need energy bill support most, get it. 
• Exploring whether closer integration of services can reduce extensive health-related admin for disabled people and those with long term health conditions, so people don’t have to repeat themselves while enabling them to stay in or return to work or take more active roles in their communities.

 
Funding, Investments & Initiatives
Half a billion investment to upgrade RAF Typhoons and secure 1,500 British jobs(link is external)
Press release: The government has this week committed over £650 million to upgrade the RAF's Typhoon fighter jet fleet, securing over 1,500 jobs across the UK.

• More than half a billion in funding committed this week to upgrade Britain’s Typhoons – including advanced radar upgrades – securing over 1,500 UK jobs.
• Defence Secretary John Healey visits Leonardo UK in Edinburgh, where hundreds of millions will be invested in cutting-edge radars manufactured in Scotland.
• Investment delivers on Strategic Defence Review commitment to continue upgrading Typhoon as the backbone of Britain’s air defence.

Government announces bumper £1.5 billion package to restore national pride(link is external)
Press release: £1.5 billion will be invested in cultural organisations over a five-year period – turning the corner on underfunding over the last decade and more

• Investment will tackle the need for capital investment to help save 1,000 local cultural venues across the country, restoring pride in place and national renewal 
• Funding is a recognition of culture’s power to unite communities in the face of division and break down barriers to opportunity 
• The cultural sector currently supports 700,000 jobs across the country and this package will support thousands of jobs for years to come.

New £11.5 million fund will help charities and councils support local communities.(link is external)
Press release: Local communities will benefit from a new £11.59 million government fund to help civil society organisations and local authorities work together to deliver support in areas including mental health, adult social care, women’s refuges and child poverty.

• The £11.59 million package, invested over 3 years, will strengthen partnerships between local councils and civil society to support delivery of more joined-up preventative care and support across communities.
• Government launches competition to appoint civil society organisation to deliver the Local Covenant Partnerships Fund.

Government spends record levels to support our veterans(link is external)
Press release: Government delivers record levels of investment to support veterans, across health, housing, employment and more.
Over 1.8 million veterans across the UK are benefitting from record levels of investment across statutory and charity support services as ministers step up support for veterans across government by legislating to put the Armed Force Covenant fully into law.
This government has strengthened the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) in the Ministry of Defence (MOD), with spending for veterans’ support trebling from £11.6m in 2023/24 to almost £37m committed spend in 2025/2026.

Top British AI expertise to help spark renewal of public services and bolster national security(link is external)
Press release: Government sets out key part of its digital transformation agenda, bringing world class talent into Whitehall to modernise essential services.

• UK AI experts join government to improve everyday public services including in transport and national security with $1 million from Meta.
• Anthropic will collaborate with the government to create AI assistants that support job seekers with career advice and finding employment.
• This forms a key part of the government’s wider digital transformation agenda, bringing world‑class talent into Whitehall to modernise essential services and deliver quicker, safer and more efficient outcomes for the public.

Prime Minister unlocks new opportunities for British businesses in China(link is external)
Press release: UK businesses will have more opportunities to grow and expand into the Chinese market, bolstering growth and supporting jobs at home.

• UK and China to launch new partnership to expand UK’s world-leading services sector in China
• Responds to requests from UK business to make it easier to operate in China, which will in turn boost economic growth and support jobs at home
• China confirms visa-free travel for Brits visiting China for under 30 days

New facility to boost UK space SMEs opens with £3.9 million government backing(link is external)
Press Release: A new facility designed to help small businesses thrive in the UK space sector has opened at Airbus Defence and Space’s Stevenage site, backed by £3.9 million from the UK Space Agency.

• The Airbus Launchpad will provide SMEs, start-ups and research organisations with access to laboratories, workspaces and testing facilities through a no-cost residency programme. The facility can accommodate over 50 people and aims to strengthen the UK space supply chain while developing homegrown skills and capabilities.
• The UK Space Agency funding comes from the Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund and was match-funded by Airbus. Three companies – Applied Atomics, Spintex and Stars Edge – will take up residence from early February.

High streets to receive £150 million to restore community pride(link is external)
Press release: Multi-million-pound package to turn the tide on ailing high streets, targeted in places most in need of support

• High streets with boarded up shop fronts and lacking essentials such as butchers, grocers and bakeries will be given a multi-million-pound boost.
• The £150 million cash injection will be targeted in areas hit hardest in recent years, and most in need of being brought back together.
• Part of the government’s path to renewal, it will help turn the tide on this decline and restore a sense of pride people feel in their high streets and local area – which serves as a vital meeting point for communities.

[http://xn--uk%20banks%20agree%2011%20billion%20lending%20packages%20to%20support%20small%20business%20growth,%20particularly%20for%20small%20and%20mid-sized%20enterprises-voe./]UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses(link is external)
Press release: UK banks agree £11 billion lending packages to support small business growth, particularly for small and mid-sized enterprises.

• Money will help firms invest, hire and expand into new international markets, taking advantage of major new trade deals  
• Agreement reached at a roundtable convened by Business Secretary Peter Kyle
• The lending commitment, from the UK’s five leading banks, is one of the largest collective moves by the banking sector in over a decade, representing an historic show of confidence in the UK economy.

 
Disability Services Advocacy Team Awareness Sessions
 
Awareness Sessions for External Charites and Organisations:
March

•    External Sessions March - Registration Required

If anyone requires any further information, please contact the Disability Services Advocacy Team