Pathways to Work Innovation Fund. £60m Open, Bids Close 26 Oct

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has opened bidding for a £60 million fund that will back untested ideas for helping disabled people and people with health conditions to get into work, stay in it and progress.

The Pathways to Work Innovation Fund was first announced in July. The Government's press release on 1 October 2026 describes it as a "call to action" for the private, voluntary and public sectors. Applications close on 26 October 2026.

What the £60m Innovation Fund Will Pay For

The money is for ideas, not for business as usual. According to the DWP's applicant bid pack, the fund will put up to £60 million into grants over two years, with the aim of testing new approaches and new uses of technology that help people move towards work, enter it, stay in it and progress once there.

The Government gives examples rather than a fixed list. These include AI powered job matching tools, prosthetics and digital therapies for mental illness, along with what it calls innovative ways of supporting people with ill health. The bid pack says the department is interested in ideas that improve employment outcomes and also generate valuable learning, which suggests that what a project teaches ministers will count alongside how many people it helps.

Several companies were showcased at the fund's launch. They included Big Health, which builds digital therapeutics for insomnia, anxiety and depression, and Beam, an AI caseworker platform that the Government says has supported more than 7,000 people with health conditions into work. Others were Cogniss, Ally Labs, Blum Health, Radii Devices, Koalaa and the Ufi VocTech Trust. Their inclusion at the launch is not a funding decision, and the announcement does not say any of them will receive a grant.

Who Can Apply and How to Submit a Bid

The fund is open to organisations across the UK, covering the public, private and voluntary sectors. Partnerships and consortia can also apply, which matters for smaller firms and charities that may not be able to deliver a project alone.

DWP says an online application portal will launch in early October 2026 and will be the best route for most applicants. Until then, organisations can download an application form and send it by post or email. Every application must come with two further documents, a milestones and delivery template setting out how the project will be run and monitored, and a budget template breaking down the funding requested and how it will be used to test, develop, implement or evaluate the idea.

For organisations that want a delivery partner, DWP has set up a Partnership Interest Form. Those who complete it will have their contact details published in the directory so that others can approach them. The department has also produced the bid pack in Easy Read, large print, Welsh, British Sign Language and audio formats. Questions can go to dwp.pathwaystoworkinnovationfund@dwp.gov.uk.

Who Sits on the Expert Panel Choosing Winning Bids?

An expert panel will help shape the fund and shortlist the best bids. The press release says the line up is meant to make sure disabled people's experiences influence the outcome. It includes Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Andrew Greenway of Public Digital, Angela Matthews of the Business Disability Forum, Giles Barker of Channel 4, Jon Sparkes of Mencap, entrepreneur Mark Esho, Nabila Gardner of Ways of Wellbeing, Professor Adam Whitworth of the University of Strathclyde and Mark Hodgkinson of The Valuable 500 Foundation.

Further advisers put forward by the Northern Ireland Executive and the Welsh Government are being appointed, with their names to be confirmed shortly.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the Government wants "the best ideas from business, charities and disabled people themselves, to help us transform employment support and make sure no talent is left behind."

Why Health Related Inactivity Is Costing the Economy £212bn

The fund sits within a wider push on economic inactivity. Sir Charlie Mayfield, author of the Keep Britain Working Review and co-chair of the Keep Britain Working programme, said in the press release that economic inactivity caused by health conditions costs the economy £212 billion a year. "But this is fixable," he said.

The Government puts the number of people out of work because of sickness at 2.8 million. It says the fund comes alongside a £3.5 billion investment in tailored employment support for sick or disabled people, a Right to Try Work Guarantee that lets people attempt work without fear of losing their benefits, a rebalancing of Universal Credit, more face to face assessments for health benefits, and action on fraud and error that it says will save £14.6 billion over this Parliament.

Almost 800 organisations took part in the first of a series of regional events held to promote the fund to local business leaders. techUK's deputy chief executive Antony Walker said member firms are already developing technologies that help disabled people find and keep work, and that the money could speed up adoption of proven solutions, particularly among smaller firms.

When Will Winning Bids Be Announced?

Neither the press release nor the bid pack summary gives a date for funding decisions, and the number of grants has not been published. What is clear is the timetable for applicants, the portal is due to open in early October, and the window shuts on 26 October.

For readers following the wider reform agenda, the fund is one strand of a broader programme. Our earlier report on the Keep Britain Working workplace health plan sets out the employer side of the same effort.