Improving Lives: the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper Charlotte Spencer Deputy Director, Policy Work and Health Unit Thursday 17 November 2016

The case for change OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

The disability employment gap is too wide – we want to narrow it.

Building a shared vision

Green Paper proposals - Employers A balanced package to encourage action and innovation while also committing to understanding what works with a view to longer term reform Providing the support needed to recruit and retain disabled people Announcing Disability Confident Business Leaders Group to increase engagement around disabled employment Consulting on evolving current Government schemes and barriers to take up of Group Insurance Products Helping employers manage sickness absence, including consulting on reform of Statutory Sick Pay Changing culture to improve workplace wellbeing and retention of disabled employees: Consulting on how: Government can best provide and publicise accessible information and guidance; to facilitate employer networks; to empower employees to manage their condition and help employers make adjustments Encouraging employers to collect data on disability and ill-health Building the business case for investing in supporting health and disability in the workplace. Setting out where the public sector is an exemplar

Occupational health services is patchy Organisation size Access to occupational health services (% of employers) Subsidised private medical insurance Small (1-50) 11 18 Medium (51-249) 46 53 Large (250+) 79 61 All 13 20 Only 30% of UK workforce in 2010 had access to specialised occupational healthcare Urgent measures are required… if the level of capacity of the occupational medicine workforce is to meet the nations’ needs. APPG on Occupational Safety & Health Source: Health at work – an independent review of sickness absence Faculty of OH Report - Future Directions for Occupational Healthcare in the UK

Green Paper proposals – Health services Helping people access the right support at the right time: Review of Fit Note, and options for referrals to OH assessment and advice as a matter of course where appropriate; Trialling mental health support in new settings Consulting on how Occupational Health, vocational rehab and related provision can be better matched to individuals’ needs Announcing plans to increase access to IAPT programme and more than double number of Employment Advisers in talking therapies Consulting on developing and testing new and more effective pathways of care for MSK conditions Embedding work as a health outcome, including through building workforce capability and capacity Supporting joined-up health and employment services, which are locally designed and delivered Consulting on our intention to set a standard for employment information in NHS health data sets, to monitor working-age health and employment Consulting on plans to provide a basket of health and work indicators at local level Consulting on improved sharing of health and employment data, innovation, co-location and local networks, all to support local service integration

We want your views

Consultation Process The Green Paper publication marks the start of a public consultation – running until 17th February 2017 Ways to get involved An online survey on Citizen Space provides simple and accessible way to respond to all consultation questions: https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/workandhealth/consult/ Series of stakeholder-led consultation events Email responses to workandhealth@dwp.gsi.gov.uk Write to The Work, Health and Disability Consultation, Ground Floor, Caxton House, 6-12 Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA Or you can email me directly at: strategy.ddworkhealthpolicy@dwp.gsi.gov.uk