11 July 2006 - Hunt - Reforms will create more job opportunities in safe work environments
New government programmes will help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) provide a safer working environment and reduce work related ill health said DWP minister Lord Hunt today.
Speaking at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Lord Hunt said work related ill health currently costs the economy about £12billion, a third of that being in the private sector – a massive cost to business and the UK economy.
Vocational rehabilitation programmes which promote health in the workplace are a key part of the Government's Health Work and Well-being Strategy which underpins the health related components of the Welfare Reform Bill introduced last week.
Lord Hunt said:
“ Through the Workplace Health Connect programme we are delivering advice on occupational health, safety and return to work to small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Businesses lose around 40 million days to occupational ill health. This has a very real impact on the performance of the business and on the emotional well being of the individual.
Strong scientific evidence connects worklessness with adverse health conditions; depression, anxiety, obesity and suicide being amongst the most prevalent.
Lord Hunt continued:
“ Most new Incapacity Benefit (IB) customers expect to return to work when they claim but after 2 years on IB they are more likely to retire or die on benefit than they are to return to work. This is not acceptable.
“Moving people quickly from ill health, to improved health, to work is a priority for this government and is central to the Welfare Reform bill
“The new Welfare Reform Bill will provide tailored support to all IB customers to get them back into the labour market, to rebuild their confidence and the opportunity to refresh their skills.
Notes to Editors
- Lord Hunt was speaking at the Association of British Insureers (ABI), Care and Compensation in London. Copies of his speech are avialble from the Press Office and on the website at: www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/speechesindex.asp
- The welfare reform Bill was published on Tuesday 4 July 2006 and can be read at: www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/welfarereform/
- This is the scheduled national roll out for Pathways:
- Roll-out will start on 30 October 2006
- Greater Mersey;
- Staffordshire; and
- Eastern Valleys (part of South Wales Valleys).
In December, we will extend the Jobcentre Plus Pathways service to the remaining areas of the five, recently enlarged, existing Pathways districts to give 40% of all new and repeat IB customers access. The areas in the five enlarged districts are:
- Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway;
- Northumbria (other than Gateshead);
- Remaining parts of Highlands, Islands, Clyde Coast & Grampian;
- Dorset and Somerset; and
- Sheffield.
Providers will start delivering the Pathways service to customers in fifteen Jobcentre Plus districts in October 2007. The fifteen districts are:
- Greater Manchester East & West;
- Cardiff & Vale/South East Wales;
- Forth Valley, Fife, Tayside;
- North Wales & Powys;
- Black Country;
- City and East London;
- Birmingham and Solihull;
- Nottinghamshire;
- West Yorkshire;
- Edinburgh, Lothian & Borders;
- Cornwall & Devon;
- Central London;
- Lincolnshire and Rutland;
- Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth; and
- Norfolk
In April 2008, providers will complete the roll-out of the Pathways service to customers in the remaining sixteen Jobcentre Plus districts so that the service is available nationally to all new and repeat IB customers. The final sixteen districts are:
- North and North East London
- Cheshire & Warrington
- West of England
- Coventry & Warwickshire
- North/East Yorkshire and The Humber
- Brent Harrow & Hillingdon West London
- Marches
- Kent
- Leicester/Northants
- South and South East London
- Cambridge and Suffolk
- Gloucestershire Wiltshire & Swindon
- Surrey & Sussex
- Hampshire & Isle of Wight
- Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire
- Berks, Bucks & Oxfordshire
Jobcentre Plus will continue to deliver the Pathways service in the following 19 districts:
- Derbyshire
- Ayrshire, Dumfries, Galloway & Inverclyde
- Highland, Islands, Clyde Coast & Grampian
- South Wales Valleys
- Northumbria
- South Tyne & Wear Valley
- Essex
- Dorset & Somerset
- Lancashire
- Cumbria
- Glasgow
- Tees Valley
- South Yorkshire
- Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire
- Liverpool and Wirral
- Greater Manchester Central
- South West Wales
- Greater Mersey
- Staffordshire
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Website: www.dwp.gov.uk