The number of people claiming incapacity benefit is set to almost halve under the extension of the Government's Pathways to Work initiative.
After successful pilot schemes across the country, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is to roll out its flagship return to work programme nationwide in the next three to four years.
Speaking at the Royal College of Physicians, Professor Mansel Aylward, chief medical adviser at the DWP, announced: "Our pilots in various areas around the country have provided strong evidence that we could reduce both common health problems and the number of people going onto chronic incapacity by 30%-50%.
"Although we are only 18 months into the project, we have seen strong success in areas such as Derbyshire and North-East England – areas where there are not a plethora of jobs," he said.
The Government has so far spent £150 million on launching Pathways to Work in areas that account for 12% of the UK. It now intends to double that investment and extend the scheme to 30% of the nation. The intention is to rollout the scheme to the whole of the UK by 2008.
"In three to four years time we are hopeful that we can cut the number of people claiming incapacity benefit from the current level of 2.7 million people to just 1.6 million," said Aylward.
The DWP also intends to put greater emphasis on rehabilitation, although Aylward conceded that to do this, invest- ment would be needed to boost rehabilitation capacity within the NHS and at least some level of private sector involvement would also be necessary.
