£60 million fund open for bids to help disabled people into work

A £60m disability employment fund has opened for bids across the UK, for public, private and voluntary sector organisations testing new ways to help disabled people and those with health conditions enter, stay and progress in work.

First announced in July, the fund could support ideas including AI-powered job-matching tools, prosthetics and digital therapies for mental health support.

The initiative forms part of wider government action aimed at helping the 2.8m people currently out of work due to sickness move into employment.

The government is investing £3.5bn in tailored employment support for sick and disabled people, alongside changes to Universal Credit, increased face-to-face health benefit assessments and a Right to Try Work Guarantee.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said: “We want the best ideas from business, charities and disabled people themselves, to help us transform employment support and make sure no talent is left behind.

“These ideas will help us support disabled people in work, helping them to thrive and fulfil their full potential, tackle the disability employment gap and help businesses drive growth across every postcode.”

Almost 800 organisations took part in an initial event, with further events taking place around the country.

An expert panel will help decide which bids should receive funding. Members include Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Mencap chief executive Jon Sparkes and Business Disability Forum director Angela Matthews.

Grey-Thompson said: “We know that with the right support, disabled people can and do thrive in the workplace.

“This is a real opportunity to back the bold, creative ideas that can make that happen, and I would urge businesses, charities and innovators across the country to come forward with their best thinking.

“Helping shape this Fund matters to me because finding and keeping work matters enormously, not just for individual wellbeing and independence, but for society as a whole.”

Organisations showcased as part of the programme include Ufi VocTech Trust, which funds platforms making vocational training and job onboarding accessible to neurodivergent people and those with learning disabilities or health conditions.

Others include Koalaa, which designs and manufactures prosthetics, and Radii Devices, which provides a web-based platform supporting clinicians to provide fitting prosthetics to disabled people.

Digital health organisations showcased include Big Health, which provides digital therapeutics for insomnia, anxiety and depression, and Cogniss, a platform used to create digital health and behaviour-change apps.

Beam, an AI caseworker platform that has supported more than 7,000 people with health conditions into work, was also featured.

Sir Charlie Mayfield, author of the Keep Britain Working Review and co-chair of the Keep Britain Working programme, said: “Economic inactivity caused by health conditions costs our economy £212 billion a year.

“But this is fixable. We need ambitious, creative approaches to help disabled people and those with health conditions get into and stay in work.

“If you’re a business, a charity, or an innovator, this is your chance to bid for funding and test genuinely new ways of transforming employment support.”

The Pathways to Work Innovation Fund opened for bids on 28 September.