Labour's £1billion back-to-work scheme fails to hit even half its target as long-term jobless refuse to sign up

Published: 23:01 GMT, 27 October 2026 | Updated: 01:55 GMT, 28 October 2026

Labour's flagship back-to-work scheme has failed to hit even half its target as the long-term jobless refuse to sign up.

Official figures show the £1.2billion Connect to Work scheme recruited just 13,900 people in its first year - far below the goal of 33,623.

The initiative is designed to persuade thousands with long-term health conditions to sign up for help in getting back to work.

Despite being launched in a blaze of publicity, initial take up for the scheme was sluggish.

Five days before the end of its first year, ministers ordered the target to be slashed - citing 'optimism bias' in the original aim. But even the much-reduced goal of 17,954 recruits was missed by a wide margin. Ministers argued many people on sickness benefits want to work but need help to get a job after time out of employment.

However, the figures suggest officials have struggled to recruit the volunteers needed to make the project a success.

The numbers cast doubt on whether the scheme will achieve its aim of supporting 300,000 long-term sick into work by the end of the decade.

Some 3.6million people currently claim the sickness element of Universal Credit.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his wife Marie Frances Van Heel during Diwali celebrations at Downing Street on October 27 

A job centre in Newquay (file image). Official figures show the £1.2billion Connect to Work scheme recruited just 13,900 people in its first year - far below the goal of 33,623

Ameer Kotecha, of the Centre for Government Reform, which unearthed the figures, said: 'Connect to Work is the Government's flagship answer to Britain's economic inactivity crisis and it is falling well short of target. When it became clear the first-year target wouldn't be met, in classic Whitehall fashion the Department for Work and Pensions moved the goalposts. Ironically, even the new lower target was missed.

'Taxpayers are putting £1.2billion into this programme. They deserve a straight answer on whether it works, not a quiet rewrite of the targets every time they're missed. Ministers need to explain why it isn't delivering and how they will fix it.'

Shadow welfare secretary Helen Whately accused Labour of 'dragging their feet' on welfare reform.

'Many sick and disabled people want to work, but Labour's flagship employment scheme has run aground,' she said. 'Now they're blaming 'optimism bias' so they can rewrite their own targets, and I expect we'll hear the same excuse about the other fake job schemes they've launched since.'

The Connect to Work scheme was launched in November 2024 as part of the Labour government's 'Get Britain Working' agenda. At the time, then-welfare secretary Liz Kendall said it would help sick or disabled people 'overcome the barriers' they faced and 'move out of poverty and into good, secure jobs'.

She suggested it could eventually help 100,000 people a year into work.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: 'We expect these numbers to grow significantly throughout the next few years. From April last year to June this year, 25,000 participants started on the programme. Some 15,000 of these occurred in March to June this year alone, reflecting how the programme is mobilising and results steadily building.'

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