Welfare Reform

Health, Work and Wellbeing

Dame Carol Black called for Evidence for her review of the health of people of working age in November 2007. It's part of the Government's Health, Work and Wellbeing initiative. Our evidence states that:

  • Mental health problems are almost as common in the workforce as in the general population and that means they are very common indeed - a normal feature of every workplace in the land.
  • There is little doubt that mental ill health is the single most important cause of health-related losses in productivity.

It suggests ways to help people with mental health problems stay in work or return to work, including:

  • Measures to enable people to respond appropriately to colleagues or employees who are showing signs of distress.
  • Early intervention to stop people building up barriers to their return to work.

For more, read our full response below.

Download our evidence to the Health, Work and Wellbeing review (84 KB)

Pathways to Work

In 2002, the Government announced plans to provide "a new framework of help for those who through illness or disability have applied for incapacity benefit" to help them get back into work.

The proposals were set out in the consultation paper, Pathways to work: Helping people into employment. The Government responded and since then, several areas have been piloting the Pathways to Work scheme.

In Work, Better Off

We responded to the consultation in In Work, Better Off, which closed in October 2007. Although we support the document's stated objectives, we have serious concerns that the consultation paper further marginalises and excludes the majority of people with mental health problems.

All previous programmes for people on Incapacity Benefit have found it harder to help people with mental health problems to return to work than any other impairment group. In our view this is partly due to the stigma and discrimination this group experiences and partly due to the fact that the programmes do not address either the psychological needs of people with mental health problems, or the complexity of the barriers they face.

Additionally, much more needs to be done with employers to raise levels of awareness and understanding on mental health issues.

Download our response to In Work, Better Off (84 KB)