UK opens £60 million fund for employment support ideas
The UK opened a £60 million innovation fund for projects helping disabled people and people with health conditions enter and remain in work. AI job matching is one possible approach; no awards have been announced.
Event / data period: 2026-09-28
Published: · Updated:
The Department for Work and Pensions said public, private and voluntary organisations can bid through its Pathways to Work Innovation Fund. Applications opened on 28 September, with the announcement describing support for people to enter, stay in and progress at work.
Possible proposals include AI-powered job matching and digital mental-health therapies. An expert panel including Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson will help shortlist bids. The £60 million is the programme envelope, not reported spending or jobs already created.
Data
Fund envelope
Total announced funding envelope for the Pathways to Work Innovation Fund.
- Announced fund
- 60 million GBP
- 2026-10-01 · Target
Methodology
Programme envelope stated on 1 October 2026; UK scope, not an amount paid out.
Updated:
Subjects and places
Subject proposals
- Business enterpriseSuggested
- Preserved editorial category/topic; broad candidate onlywww.gov.uk ↗
- EmploymentSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: employmentwww.gov.uk ↗
- Labor marketSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: employmentwww.gov.uk ↗
- Artificial intelligenceSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: AIwww.gov.uk ↗
- HealthSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: healthwww.gov.uk ↗
Geographic references
Only source-provided geographic references are shown. Opening an external map is optional. Optional story maps use OpenStreetMap. Opening a map sends your IP address and this site’s address to the map provider; location data remains readable as text without loading the map.
- United Kingdom · Place role: Coverage · Place type: Country or area · Location precision: RegionalEvidence
- Explicit preserved editorial country/region; no city or national centroid inferredwww.gov.uk ↗