Government seeks to address link between work and health as it unveils plan to ‘Get Britain Working’

The Get Britain Working document, published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 26 November, outlines plans to invest £240 million in what the Government has described as “the biggest reforms to employment support for a generation”.

Photograph: iStock/Joe Morris

Initiatives will include transforming jobcentres into a new national jobs and careers service, boosting NHS capacity in areas of the country with the highest levels of economic inactivity, overhauling the health and disability benefits system, and launching an independent review into how employers can better support people with disabilities and health conditions to return to and stay in the workplace.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the plans are aimed at tackling the “biggest drivers” of unemployment and economic inactivity. A record 2.8 million people in the UK are out of work due to long-term sickness. Almost 1.5 million people are unemployed, while the number of people who are neither employed nor looking for work stands at more than nine million. The Government wants to increase the employment rate to 80 per cent from 75 per cent.

“Our reforms put an end to the culture of blaming and shaming people who for too long haven’t been getting the support they need to get back to work,” said the Prime Minister.

The Government plans to publish a consultation in the Spring, which it said forms part of its commitment to put the views and voices of disabled people “at the heart of any policy changes that directly affect them”.

Eight areas in England and Wales will share a £125 million investment to provide joined-up health and skills support to help people find work locally. Three “trailblazer” areas – the North East, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – have been identified to receive additional NHS support to prevent people from leaving the workforce due to ill health.

British Safety Council has welcomed the Government’s recognition of the link between health and work, as well as the independent review to support those with disabilities and complex health conditions back into work, and has reiterated its call for a dedicated Minister for Wellbeing.

“We welcome the Government’s renewed focus on the link between work and health, as well as an independent review of how employers can be supported to employ people with disabilities and health conditions, and to help them to stay in work,” said British Safety Council chairman Peter McGettrick. “Listening to individuals’ views and needs will be vital here, as well as to employers.

“Given that the health of the workforce and the nation are so inextricably linked, we would like the Government to go further and create a National Wellbeing Strategy, led by a Minister for Wellbeing, so we can put people’s wellbeing at the heart of all Government policy, especially economic growth.”

Whether or not the Government can deliver on its promises “remains to be seen”, added McGettrick, “but we need a fresh approach to this serious issue”.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has also welcomed the Government’s focus on health and work, after publishing its own report in October which found that almost half of UK workers lack access to routine health checks at work.

“Everyone in the UK should have the right to a healthy workplace,” said RSPH chief executive William Roberts. “We hope the announced independent review into the role of UK employers in promoting health will recommend an ambitious level of minimum support for all employees.”